2020 Benefit Upgrades – The Key to Employee Retention and Attraction

Posted by: Emma Berdanier on November 13th, 2019

With the start of a new decade on the horizon, is your company in need of an open review and overhaul of your benefits offerings? Benefits play a pivotal role today in retaining and attracting the right people. This is especially true given the ongoing shortage of good talent.

Be sure to review your traditional, and expected, offerings such as healthcare, 401k, and paid vacation (By the way – just 1 or 2 weeks of vacation is no longer competitive). Also, you will want to consider adding some outside-of-the-box benefits. This is essential to ensure you don’t lose employees and can attract new talent.

Here are some current, non-traditional benefit offerings that are becoming more common-place in today’s companies:

Family-Friendly Employee Benefits

Employers today are demonstrating their understanding that family truly does come first. They’re offering comprehensive family-focused benefits. For example, they’re offering paid maternity and paternity leave, emergency/sick childcare, and eldercare time off. Some companies even offer fertility services.

Flexible Schedules

More than 10% of employees quit their job because of a poor work-life balance. This was caused by their commute time. Employee commute times are directly affected by companies’ schedules. A solution to this is flexible scheduling. This benefit can make a big difference for parents, students, and employees with ongoing health issues. It will also cut down on employees’ commutes. As an added benefit to your company, you can expand your company’s business hours if you offer employees early or late schedules. For example, alternative schedules could be 6:30 AM – 3:00 PM or 9:00 AM – 5:30 PM.

We’ve written on this topic before. Since then this benefit has become more desirable. for job seekers.

Pet-Friendly Employee Benefits

There’s no doubt that Coloradoans love their pets and consider them family! Companies are now offering hugely popular benefits for pets. These include pet health insurance and “paw-ternity leave” for new pet owners. Some companies are even allowing pets at work. This is a growing trend, with 11% of companies offering this to some extent.

Tech Benefits

The Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) found that over 50% of employers provide a company-owned business cell phone for business and personal use. Moreso, over 40% offer subsidies for cell phone bills for employee-owned devices. Another 15% of organizations offer free computers for employees’ personal use. Tech benefits ensure that employees can get their work done. This is especially useful for employees who work remotely or travel for work.

Financial Wellness Programs

According to a recent PwC report, money causes the most stress in the lives of almost 60% of employees. More than 30% of employees say financial worries impact their health. When asked what benefit employees want, 1 in 4 said they want a financial wellness program. These programs give employees personalized tools to help them better manage their money. This allows them to pay off their debts, build savings, and plan for retirement.

Student Loan Debt Repayment Programs

56% of employers offer tuition assistance for employees currently pursuing a degree. But those offering some sort of Student Loan Repayment reached 8% in 2019. That’s double what it was just a year earlier. There is $1.5 trillion in student loan debt. As a result, employers who offer student loan benefits are extremely attractive to job seekers. Some companies are allowing workers to transfer up to 5 days of PTO for payments against student loan debt. Other programs offer student loan refinancing or allow employers to match employee 401(k) contributions with student loan repayments.

Other Popular Employee Benefits On-The-Rise

According to SHRM’s 2019 Benefits Survey, these benefits are becoming more attractive to top job seekers.

• 60% of employers offer standing desks, up from 25% in 2018
• 51% sponsor community volunteer programs
• 21% offer onsite quiet rooms for relaxation, meditation, or prayer
• 20% have organization-sponsored sports teams
• 4% offer rooms where employees can rest and take a nap

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Sources:

• Bakich, Rebeccah. “Employee Benefits Trends for 2020 According to HR Professional Survey.” Human Resources Today, 8 August 2019.
• Mucha, Rachel. “A 2020 vision: Is your benefits package ready for the future?” HR Morning, 13 February 2019.
• Stevens, Liz. “Top 10 Employee Benefits for 2020.” Best Money Moves, 19 July 2019.