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With so many options, how can you make sure that you’re offer the best benefits package?

With the increasing trend for employers striving to offering a better work / life balance, benefit packages are becoming more important than ever, not only for attracting but also retaining your employees.

It’s no longer enough to offer a competitive salary . If your benefits package doesn’t stack up against your competition then it’s likely that you’ll be see the impact with potential new hires rejecting your offers and longer term, your employee loyalty could be affected.

As well as considering factors such as office culture, working environment, team fit and flexible working there’s an ever-increasing demand for employers to offer an impressive benefits package.

According to a Glassdoor survey, 90% of those surveyed said that they would prefer better benefits or new additional benefits to a pay rise.

So as an employer, why should you consider improving your benefits package? Will you get a return on the increased costs?

Well, 69% of staff said that they would be more likely to stay with an employer that offered good benefits and 68% said that it’s one of the key reasons that they’d take a job with a new employer.

So what benefits should you be including? Jobsite recently surveyed 500 people about which benefits they felt were an important part of their package and the results are below;

• 82% said generous pension contribution
• 65% said performance related bonuses
• 55% said support for mental health and stress
• 51% said private medical insurance

Of course, the order of importance may well depend on the age of your work force. Jamie Smith-Thompson, Managing Director at pensions advice company Portafina, commented;

“An older employee may be more likely to prioritise their pension as a benefit, but the quality of the pension in a pay packet is unlikely to be an issue for company loyalty,”

If your company employs a high level of millennials, then their priority may well be paying off student debt and they may be more likely to value basic pay or bonuses above a pension contribution.

The key is maximising your return on a benefits package Is to understand what benefits your employees value the most.

Consider Offering a Flexible Benefit Packages

Nearly 60% of UK employers now provide benefits packages that are funded by salary sacrifice schemes;

“It makes so much sense to wrap up all of these existing benefits into one cohesive, flexible benefits offering,” said Matt Duffy, Head of Online Consultancy at Aon Employee Benefits.

If you can offer a flexible benefits package, which allows employees to pick and choose the most important benefits from a selection then you may be more likely to attract and retain your employees.

If you’ve not reviewed your benefits package in the last 3 years , then start thinking about it now. Talk to your employees, carry out a survey or include it as part of your professional development reviews.

Most importantly, communicate that you understand the value that these benefits can bring to your employees and always be open to new suggestions and ideas.