How to Create an Impressive Benefits Package to Attract and Retain High-Quality Employees

Finding and keeping good employees is a top priority for many companies. In today's competitive job market, though, high-quality talent can find better job opportunities in a variety of places.

To remain competitive, organizations must strive to create an attractive benefits package that will entice skilled workers.

By creating a strong benefits package, human resources (HR) departments and benefits managers can make sure their organization has a competitive edge when it comes time to recruit new hires or keep existing ones. 

In this article, we'll explore the best way to develop a strong benefits package that will attract and retain high-quality employees. With the right approach, your organization can ensure it's ready to support the lifeblood of your business.

Why Should Employers Offer a Benefits Package?

A benefits package is an often-overlooked but essential piece of an employer's larger recruiting and retention strategy. The package should be designed to compensate current and future employees for their hard work, incentivize them to stay with the company, and offer additional resources that will enable them to reach their full potential in their career roles.

An effective benefits program builds loyalty among top talent and assures employees that the company they choose has a vested interest in helping them succeed. 

In addition, employers benefit from offering competitive perks like health insurance packages, disability insurance coverage, and retirement savings plans by reducing employee turnover rates.

Studies have shown that most top-tier workers do not prioritize salary alone. While money is important for job satisfaction, employees will not stay with an organization if they feel they are not respected, if there aren’t opportunities for advancement, or if their needs are not being met.¹

Quality of life is an important consideration for employee satisfaction, so a strong benefits plan should factor this in to appeal to experienced professionals seeking stable careers.

The Key Components of a Retention-Focused Benefits Package

When creating your organization’s benefits package, there are several key elements you should take into account to attract and retain talented individuals: 

Flexible Work Arrangements

According to The New York Times, almost “one billion square feet of office real estate was available but in search of a tenant at the end of 2022.”² Employees are still working remotely, whether for personal necessity or to boost efficiency.

Companies that can offer flexible work arrangements – such as remote working, compressed work weeks, or part-time hours – understand the value of a balance between work and life.

Not only does this benefit ensure employees are more productive, but it also increases job satisfaction – meaning you’ll have a better chance at keeping quality workers around for longer periods.

Support for Well-Being 

High-quality employees know that taking care of their overall health is an integral part of productivity in the workplace. Employers will need to prioritize employee care if they want to keep their best employees in their organization.

A study from Corestream and Duke University found that, along with base health benefits, employees who had access to voluntary benefits packages were far more likely to stay with their company.³

Offering wellness services that can assist with childcare, mental health, or housing assistance can help staff foster a healthy work-life balance and remain productive during their employment period. It demonstrates that managers are honoring their employees and their commitment to the company.

Accelerated Career Paths 

Highly skilled professionals are often looking for a place that challenges them and allows them to increase their understanding of the business processes they’re exposed to. As previously mentioned, studies have shown that a lack of career development is a primary motivator for employees to leave their current jobs.¹

To attract and retain workers, you should consider creating an accelerated career path with built-in mentorship opportunities or additional training in crucial aspects of your company’s industry.

Your organization will show potential hires that despite their experience, they have pathways for development within your organization and will prepare them from day one to contribute powerfully when on the job. 

Holistic/Comprehensive Financial Wellness 

Finally, money alone doesn’t guarantee work satisfaction. If employees lack financial education, they may encounter difficulties understanding how to properly manage and invest their income.

Financial stress doesn’t just affect individual employees but their workplace, too. It’s been proven to have a detrimental effect on workplace productivity and bottom lines,⁴ and with 57% of workers reporting financial problems as their primary stressor in their lives,⁵ leaving this issue unchecked is a liability for employer and employee alike.

Keep Reading: 6 Must-haves for a Holistic Financial Wellness Program

Financial well-being initiatives – such as providing employees with access to independent financial counselors, educational resources, or programs for student loan and debt counseling – also provide great ways to communicate your company’s commitment to helping its workers achieve success outside of the professional sphere.

Financial Wellness

Financial wellness has a huge impact on employees' financial stress, which in turn greatly affects performance in modern organizations. To give your employees a better understanding of money management and financial planning, it's crucial to offer personalized financial wellness programs to give them financial empowerment.

Enrich's financial wellness platform does just that. It offers employees access to digital, personalized resources, advice, and tools on topics from retirement savings plans to tax issues.

HR representatives and employers will be able to measure employees' progress throughout their financial education, as well as use powerful analytics tools to gauge their employees’ understanding of different financial topics at any given time.

It's time to make sure your employees have the right resources to succeed. Take advantage of all that the Financial Wellness platform has to offer, and contact Enrich for a demo today.

Invest in Your Employees

You don't need to spend money on expensive hiring fees to attract and retain top talent in today's job market.

By focusing on offering quality benefits packages that create meaningful advantages for your employees, you can win over high-quality candidates and show them how much you value their commitment to your organization.

Take the time to design a package your organization can be proud of, and then make sure you market it correctly to ensure the best chance of success. By doing so, you’ll empower your employees while rewarding them for their loyalty with advantages that go beyond a paycheck.

1 - https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/03/09/majority-of-workers-who-quit-a-job-in-2021-cite-low-pay-no-opportunities-for-advancement-feeling-disrespected/

2 - https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/30/business/economy/remote-work-measure-surveys.html

3 - https://corp.corestream.com/media/jfwgerqv/voluntary-benefits-impact-engagement-infographic.pdf

4 - https://www.business.com/articles/stress-and-productivity-what-the-numbers-say/

5- https://www.pwc.com/us/en/services/consulting/business-transformation/library/employee-financial-wellness-survey.html