The Benefits of Benefits

            Offering workplace benefits makes a company more successful.  Many companies disagree with this statement because employee benefits increase employee compensation costs; however, the two positive side effects of offering workplace benefits outweigh the costs.  The two positive side effects are: (1) good benefit packages attract superior employees and (2) benefit packages increase employee loyalty.  The following paragraphs explain why these positive side effects help businesses in the long run.

First, offering voluntary employee benefits attracts superior employees. If your company is offering a better benefit package than another company, you immediately become an attractive employer candidate.  Being an attractive employer guarantees you will receive many applicants, and you will be able to choose only the very best to work at your company. Because “benefits will increase in importance for recruiting employees in the years ahead” (Miller, 2014), taking this step is essential to ensure success.

Second, good benefit packages increase employee loyalty.  When an employee is happy with the benefits he/she is receiving, that person is more likely to continue working for his/her current company.  This means that employee turnover is decreased.  Since employee turnover can cost companies about 1/5 of an employee’s yearly salary (Boushey, 2012), decreasing this cost is a significant improvement.  It will improve the revenue and reputation of the company.

Offering employee benefits is a great way to attract superior employees and increase employee loyalty; which in turn, will increase company competitiveness, revenue, and reputation. All of these reasons combine to make your company more successful. I hope that you will consider offering voluntary benefits—or perhaps more voluntary benefits.

References

Boushey, H., & Glynn, S.J. (2012, November 16). There are significant business costs to replacing employees. Retrieved from http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/labor/report/
2012/11/16/44464/there-are-significant-business-costs-to-replacing-employees/

Miller, S. (2014, January 17). Spotlight on benefits used to recruit, retain employees. Retrieved from http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/benefits/articles/pages/benefits-recruit-retain-communicate.aspx

Scorza, J. (2011, April 1). Benefits can boost employee loyalty. Retrieved from http://www.shrm.org/
hrdisciplines/benefits/articles/pages/benefits_loyalty.aspx

How to Be a Terrible Employee

According to articles appearing in the Wall Street Journal and Linked In, two characteristics are required to be classified as a terrible employee.  First, terrible employees are not good listeners.  Second, terrible employees do not work well in teams.  The following paragraphs explain why an employee must not have these characteristics to be successful in the modern workplace.

Good listening skills are required to create happy relationships with customers and co-workers (Nishi, 2013).  The reasoning behind this statement is that when you listen intently to another person’s concerns, you show him/her you care and can better empathize with that person.  After people feel that you understand and care about them, they trust you more.  Following this increase in credibility, a feeling of mutual friendship inevitably forms over time. This friendship will increase business (in the case of a customer) and decrease workplace stress (in the case of a co-worker).

The ability to work in a team is just as important as good listening skills.  If a single member of a team creates tension through gossip, dishonesty, or laziness, the productivity of the entire team will decrease.  The key to having a productive team is to “Create a positive environment where people want to come to every day” (White, 2014).  Creating this positive environment requires each team member to do their part.

I hope that no one reading this blog wants to be classified as a terrible employee.  Instead, I assume that your goal, like mine, is to be exceptional.  Following the principles of being a good listener and developing the ability work well in teams will help you and me reach our goal to be exceptional.  

References

Nishi, D. (2013). How to tell if you are a bad employee. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323932604579053113397566606

White, J. (2014, April 28). Seven management traits that will make all your employees quit.  Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140428194310-68335342-7-management-traits-that-will-make-all-your-employees-quit