For some, healthcare options have become more available and more varied in the last few years. For others, the challenge of finding the basics benefits and coverages is challenging. Employers find themselves stuck somewhere in the middle of trying to negotiate an affordable plan that works well for the majority of their employees and getting the necessary coverage for their most at risk workers. As major companies announce that they are dropping the basic benefits and coverages that they once provided in many states, employers and individual policy owners who had a plan are now looking again.
Access to group insurance and the affordability of individual health insurance continues to drive the economic decisions of many companies and their workers. Where once workers may have been more than happy to retire at a standard age of 55, now it is a very few people quit working so young. In search of continued health plans and basic benefits and coverages, more workers find themselves still going to work well into their 60s. Some stay working until a much later age.
Finding Cost-Effective Benefits Solutions Today Requires Research and Attention to Detail
Employee insurance benefits are important to both workers and the employer. Often as important as salary, many hring discussions focus on what kind of basic benefits and coverages are available. And while some plans provide benefits for dental and vision, others simply cover the most basic healthcare needs.
And at the same time that prospective workers are trying to understand the benefits that a new plan might offer, employers are trying to make lasting hiring decisions. It goes without saying that finding the perfect person for a job is of little use if that person leaves within the first two years. Alarmingly, research indicates that as much as $11 billion is lost a year to employee turnover.
In fact, the secret to success in today’s economy is finding the best employees and working to be the best employer so those employees will stay. And while salaries and insurance plans make up much of a company’s benefit packages, other options can lead to a better record for employee retention as well. Unfortunately, as many as 44% of Millennials indicate that if they were given the choice, they would expect to leave their current employers some time in the next two years. This statistic alone should be a strong signal to all employers that they need to put just as much effort into employee retention as they do employee acquisition.
Feeling content and feeling connected are two indicators that a current employee will stay where they are instead of jumping ship to another opportunity. Fostering these feelings of contentment and connectedness is the job that many large companies often outsource. With the help of human relations staffing experts, for example, a company can work on providing and establishing a work place that feels both comfortable and productive.
The decision to contract with outside experts means that a company is more likely to understand a wider range of what kinds of benefit packages are helping retain the most valuable and the best employees. For instance, understanding both industry standards and location averages for such things as paid time off can help a company stay competitive in what they offer to their employees.
Not surprisingly, paid leave is the most commonly provided employee benefit. By definition, it can include everything from paid holidays to company wide shut downs that also allow for time off. Did you know, for instance, that paid holidays are made available to 77% of employees. Additionally, paid vacation time benefits are also available to 77% of employees.
The employees of companies that offer 11 or more benefits have a fairly high employee satisfaction rate. Specifically, 66% of employees who are offered at least 11 benefits indicate that they would recommend their employers as great places to work. Being able to provide a cost analysis for the basic benefits and coverages that employers might over is crucial to not only retaining employees, but also to the financial success of a company. Many of these calculations are best determined by outside providers who can provide a comprehensive plan.