In this competitive landscape, attracting and retaining top talent has become difficult, especially for startups. Because of that reason, you have to offer the most in-demand employee benefits to your workforce. Preferably, ones that none of your competitors are offering. However, that’s easier said than done. Even if you have the budget for it, the management and administration of a benefits plan, can be complicated. Thankfully, there are some benefits management tips that can simplify these processes.
When devising their employee benefits programs, some startups make the rookie mistake of only accounting for the cost of the benefits themselves. What they tend to forget is the cost of communicating and implementing the said benefits.
Depending on the benefits you offer (and how complicated your overall benefits plan is), ensuring that everything runs smoothly can be difficult, and not to mention, quite expensive.
As a startup, you need to be extra careful with how you spend your resources. It can be tempting to go all out and become the most loved employer in the world, however, you need to consider your budget before taking such a step.
Continue to read about 4 tried-and-tested benefits management tips for startups to follow in 2020.
1. Leverage a Benefits Administration Program
If you have prior experience with managing a business, you know very well that automation is key.
The first entry on our list of benefits management tips is to implement a special software that automates everything.
While there are some downsides to implementing a program, such as high subscription fees and training, to name a few, the benefits are still too good, from financial and administrative point of views.
There are several benefits administration software/programs (also known as HCM solutions) that, once implemented, can ease a lot of things for, both, the employers and the employees who want to avail the perks.
Here are a few of them:
- Communication becomes easier (employees can easily understand how the perks work without having to bug the employer)
- Cut down administrative costs (with an automated software, there’s no need to hire a whole team of facilitators/administrators)
- Get regular feedback from employees in real time
Some top-selling software include:
- Paylocity
- Paychex
- ADP Workforce Now
- Workday HCM
- Gusto Payroll
Leveraging an HCM solution can make things a lot easier (and cost-effective in the long-run), however, it depends on the existing budget.
If you feel that, right now, investing in such a software is a good financial decision, go for it.
2. Educate Employees About the Benefits
You’re all set to offer the best employee benefits in your industry. But, what’s next?
One of the most challenging aspects of managing an employee benefits plan is communicating what the benefits are – their pros and cons, eligibility, and other technical aspects.
In fact, that’s a crucial aspect of engaging your employees. According to one survey, 77% of employees said that having a clear understanding of the benefits increased their chances of remaining with their existing employers for the foreseeable future.
If you plan on having a complicated employment benefits plan, one of the best benefits management tips to follow would be to clearly communicate whatever it is you’re offering.
The best way to go about doing this would be to create documents that cover everything, including what the benefit is, the eligibility, how to apply for it, other frequently asked questions, etc.
You can also put your document on the cloud and provide access to the entire company.
3. Track the ROI of Your Benefits
Once you’ve implemented and communicated your employee benefits plans, it’s time to track what they’re doing for you.
This can be tricky, considering that there are so many variables that need to be correlated.
Generally speaking, you should be tracking these three variables:
- Profit
- Employee retention
- Employee turnover rate
However, before anything else, you need to consider how much you’re investing on benefits per employee. The average cost of employee benefits per hour in 2017 was found to be $35.87 per hour.
Once you’ve determined yours, calculate the average cost of retaining your employees/how much financial damage your business is taking because of employee turnover.
Compare those costs and see if you need to make improvements.
4. Conduct Employee Surveys
Last, but certainly not the least, you should be conducting either monthly, bi-annual, or annual employee surveys to find out the effectiveness of your employee benefits plan.
Asking your employees for their opinions about the benefits, how they could be improved, what the administration lacks, etc. can help you improve your management.
You can take the surveys either as questionnaires or as one-on-one interviews; whatever the employees are comfortable with.
Ending Note
By being smart in managing the perks, you can reap their maximum benefits as an employer.
Apart from the very first one, you should follow all of the above-mentioned benefits management tips to ensure efficiency and cost-effectiveness.