Employee benefits are vital more than ever and play a key role in retaining employees. When employers can offer a competitive benefits package that meets the needs of their workforce, employees are more likely to stay with those organizations.

Beyond the standard offerings of a 401(k) and health insurance, many employees are interested in the introduction or expansion of the following benefits:

Mental health resources—America’s mental health crisis doesn’t seem to be getting better anytime soon. Expanding mental health benefits alone can’t combat employee burnout, stress and mental illness, but they may provide a lifeline to employees. Here are a couple of impactful mental health resources employers can offer:

• An employee assistance program (EAP) can be tailored to a workforce to provide critical employee resources. An EAP can expand beyond the traditional focus of substance abuse to behavioral health counseling, mental health resources or therapist appointments.
• Telemedicine has been expanding for years to offer employees nonemergency care from the comfort of their own homes. Similarly, telemental health (online therapy) can allow employees to get the support they need.

Caregiving support—Balancing work and caregiving responsibilities can be challenging and contribute to decreased productivity, poor mental health and increased employee stress. Employers can support employees with child- and elder-care responsibilities by offering initiatives like work-from-home arrangements, workplace flexibility, paid or unpaid family leave, and employer-sponsored child care.

Voluntary benefits—Typical voluntary benefits include dental coverage, vision insurance, financial counseling and life insurance. Yet the COVID-19 pandemic led to increased offerings, such as insurance for identity theft, pets and critical illness. Many voluntary offerings are 100% paid for by employees, but some employers may cover a portion of the premiums. As such, they can be an excellent way to provide meaningful perks to employees without raising costs. In fact, according to Zywave’s 2023-24 Voluntary Benefits Benchmarking Overview, most employers (64.75%) offer voluntary benefits as part of a strategy to improve employee attraction and retention.

Creating a comprehensive employee benefits package can be a struggle—especially for smaller companies—but employers must analyze their current offerings and optimize them for today’s employees to keep their competitive edge.

Retaining Employees With Benefits

Especially in today’s labor market, employers can strategically leverage benefits offerings as employee recruitment and retention tools. Employers should regularly ask employees about benefits usage to add or adjust offerings. The goal is to offer attractive and meaningful benefits to keep employees around and gain a competitive edge in today’s labor market.

Employee communication can strategically drive new benefits when done frequently and openly. Organizations already finding new ways to innovate and evolve their benefits have an advantage in standing out to employees. Much time, effort and resources go into benefit plans, so ensure that employees understand their benefits and how to access and use them.

Emplova is a unique Professional Employer Organization (PEO) that helps small to medium sized businesses grow and prosper by providing benefits, payroll, technology, compliance, and HR administration. To learn how we can create a winning HR strategy for your business contact us today.