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