Attract Talent With Employee Benefits

Written by Mike Groe

Marketing & Brand Manager

Applied Business Solutions

September 3, 2021

What the Data Shows

Offering employee benefits is key for companies to attract and retain talent. Employers, employees and those searching for new employment opportunities all rank benefits as a critical component in hiring and maintaining employee retention. Here are some statistics you should know:

  • 79% of employers believe offering benefits is a critical for attracting talent.
  • 89% of employers said flexible working options aid staff attraction and retention.
  • 79% of men and 65% of women consider benefits in their employment decisions.
  • 94% of Millennials, 92% of Gen X are more attracted to nontraditional benefits.
  • 92% of full-time employees believe offering benefits helps to recruit top-tier talent.
  • 75% of employees are more likely to continue employment with a benefits program.
  • 80% of employees with high benefits satisfaction also had high job satisfaction.
  • 36% of workers would consider quitting a job not providing learning opportunities.
Traditional Health Benefits

To truly compete in today’s intense employment market, you need to offer high caliber traditional benefits in order to attract and retain top talent. This includes:

Health Insurance: This is the top traditional benefit requirement of nearly every employee and potential hire. To compete, you must offer a plan that delivers flexible coverage for a low employee cost.

Dental and Vision Insurance: Employees are looking for coverages that include free cleanings or annual visits and significant discounts on treatments, glasses, and contact lenses.

Retirement Benefits: Most employees are seeking a 401(k) plan that includes employer contributions.

Life Insurance: Employees want to know that if something happened to them, their families would be cared for so life insurance is a must.

Wellness Programs: This formerly non-traditional benefit has gone mainstream and most employees expect to find some type of wellness program offered by their employers. This can take a variety of forms from discounted gym memberships to weight loss classes or providing healthy snacks. These programs have the added benefit of potentially lowering the cost of health insurance.

Nontraditional Fringe Benefits

Today, employees and recruits want non-traditional, or fringe benefits as part of the job experience. To attract top talent and keep your best and brightest in house, you should consider offering:

Flexible Work Hours: More employees, especially millennials, want to have alternatives to the traditional 9 to 5 work days. To address this preference, you could offer opportunities to work from home or allow people to come in later or earlier than the traditional start times to better accommodate their personal schedules.

Learning Opportunities: Attraction and retention of talent includes opportunities for career growth and development. Offering learning opportunities demonstrates your commitment to employees, which will increase their loyalty to your business.

Work-Life Balance: This “benefit” is difficult to define because it varies from employee to employee. It could include paid maternity leave, paid sick days, onsite day care, reimbursed day care, paid volunteer time, remote work options and paid company shut down during major holidays. The key is to go beyond the traditional benefits and consider what the employees would value most.

Become an Employer of Choice

For many small to mid-size businesses, offering a competitive level of traditional benefits is difficult. Extending their resources to offer non-traditional benefits seems impossible. The truth is, you can offer competitive traditional and non-traditional benefits, and we can help.

At Applied Business Solutions, we assist businesses just like yours in providing a higher level of benefits to their employees, often at a lower cost than what they were paying for less-competitive offerings. We have the best traditional employee benefits with competitive prices so you can truly attract the talent you want and retain the employees that help your company thrive. Our services also extend to supporting learning opportunities and other non-traditional benefits.

With Applied, you can focus on being an employer while we level the playing field in this highly competitive employment market. Call us at (855)792-2808 or Request a Quote to learn how we can help take your benefits to the next level.

What is Human Capital Management?

Human capital management (HCM) provides an overall strategy to hiring the right talent, managing performance and optimizing productivity.

Have a question? Our leadership team is here to help. Contact us today.

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Applied Business Solutions has 75+ years of combined Payroll, Insurance and Human Resources experience with companies ranging from 1 to 2,500 employees.