Popular Workplace Benefits To Keep Employees Happy And Motivated

It is typical for companies to offer a 401k plan or health insurance as part of the employee benefit package. However, there are many other perks and benefits that employees would love to have as well, all of which are very inexpensive for a company to adopt. For instance, an employee under the age of 35 would rather have free lunch in the office each week as opposed to a pay raise. What other alternative benefits can employers use to retain their best talent?

A Flexible Schedule Helps With Work/Life Balance

Allowing a worker to come in at noon and work eight hours as opposed to having to show up first thing in the morning may be better for those who enjoy staying up late at night. It may be better for parents to have Wednesday and Friday off to be there for their children instead of having the weekend off. Assuming employees have the time management strategies to get their work done and meet customer needs, offering a flexible schedule can be an easy way to win worker loyalty without sacrificing the bottom line.

Help Employees With Student Loan Debt

When a recent college grad get his or her first job, he or she does so with thousands of dollars in student loan debt. This debt may make it harder to buy a house, start a family or even keep up with basic living expenses. Providing several hundred dollars a month or year to help with student debt consolidation payments instead of a standard 3-5% raise can go a long way toward improving morale and increasing employee loyalty toward the company.

Keep Employees Healthy

A recent study indicated that modern professionals consider medical coverage to be the most important employee benefit when considering a job. However, it goes beyond just health coverage. If you want your employees engaged and productive, you should want them healthy. These are just good employee marketing branding practices. Quality employee healthcare plans are just the start. Additional wellness benefits are a great way to show employees you care about their physical health as well as their mental health. Wellness benefits like a nutritious office pantry, discounted fitness classes and smoking cessation programs are a great way to ensure your business keeps its employees happy and productive.

Let Your People Be Themselves

Another easy way to offer perks to your employees without having to spend a lot of money is to allow them to dress casually at the office. You may also want to consider letting your employees work from home either for part of the week or as a standard company policy. It benefits employees because they don’t have to stress themselves during the morning commute or spend a lot of money on gas or work clothes. It benefits employers because they don’t need a large office building and the associated costs that come with it.

Allow Your Employees to Develop and Advance

Your employees want to learn and grow on the job. Having a boss that takes an interest in what they do and prepares them for greater success is among the top perks younger workers want in lieu of a larger salary. Therefore, business owners should invest in employee development if they want to keep online payroll services in check and invest in their future at the same time. Short classes covering useful training over a one month period or optional classes after work for an hour or two for employees could go a long way toward retaining them.

Let Your Employees Literally Take Ownership

Offering stock options or even small profit sharing motivates employees to work harder and smarter for the company. If your employees do a good job building relationships with customers and otherwise keeping costs in check, they may directly benefit through an ownership interest that grows in value.

If you want to retain your employees, there are plenty of creative benefits that you can offer to them. Stock options, development programs and helping with student loan debt are prized perks that employees may desire instead of a larger salary. For small businesses in local areas, payroll services in Boise can facilitate these processes. Therefore, these items are worth looking into if you don’t want to increase salaries or otherwise looking for a less expensive perk for your employees than a standard round of raises.

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