When creating an employee retention program, companies must carefully contemplate the types of benefits they’ll offer. Selecting the wrong benefits could result in minimal employee enrollment, little to no improvement in retention rates, or even wasted employer spending.
Because there’s a potential monetary risk factor involved in offering employee benefits, this is why many companies explore the idea of offering voluntary benefits to their team.
Voluntary Benefits vs Core Benefits
Voluntary benefits are optional perks for employees, while core benefits are a basic set of perks as part of a company’s benefits program. Many companies choose to offer both core and voluntary benefits.
Unlike core benefits, voluntary benefits are paid by the employee if they opt for them. For this reason, many HR specialists and other company higher-ups in charge of their company’s benefits program may feel reluctant to even have voluntary benefits as an option for their staff, assuming staff won’t want to pay for them out of their own pockets.
Are Voluntary Benefits Actually Effective?
Because voluntary benefits are optional perks paid for by the employee rather than the employer, offering these types of benefits alone won’t directly help with retention. It’s the employer-paid benefits which are most capable of helping improve retention rates.
This doesn’t mean offering voluntary benefits isn’t valuable. Voluntary benefits can make a company’s retention program more attractive by allowing employees to personalize their plans. This level of customization can encourage employees to enroll in their company’s program from the get-go, which can indirectly aid with retention.
Most Valuable Voluntary Benefits for Employees
Some of the most sought-out voluntary benefits amongst staff include accident insurance, supplemental life insurance, pet insurance, supplemental disability insurance, and identity theft protection.
Generally, voluntary benefits like the latter can create emotional relevance to one’s life and provide a greater sense of security (especially when their finances or loved ones are involved). Thus, voluntary benefits can increase the perceived value of their company’s benefits program as a whole.
Signs Your Voluntary Benefits are Successful
Once you’ve implemented voluntary benefits as part of your retention program, it’s important to assess its effectiveness.
Here are some signs your company is offering the right voluntary benefits:
- Your employees are actively opting for your voluntary benefits.
- Your benefits program participation rate has increased since adding voluntary benefits.
- Not only are your employees choosing voluntary benefits, but they’re actually using them.
- You’ve been better able to attract and retain talent, indicating your benefits program is competitive in the market.
When It’s Time to Adjust Your Benefits Program
Even when you think you have a solid benefits program in place, sometimes it ends up not being as successful as initially imagined. If your program participation rate is low and/or employee retention is still struggling, these could be signs of your benefits program needing some tweaks.
Employee Retention Benefits can help your company design a strong benefits program relevant to your employees’ wants and needs, all while remaining within your budget. Reach out today to get started.
