Top candidates look for more than a competitive salary when deciding whether to accept a job offer. Benefits packages are a significant part of the decision-making process for 63% of job candidates, according to a study by Glassdoor.
By offering a generous benefits package, human resource executives and managers can use benefits to attract and retain employees.
To create a comprehensive package that sets the company apart from the competition, it may be necessary to change your benefits, customize options, or create a targeted outreach strategy for communicating offers.
Inventory Your Benefit Offerings
To enhance a recruitment strategy by focusing on benefits, you first must determine if your package is sufficient to attract and retain the employees you seek. By taking an inventory of our current offerings, you may discover that adding desired benefits is more affordable than you might have anticipated.
Glassdoor has reported that health, dental, and vision insurance are among the most important benefits to potential employees. A robust and attractive benefits package may also include:
- Life insurance, including permanent insurance and term insurance
- Accidental death & dismemberment (AD&D) insurance
- Short-term disability insurance
- Long-term disability insurance
- Hospital indemnity insurance
- Critical illness insurance
- Cancer insurance
By having multiple benefits options, you can customize a benefits package for a particular employee. This way, an employee receives the benefits he or she wants, not simply what a broker wants to provide.
Consider Additional Benefits
A strong insurance program is only one component of a comprehensive offering. FlexJobs notes that eight out of 10 parents said flexibility and work-life balance were the most important factors when looking at new opportunities.
To that end, craft your human resource strategy with team-focused wellness programs and behavioral health programs, including:
- Flexible hours
- Paid maternity and paternity leave
- Unlimited time off
- Free or discounted daycare services
- Free or discounted yoga classes
- Free or discounted in-office snacks and drinks
- Free or discounted gym memberships or an on-site/near-site gym
- Work-from-home options
- Student loan assistance
To round out a comprehensive package, retirement benefits such as a 401(k) or profit-sharing plan should also be considered.
Share Benefits Before the Job Offer
A mistake that employers often make is failing to fully outline benefits packages, even when they are attractive and well thought out. Information should be provided well before a job offer is made so candidates can make an informed decision.
Update Glassdoor
Your company’s Glassdoor profile should contain all benefit information so that a potential employee can see what you are offering. In the past, only employees could provide this information, which resulted in misinformation or out-of-date details. Now, Glassdoor allows employers to directly update their employee benefits package information online. Take advantage of this feature to communicate your current offerings to candidates.
Build a Benefits Portal
If your company has a career portal on its website, be sure to include a link to a benefits section. This way, candidates will be able to see all benefits on demand, enabling them to come prepared with questions during the interview process.
Provide a Printout
When scheduling interviews, start the conversation about benefits. Have a printout prepared that outlines an average total compensation statement with a section on the benefits you provide. It’s often difficult for candidates to understand how expensive benefits can be for a company without seeing the actual cost on paper.
Include a Dialogue Within the Interview
Make sure to discuss benefits as part of the interview process. This topic is often overlooked when discussing job responsibilities and company culture. By including benefits as part of the interview, managers can answer questions and share company values with candidates.
Enhance the Employee Handbook
To retain and engage existing employees, enhance the employee handbook with in-depth information about the benefits package. This handbook should be shared at annual performance reviews as well as any general meetings discussing company-wide news.
Make sure the employee handbook contains the same detailed cost analysis you provide candidates. Employees often forget the actual cost and value of their benefits packages. The expense of insurance and other benefits should be a part of any conversation about compensation.
Survey Employees to Evolve
To provide the benefits that are the most meaningful to current and future employees, it may be helpful to survey existing team members to better understand what offerings motivate them. Managers may be surprised to learn that flexible schedules — such as four 10-hour shifts weekly rather than the traditional five-day workweek — may be as important to employees as raises.
When integrating less expensive or free benefits, you can shift resources to more insurance coverage and other programs employees care about.
Finally, in order to improve your recruitment and retention strategy, remember to keep the perspective of employees and candidates as a priority. If it is difficult to upload a resume through your website or communicate with the human resources team, having a comprehensive compensation package including robust benefits offerings may make less of a difference.
Once you know what matters most to the people you want to hire, be sure to communicate your strategy with any recruiters you use. These efforts to improve benefits will reflect well on your company, improving employee morale and facilitating interest from more qualified candidates in the future.
