Deal breakers – The best employee benefits

Do you want to pick the best employee benefits – also known as the employee benefits employees really want? Meeting the specific preferences of different demographics can ultimately lead to a more engaged, motivated and productive workforce, leading to higher staff retention, lower resourcing costs and, overall, a better business.

With most of us now spending 60% of their waking hours at work, it’s inevitable that people are increasingly looking to their employer for more than a paycheck. They’re asking for help to live the life they want and employee benefits are part of that!

Millennials in particular – who will make up 75% of the workplace within eight years – say that work-life balance, good relationships and wellbeing are among the most important factors to them other than salary when it comes to deciding where to work. They are also taking their personal values into work, judging companies not just on the basis of financial performance but on how they treat their employees.

As the call for change gets louder, more and more companies are turning to innovative engagement ideas focused not just on work but also on enhancing employees’ lives overall. Helping employees achieve good, healthy, balanced lifestyles has been convincingly shown to bring a wealth of business benefits, from lower absenteeism to higher productivity, yet nowhere near enough employers are making it happen. We took a look at some stats from JustWorks on the employee benefits employees really want.

The overview – what are the best employee benefits?

According to stats from JustWorks, the best employee benefits – or the ones that weighed most heavily when deciding to accept a job offer are as follows:

• Health benefits: 45%
• Annual leave entitlement: 38%
• Retirement or a pension plan: 37%
• Additional extra perks (gym, flexible work schedules, etc): 26%
• Paid parental leave: 20%

The best employee benefits: Health Benefits

Did you know that when deciding to accept a job offer, 88% of employees said the quality and options of health benefits were important and 41% of employers offer health insurance as part of their benefits.

Health benefits are usually the most expected and desired type of benefit surveyed employees cited when accepting a job offer. 88% of respondents said the quality and options of health benefits were important.

The best employee benefits: Mental/ physical Employee Perks

Interestingly, 15% of employers offer perks for mental and physical health in their benefits package, and although not the most important for job seekers, 26% of surveyed employees cited work perks such as gym memberships and flexible work schedules as important when considering a job offer.

The best employee benefits: Paid Time Off

When people decide to take a job or not, a huge 88% of employees said that paid time off was important.

Despite that, only 36% of surveyed employers offer paid time off in their benefits package, and women especially value the option of taking time off. Of the respondents surveyed, 50% of women said PTO is important, while 26% of men said the same.

The best employee benefits: Paid Parental Leave

Family matters. When deciding to accept a job offer, 66% of employees said the employers paid parental leave policy is important. In contrast, only 13% of employers offer paid parental leave in their benefits package.

Summary

In summary – it seems that the best employee benefits are all based around the human aspect of work – flexibility, space to spend time with children and families, time off and benefits that show care for the individual employee.