There are all kinds of business models, but there are also certain universalities, regardless of the services or products you offer. In any niche, employee retention is one thing that should interest you. If you can retain your employees, that means you don’t have to worry about headhunting, interviewing, hiring, onboarding, etc.
Depending on your company’s business model, you could offer your employees certain benefits or perks while staying away from others. Let’s look at several examples, and we’ll talk about whether it’s in your best interest to offer each one.
Table of Contents
Retirement Investing Services
Many individuals think about retirement investing at some point. If you ignore this critical step, you’ll be unprepared when you want to retire, and you might not be able to exit the job market when you would prefer to do so.
The average person seeks retirement investment help by going to various financial entities, such as banks, credit unions, etc. However, some innovative companies offer financial planning as a perk.
They may have financial planners on staff whose job it is to help employees think about their futures. The business might also partner with a bank, credit union, or some other entity, and they can send their employees in that direction if they express an interest.
Since retirement planners charge a fee, getting access to such an entity or individual free of charge is very appealing. It’s no wonder more companies are offering this as a perk these days.
Healthcare Plans
Probably healthcare is the most critical benefit that people want. You can’t overemphasize its importance.
As long as we don’t have universal healthcare in this country, and it remains privatized, it’s one of the most expensive things for which a person has to pay. If they don’t get healthcare through their work, they need to find it on the open market.
Depending on how good of a plan they get, they might pay more for healthcare than they do for rent every month. If they have mortgage payments instead, it’s the same thing. They’ll have a gargantuan healthcare bill, and as an employer, you can relieve that pain.
Even if you offer only a very limited healthcare plan, that’s better than nothing. You might be able to retain your employees based on this benefit alone.
Gym Memberships
Most employers regard gym memberships as a perk rather than a traditional benefit. Still, this is another potential employee retention strategy that you might want to consider.
The nice thing about employee gym memberships is that the cost is not usually that high, but the employees will appreciate it. If you have a central office workspace where the employees congregate, you might even install workout equipment there, so they don’t need to leave the premises to get some exercise in.
This is to your benefit in another way. In theory, if you give your employees this perk, they will stay in better shape. You have incentivized not leading a sedentary lifestyle, so they will likely remain healthier.
That means they won’t miss as much work, so you have a better chance of meeting deadlines and satisfying clients.
A 401K Program
It’s the rare employee that won’t want a 401K program as part of a benefits package. With a 401K program, your employees can start putting money away toward retirement every month. It’s even better if you say you’ll match contributions up to 2, 3, or even 5%.
This is free money for the workers, and while it’s coming out of your pocket, many employees won’t want to leave if they know they’re building up a nest egg. You might tell them they can be 401K-eligible within six months or a year. They’ll want to stick around for that.
More Vacation Time
Different companies want to give their employees more or less vacation time. There is little consensus regarding how much is the ideal amount, but generally speaking, the more paid vacation time you give your employees, the happier they’ll be.
One of the best things you can do as an employer is to set up vacation time tiers. You might say a person will get a certain amount after being with the company for one year. They’ll get more after two years, and still more after five years.
Everything you can do to get your employees to stick around will help your business. If you can keep promoting from within, you’ll encourage loyalty, and that’s absolutely critical.
