Enhancing the Employee Benefits Experience

Paid time off, health insurance, flexible work schedules, and rewarding incentives can enhance employees’ experience with your company’s benefits package and their time at the office in general.

Companies that offer benefits that employees need and want attract and retain top talent and boost employee performance, productivity, and enthusiasm. In this Pacific Prime article, we’ll look at steps employers can take to enhance the employee benefits experience.

The Best Employee Benefits and Perks

Choose benefits and perks  that give value to your employees as well as give you the highest Return on Investment (ROI), such as flexible schedules, generous paid time off, incentives, and health insurance. 

Aside from health insurance, the most desirable benefits and perks help improve work-life balance and provide more freedom and flexibility. Check out our top non-monetary employee benefits.

Flexible Work Schedules

It probably comes as no surprise that a flexible work schedule is one of the most popular and recommended benefits. This type of schedule, which includes work-from-home and telecommuting options, can significantly improve work-life balance.

Having the freedom to occasionally work remotely or move hours to fit their life keeps employees happy and maintains engagement. Knowing that their employer encourages them to achieve work-life balance goes a long way and makes them feel appreciated and more motivated to put in the work.

While clocking in might have been necessary during the last century, the abundance of technology has made working remotely easier than ever. Thanks to varieties of apps and tools for remote working, employees can fulfill personal and professional responsibilities in a way that works for them.

With team messaging apps such as Slack and task management tools like Trello, team members can know what’s going on without even being in the same location, allowing teams to be productive regardless of where they are.

If your work doesn’t require your team’s physical presence for work to be completed, definitely consider giving them the flexibility to work in their best way.

Generous Paid Time Off

More paid time off (PTO) is a benefit that most employees appreciate. Many employers have a tight hold on annual and personal leave, and some even discourage employees from using their paid time off. This not only creates a serious liability but also contributes to employee burnout and resignation.

Awarding ample PTO gives employees more opportunities to unwind from work and follow their passions, which can dramatically improve their performance at work. It also prevents accumulated stress and frustration in the workplace.

With more or even unlimited PTO, employees can feel comfortable taking time off for important appointments and emergencies without the fear of being penalized.Encouraging employees to excel both at work and outside of work sends an important message to existing and prospective employees about organizational culture.

Time for Personal Projects

Introduced by 3M and popularized by Google, time for work-related personal projects can be highly beneficial to your employees’ satisfaction, creativity, and productivity. Your organization may also benefit from innovations and solutions that are by-products of these personal projects.

More often than not, your employees’ schedules are packed or bogged down by daily tasks and meetings, leaving them no room to look back and reflect on some great ideas that they might have at hand or have passed their minds every now and then. This is what personal projects are about.

These allocated times are for your employees to turn these elusive ideas into substantial projects that could potentially contribute to your business and organization, without a fear of being deemed ‘unproductive’ or being a failure.

They can explore and experiment with their ideas without having to worry about their timesheets, daily tasks, or whether they are living up to ROI or clients’ expectations. It provides a better environment and opportunities for ideas and creativity to flourish and take shape.

Some of Google’s most successful products, such as AdSense and Google News, trace their roots to being side projects that were developed during Google’s personal project time.

The yellow Post-it note that has been a staple in offices across the globe is also another product that came into shape thanks to 3M’s ‘permitted bootlegging policy,’ which allows employees to work on their side projects on the company’s time.

There are many ways companies can introduce this personal project time. Most commonly, a percentage of employees’ working time is allocated to the side project. At 3M, this is 15%. At Google, it’s 20%.

Companies may introduce bigger or smaller percentages depending on the nature of their business, manpower, workloads, and other factors. 

Some companies may require employees to submit their project proposals prior to receiving the allotted side project time, and some companies may allot side project time according to the feasibility and potential impact of employees’ projects.

It is also possible to provide side project time in the same manner as employees’ annual leaves. Employees receive allotted time for their side project, and they can request their side project time throughout the year as they need.

Incentives

Incentives, such as bonuses, prizes, and awards can increase engagement and improve retention. Employees are motivated to perform at their best when work is turned into a game or rewarding competition. Even simple rewards for a job well done can do the trick.

Employers that make use of incentives will likely notice extra determination once employees know their hard word is rewarded. For example, some companies offer a fancy brunch or a long weekend if a project is completed earlier than expected.

Simple gestures such as these tend to encourage employees to improve their performance.

Training and Development

Consider offering continuous training and development opportunities for employees. With AI escalating changes in various industries, employees’ reskilling and upskilling is beneficial for both the employees and the organization.

Your training and development benefits can be in the forms of a company-held webinars, training, or career advancement programs or an incentive for employees to take external opportunities such as discounts for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC), micro-credits, or certificate programs.

Employee Assistance Program

Employee Assistance Program can step in to fill in this wellness offering gaps. EAP can provide stopgap measures for employees in need of psychological consultation, giving them initial help before seeking treatment with healthcare professionals.

EAP can also provide assistance for employees looking to plan their retirement savings or are going through their student loan payment. 

These kinds of financial and psychological payment ensure that your employees are well supported throughout each period and situation of their life.

The less they have on their minds, the more they can engage with their work and contribute to the work at the organization.

Health Insurance

Health insurance is often the most costly benefit and the one that’s the most generally desired. With rising costs of healthcare, it’s easy to see why many candidates make career choices based on insurance benefits.

Offering a series of health-related benefits such as group insurance plans and dental insurance is highly recommended for any business, and these benefits do not have to be costly for companies either.

Flexible benefits allow employees to tailor the benefits program to their needs and for employers to save money on benefits that do not meet the needs of their workforce.

For example, comprehensive life insurance coverage may sound nice on paper, but not all employees may prioritize this benefit. Young employees may prioritize access to wellness programs over comprehensive insurance coverage.

Such flexible approaches allow companies to avoid spending on unnecessary benefits and empower their employees in choosing benefit arrangements that work for them.

Looking for the Best Health Insurance?

Pacific Prime provides a wide variety of group health insurance and employee benefits plans that you can customize to meet your unique requirements. It’s important to remember that while health insurance is crucial, employees are looking for other benefits as well.

Contact us today to speak to one of our employee benefits consultants and find out more about our employee benefits solutions.