Attracting and retaining talent isn’t just challenging: it’s very competitive. Many businesses focus their efforts on showcasing a positive company culture, promotion opportunities, and, most prominently, the benefits employees can receive.
Offering a strong line-up of popular, attractive employee benefits can have an impact on your recruitment and retention efforts. One of the best ways you can enhance the value of your benefit offerings is to provide customizable benefits, also referred to as voluntary benefits, that employees can voluntarily choose to enroll in.
This article will give you an overview of voluntary employee benefits, including what they are, how they differ from regular benefits, and why leading businesses take advantage of the voluntary benefits strategy.
Voluntary benefits are defined as optional benefits employees can enroll in, typically during the open enrollment period, as a perk of employment. Generally, voluntary benefits are offered to employees at a discounted rate, but the costs associated are employee-funded through payroll deductions.
As with many employer-sponsored benefits, employers are responsible for giving their employees the appropriate notices and information regarding voluntary benefit enrollment.
Employers must provide the following:
There are many types of voluntary benefits employers can offer their employees, ranging from healthcare plans to retirement plans, with some even including benefits that offer a better work-life balance.
Common types of voluntary benefits include:
Over the years, some employer-sponsored benefits programs have grown to include more unconventional perks aimed at attracting and retaining their workforce, making for a more competitive benefits package.
Lesser common types of voluntary benefits include:
Hosting a variety of voluntary benefits plans from different plan carriers can get confusing without a benefits administration solution in place. These solutions can help organize and provide a seamless, secure connection to share crucial employee data necessary for enrollment.
Offering voluntary benefits to your employees can produce a lot of positive results for your workers and boost your company’s overall culture and image.
Here are just some of the many ways voluntary benefits can improve your business and your employees’ relationship with the company.
Because voluntary benefits are often employee-funded, many employers can offer a variety of voluntary benefit options at a fraction of the cost. Even if an employer decides to chip in on some of the voluntary benefits they offer, employers can increase their overall benefits offerings value without needing to balance additional premiums in their budget.
Depending on the voluntary benefits you offer, your employees will have the option to enjoy a better work-life balance, ultimately reducing stressors from work and increasing their productivity. A study from Gartner shows that 43% of remote workers claim work hour flexibility helped increase their productivity, proving that the more time employees are given to be productive outside of work gives them energy to come back to work at full force.
Even voluntary benefits related to their health or lifestyle can help give employees a better peace of mind. For example, a discounted gym membership benefit encourages more employees to comfortably afford working out regularly as they desire, eliminating the costly burden of improving their own health.
Allowing employees to participate in resources that will help ease their overall well-being can make an impact on the workforce’s overall performance.
Branching out past the mandatory benefits allows your business to stand out from the competition, helping you position your business better to new hire prospects. According to a survey conducted by the SHRM, 88% of job seekers consider benefits such as healthcare, dental, and vision as a core part of their decision-making process. Your business should strive to offer a variety of voluntary benefits that employees desire most.
Maintaining competitive benefits packages can also show a boost in employee retention. Giving employees the freedom to enroll in additional benefits they want most helps fill in gaps in their existing benefits or personal plan coverage.
For example, if an employee participates in a group health insurance plan that does not cover dental procedures or visits, they will likely want to enroll in a dental plan if an employer offers one as an additional option.
When an employee is satisfied with their coverage and has the flexibility options they need to succeed, they are much less likely to become a flight risk in the future, ultimately reducing employee turnover.
If your business desires the value voluntary benefits bring to the table, your next step should be building out a plan to offer them. There is no right or wrong way to set up voluntary benefits plans for your employees; however, it’s best to follow a comprehensive guide for benefits and open enrollment to understand the key tasks you need to get started.
Here are 6 key steps to offering voluntary benefits:
Going above and beyond with out-of-the-box benefits employees can choose from, at their own discretion, can make a big impact on your business. Your business can start seeing improvements in their productivity, mental health, and overall job satisfaction by supplying them with the needs their current plan is not covering.
Building an array of voluntary benefits that are open-enrollment ready can be that extra competitive edge your company needs to foster a positive workplace culture and attract fresh talent eager to be a part of the team. The best way to begin the process is by utilizing a comprehensive benefits administration solution that will make the open enrollment process for all benefits simple for all members of the organization. If your company needs help choosing or managing voluntary benefits, contact us today.