What are the top most desirable employee benefits?
To help you best identify the benefits that employees are desiring the most, we asked HR managers and business leaders this question for their best insights. From paid family leave to retirement plans to a flexible work environment backed by human-focused leadership, there are several benefits that employees are mostly desiring their employers to offer as a regular component of their compensation package.
Here are 10 top benefits these leaders cited as what their employees are mostly desiring:
- Paid Family Leave
- On-Demand Pay
- Paid Time Off
- Medical and Health Benefits
- Professional Development Opportunities
- Retirement Plans
- Flexibility Across Various Benefits Programs
- Self-Invested Personal Pension
- The Four-Day Work-Week
- Flexible Work Environment Backed by Human-Focused Leadership
Paid Family Leave
Nowadays, people are starting families at a much wider range of ages and life stages. Having paid family leave is becoming more attractive because of it. This enables families to quickly adapt and compensate for the issues surrounding paternity, maternity or adoption leave, without having to worry about the impact on their finances or home situation. While Family leave isn’t the number one benefit in all areas, it is still a big incentive for professionals when considering their employment options. Companies that offer paid family leave will have an edge over those who don’t, even amongst workers who haven’t started families as of yet. It’s a valuable benefit that makes employees feel more secure about their potential future choices.
Boye Fajinmi, TheFutureParty
On-Demand Pay
Several years ago, I implemented DailyPay and it was and still is one of the very best benefits offered. Allowing employees to access their earned but unpaid wages at any time through an app on their phone gives the employee control and autonomy over when they receive their earned money. It’s not a loan, and there are no interest fees charged…it’s genius! DailyPay is the gold standard for on-demand pay, and has positive impacts on so many areas of the business, from attraction to retention to culture and DEI, this one offering meets people where they are and adds an immediate lift to the entire organization.
Barbie Winterbottom, the Business of HR
Paid Time Off
Employees want to know if their employer is willing to give them the time they need to take off sick days, spend time with their family, or simply have vacation time in order to refresh. Businesses need employees to be focused on their work while at the workplace, so giving them ample time off is a good practice for allowing them to rest and stay focused. Giving employees more paid time off (PTO) can help both the employee and the company.
Stephen Skeel, 7 Wonders
Medical and Health Benefits
The most desirable employee benefit has to be the medical/health benefits. Giving health benefits to employees is one of the basics of how a company cares for its people. It gives the employees security knowing that their company is concerned about their health. Providing employees with health benefits or medical insurance on top of their salaries gives them security in terms of finances. Healthcare in certain countries is inaccessible, not only because of the unavailability of healthcare providers but also because they cannot afford its cost. With health insurance, medical expenses can be reduced, and the employees can enjoy their hard-earned income more. Such a benefit is also an advantage for the company. By ensuring that the employees’ health is taken care of, absenteeism rates will reduce and productivity will increase.
Jonathan Baillie Strong, Spotlight Podcasting
Professional Development Opportunities
One of the most desirable benefits a company can provide for its employees is professional development opportunities. By facilitating workshops, classes, and even bringing in guest speakers, businesses can help their employees stay up to date on the latest trends and technologies in their industry. This is crucial for keeping employees motivated and engaged in their work, and it can also lead to increased productivity and innovation. Not only that, but professional development opportunities are also a great way to show employees that you care about their career growth and future prospects.
Businesses who invest in the internal development of their employees will often find that it leads to strengthening workplace culture, as employees are given the opportunity to rise up the ranks based on the skills they’ve learned. Workplaces with a visible culture of learning and development are often highly attractive to outside talent, ensuring that you’re always bringing in the best of the best.
Teresha Aird, Offices.net
Retirement Plan
One of the top most desired employee benefits is a retirement plan. Retirement plans offer employees security and peace of mind in their later years, which can be very valuable. They also allow businesses to attract and retain top talent by incentivizing them to retire on time. In addition, research has shown that companies with generous retiree benefits are more likely to stay afloat in difficult economic times due to less workforce turnover.
Johannes Larsson, JohannesLarsson.com
Flexibility Across Various Benefits Programs
Given that our workforce is diverse with unique needs, the best benefits now are flexible, expansive, and appealing to a wide range of employees. For example, instead of a restrictive gym reimbursements program, consider a more expansive wellness plan with multiple use cases including mental health and nutrition. This will allow employees who do not feel comfortable or do not have a need for a formal gym environment to participate while focusing on improving areas that are most meaningful to them.
Tyren Thompson, Zoom
Self-Invested Personal Pension
There are a few different opinions on the top most desirable employee benefit, but Self-Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs) seem to be at the top of most lists. SIPP pensions offer a lot of financial security and peace of mind for employees, and they are often seen as one of the most valuable benefits employers can offer. There are a few reasons why SIPP pensions are so desirable.
The main benefit here is that companies can offer a monthly top-up of each employee’s SIPP contribution (up to a certain amount). SIPPs are a long-term investment seen as a way of looking after employees’ future finances. It’s also a tax-efficient way for companies to give their employees a pay rise. SIPP contributions are taken from an employee’s salary before tax is deducted, so it’s a salary sacrifice scheme. This means that the employee and the employer save on National Insurance contributions. Employees can top up their SIPP with their own money to take advantage of the tax.
Lukasz Zelezny, SEO Consultant London
The Four-Day Work-Week
I love the ability to work a four-day work week. This one benefit has helped me and my employees to have a better work/life balance. Many hybrid and work-from-home employees are able to work a four-day work week. This is a great benefit for those who are looking to have more time outside of work. I believe this one benefit is a positive offering for both the employee and the employer. The employer receives more productive hours from their employees.
As an employer, you can track your “four-day work week” employee with monitoring tools such as Time Doctor, Rescue Time and Desk Time. These tools will help you to see if your employees are productive during their four-day work week. If you are concerned about offering the customers five days to reach your organization you can have some employees work Tuesday through Friday and others can work Monday through Thursday.
Shawn Ryan, Techtopia
Flexible Work Environment Backed by Human-Focused Leadership
A flexible working environment has been demonstrably proven as the number one swing issue for a huge number of employees, with many choosing to leave their employers rather than lose that privilege. This, in my mind, is only half the story. The second part of this is empathic leadership to go along with a flexible work environment.
Simply enabling MS Teams and sending people home isn’t what makes a good flexible work environment, it is human-focused leadership and HR that allows those employees to take advantage of the benefits of working from home without expecting them to still be glued to their workstations 9-5. This is difficult to train and implement, but the companies that are succeeding in doing so are seeing massive hikes in their acquisition and retention and sharp spikes in employee sentiment on review sites like Glassdoor in my experience.
Kate Kandefer, SEOwind