5 Reasons Why SMBs Should Care About Employee Benefits

As a small or medium-sized business owner, there are several reasons why you need to give serious attention to employee benefits. The commitment of your employees to work is critical to the success of your company. And unless employees are sure that their well-being is a concern of the management, their disposition to work can affect the overall productivity of the company.

At the core of any company's ability to attract and retain the best skills and talents is the capacity of that company to offer competitive employee benefits plans. In essence, one simple solution for reducing employee turnover costs is offering the right benefits. Understandably, the concern for many small businesses is the affordability of robust employee benefits. Even for large corporations, they can be quite expensive. But did you know that SMBs can also provide competitive employee benefits to their staff without breaking their purse?

But right before we touch on that, here are five reasons why every small and medium-sized business should take employee benefits seriously.

1. It Makes Your Company Stand Out from the Competition

It's very easy to think that salary is the only thing that makes you competitive, especially when you operate in the same markets as giants like Coca-Cola, Pfizer, etc. You do not need to go overboard when it comes to salary or benefits, but you sure do need to have something worthwhile for your employees to look forward to.

It could be extended parental leave or paid exam leave. But generally, ensure that the benefits you`re offering are as specific as possible to the lifestyle and needs of your workers. As a small business, a good way to set your business apart from the competition is by offering attractive benefits.

And in case you`ve never thought about this, you must understand that many potential employees often check to know what they stand to benefit besides salaries as they shop for jobs. Remember that you need the best hands on your team and when your employee benefits plan isn't encouraging, chances are, you`ll lose them to the competition.

2. Employees Will Stick Around Longer

Have you wondered why employee attrition is so high in your company? It is not always about salary. According to LinkedIn, companies with higher compensation and benefits plans recorded 57% lower attrition in 2019. The lack of a sound working environment could be the issue. Perhaps, your employees don't feel cared for, so they move over to places where their welfare is taken seriously. In such a situation, you`ll spend more time and resources searching and hiring replacements than you normally would.

It`s a given that job seekers shop around and compare job offers for the best ones before accepting to work for any company. The same applies to your current employees. So you want to also take a very good look at your benefits plan to know what you`re missing and how to make necessary improvements. If possible, interview your employees and find out what benefits issues they would like to have addressed.

As already mentioned, reducing the cost of employee turnover is one reason why SMBs should care about employee benefits. The good news is that it doesn`t necessarily have to be an over-the-board, mind-blowing benefits offer. A good rule of thumb is to ensure that at the level where you are, your employee benefits plan should reflect your capacity as a company and also your company's appreciation of the hard work of the employees.

3. To Improve the Productivity of Your Company

In most cases, employees will give their best to a company when they have access to perks like good retirement plans, excellent health insurance cover, or financial aid scheme. Increased staff dedication and productivity can often be traced to the presence of these perks. But in reality, that is expected; people tend to naturally give back when they've been given too.

In other words, motivating your staff members to put in more effort into work becomes so much easier when they understand that they're being adequately compensated for their efforts. When designing employee benefits plans, one area of major concern is health insurance. It takes healthy workers to make a productive team. Again, you don't want to go cheap on this score.

According to a research published by Harvard Business Review, 88% of people admitted that they will consider things like health insurance, dental, and vision insurance when choosing a new job.

4. Your Employees are Happier and Less Grumpy

Bearing in mind the benefit of having happy employees at work, there's no that investing in your employees' satisfaction at work is important. To keep your employees engaged, forge stronger work relationships, and boost the yield of your organization, you can incentivize productivity and achievements at work.

There are many ways to let your employees know that they mean so much to the company. From offering perks like free lunch and free gym memberships to providing flexible work arrangements (such as working from home or anywhere) and employee assistance programs, there are several other methods you can adopt to keep your staff happy at work.

5. You Can Partner with a Professional HR Solutions Company

What readily comes to mind here is a Professional Employer Organization (PEO), and this happens to be the best opportunity available to SMBs when it comes to getting the best employee benefits for their workers.

Most PEOs offer an assortment of HR services to small businesses, including competitive employee benefits plans. They even take care of payroll processing, health insurance, compliance issues, and share most HR liabilities with you. Professional Employer Organizations have a large network of partner companies, which they often leverage to provide best-in-class health insurance services to client companies. Check here for more on what benefits small and medium-sized businesses can expect when partnering with a PEO.

Getting the Help Your Businesses Needs

To attract and keep good talents, you must be game-on on employee benefits. Otherwise, you`ll likely struggle to grow and achieve your business goals. Your small business needs the best support it can get, which is why you should consider working with a PEO company.

At The Mission HR, we make it easy to get the best PEO services. We are a leading partner in the PEO, HR, payroll, and benefits outsourcing marketplace. The Mission HR provides result-oriented services for small and medium-sized organizations and government contractors, thereby serving as a trusted partner in integrated human resource compliance, risk management, employee benefits, employment practices liability insurance (EPLI), and payroll processing.