There is a talent war happening in the Bay Area. Many employers think compensation is the only thing that matters to employees. They’re wrong.
Employees care about so much more than just money. While their pay is obviously important to them, they also want a strong benefits package. These ancillary benefits are what can help you win this talent war.
But you must be strategic about where you put your time and effort. Like any business decision, you need to ensure that you’re getting a positive ROI. To do that, you need to make sure you’re giving your employees the benefits they’re looking for while not breaking your company’s budget or potentially harming profits.
Attract Quality Employees in Your Industry
Attracting top talent in your industry can be difficult, even for the most well-known companies in the Bay Area. To compete in this talent war and attract quality employees, you must offer a stellar benefits package.
In fact, about 80% of employees prefer benefits or perks to a raise. What this tells you is that your employees want certain perks. But you have to be strategic about the perks you offer, especially if you cannot afford to offer endless benefits.
Your employees are not looking for happy hours or Halloween parties. While those can be fun, your employees want more tangible benefits like healthcare, retirement, and time off. While these benefits cost your company money to provide, when done right, you will see a positive ROI. Providing these benefits can give you a competitive advantage over your rivals, helping you attract the best employees in your industry.
Retain Your Superstars
Employees are more likely to stay with their current employer if their company has a good benefits package. Specifically, almost half of employees said that the deciding factor on whether they would stay at their current job is whether their employer offered good health insurance.
This is vital to your company’s success because of how expensive employee turnover can be, both in terms of time and money. You have so much going on that spending more time dealing with hiring and training new employees will take your focus away from growing your business.
The cost to post a job, review resumes, schedule interviews, conduct those interviews, and then hope that you’re making the right decision on a new hire is astronomical. On top of that, you will have lost time on your own duties plus the duties required of the open job. It can take months to find a suitable replacement for open positions. Do you really have that time?
One of the best ways to reduce your turnover is to offer a great benefits package. When employees see the package you offer, you will make your job easier and you’ll have the added benefit of reducing your turnover. Some employees may inevitably leave your company, even if you have amazing benefits. But when you have a great benefits package, you can reduce the time it takes to replace that position, ensuring you get the right person in the job as soon as possible.
Boost Morale… And Your Reputation
Another great way to keep your business churning is to boost your employee morale. When your employees feel that they are valued members of your organization, they are more likely to be productive and efficient employees. In fact, happy employees may be up to 20% more productive than unhappy employees.
These employees will be your company’s cheerleaders. They will promote your company internally by helping other employees become more engaged. They become your internal cheerleaders when they feel valued, which is exactly what a best-in-class benefits package will do.
But these employees will also become your external cheerleaders. They will help increase your company’s visibility by leaving positive impressions on social media and job review websites. By ensuring that your employees feel valued and cared for, you can ensure that your company has the tools necessary to succeed.
Bottom Line
The importance of employee benefits cannot be overstated. Your company relies on your employees. When employees leave, you have to invest time, energy, and money to find replacements for them – when you could be focused on your core business needs. But there is one way you can avoid this headache, and that is by offering a best-in-class benefits package. Not only will it help your company attract free-agent talent, but you may also even be able to lure top talent from a competitor.
The Bay Area is an incredibly competitive talent pool. The area’s talent will gravitate toward the companies that offer the best benefits and compensation packages. To attract people that are going to help your company move forward, benefits should be your top priority.
