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3 ways to make the most out of your employee benefits program

When thinking up employee benefits ideas for your workforce and designing an employee benefits program, it’s natural to want to look at the numbers and determine the return-on-investment (ROI) and/or value-on-investment (VOI). After all, businesses are in it for the profit. But to truly make the most out of your employee benefits program, it’s necessary to look beyond these metrics for a second. In this Pacific Prime UK article, we give you 3 ways to make the most out of your employee benefits program.

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1. Focus on the ‘employee’ in ‘employee benefits’

‘Employee benefit’ has the word ‘employee’ in it, but when was the last time you (or a member of the senior leadership team) spoke to employees personally? Of course, there’s a time and place for email updates about the company or cybersecurity tips, but you can also just have casual chats with a few employees each day.

Just think how you’d treat clients. You’d place emphasis on strengthening the relationships for business goals. So why not do the same with employees? It’s a no brainer – the more you get to know employees personally, the more important and valued they’d feel. This also helps build a sense of belonging in the workplace.

What’s more, if you invest in your relationship with employees and get to understand their pain points and struggle, you’ll be more in tune with them when implementing an employee benefits program. This ensures that the employee benefits program is effective in addressing both their needs and those of the business.

Tip: When you next have a one-to-one meeting with an employee, spend a bit of time – say 10 minutes – talking about anything other than work. Open the door to discussion and make sure you listen.

Give employees continuous, personalized feedback

Speaking of focusing on employees, you should pay attention to their work and the value it brings to your business. However, this shouldn’t be the kind that occurs once a year in the form of a performance review. Rather, the line manager and employee should be able to check in on an ongoing basis and decide how best to invest in the employee’s career as they progress.

If you’re wondering why your employee benefits program isn’t working and/or how to motivate employees in the workplace, then perhaps it’s a sign that you also need to bring in an incentive bonus plan into the feedback process. Do this more often during the year and tailor it to the employees’ career path and goals, and you’ve got a winning formula.

2. Make sure your employee benefits cover the entire spectrum

While group health insurance remains a highly coveted employee benefit, it’s important to remember that this should be offered alongside other health and wellbeing benefits. This is because health is holistic, and one area can affect the other. As Neil Raymond, Founder and CEO of Pacific Prime, said:

“Health is a state of harmony between physical, mental, and financial wellbeing.”

Physical health:

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, employees are increasingly prioritizing their health. As such, physical health benefits like group health insurance are key. Telehealth benefits are also a good idea here, as it offers convenience in accessing care. Additionally, you could focus more on the preventative side of things with healthy eating programs, free gym membership and more.

Mental health

Loneliness from social distancing measures and anxiety over contracting COVID-19, along with financial worries amidst the global economic downturn, have had a toxic impact on employees. Benefits like employee assistance programs (EAPs), which include counselling and crisis support, as well as mindfulness sessions are ways to improve employees’ mental health.

Tip: While there’s a time and place for delivering bad news to employees, terminating an employee with mental health issues isn’t one of them. Follow HR best practices for the employee mental health revolution. 

Financial Health:

Employees’ money worries can be eased by offering budgeting and investment workshops, retirement planning advice and other information/programs to help them better manage their money. This can also be supplemented by employee discount programs or one-off cash bonuses for big events like the birth of a child.

Bonus tip: You can also get creative with your employee benefits such as a day off for birthday/work anniversaries, tickets to concerts and athletic events and more! Employee benefits that are less conventional can do wonders in helping employees feel appreciated.

3. Give employees the time to rest and recuperate

For many employers, the end goal of an employee benefit program is to improve employee motivation and to encourage employees to work harder. While this is not necessarily false, it’s crucial to remember that employees aren’t machines. Although it may seem counterproductive, giving employees time off to rest and recuperate can actually boost productivity (over presenteeism) in the long run.

This is why there’s a rise in time-off benefits like paid-time off to volunteer, mental health days, employee sabbaticals and the most radical – unlimited time off. That being said, employees will still need to request time off from their line manager and be held accountable for any substantial decline in productivity due to extended time off.

Get in touch with an employee benefits specialist like Pacific Prime UK today!

Designing, implementing, administering and optimizing employee benefits plans that are effective in addressing your employees’ needs and those of your business can be challenging – especially when you have a number of things on your plate. That’s why having an employee benefits specialist like Pacific Prime UK on your side can be a lifesaver.

With over two decades in the sector, we employ a tailored, technology-driven approach to help companies of all sizes and industries. Whether you’re interested in employee benefits, corporate health insurance or would simply like to learn more, you can give our Global Employee Benefits Trends Report 2020 a read and/or get in touch with a member of our corporate team.

Arrange a free consultation today!

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Senior Content Creator at Pacific Prime UK
Suphanida is a Senior Content Creator at Pacific Prime, an award-winning global health insurance and employee benefits specialist.

With over 5 years of experience in the field, Suphanida spends the majority of her day synthesizing complex pieces of insurance-related information and translating this into easy-to-understand, engaging, and effective content across a variety of media such as articles, infographics, whitepapers, videos, and more.

Suphanida is also responsible for planning and publishing three whitepapers released annually by Pacific Prime: The State of Health Insurance Report, The Cost of Health Insurance Report, and The Global Employee Benefits Trends Report. Additionally, she handles the LinkedIn profiles of Pacific Prime’s Founder and CEO, as well as Global HR Lead.

Suphanida’s strengths lie in her strong research and analytical skills, which she has gained from her BA in Politics from the University of Warwick and Erasmus Mundus Joint MA in Journalism from Aarhus University and City, University of London.

Being of Thai-Indian origin and having lived, studied, and worked in Thailand, the UK, and Denmark, Suphanida also has a unique, multicultural perspective that helps her understand the struggles of expats and globetrotters.

Outside of work, she enjoys traveling to new places and immersing herself in different cultures.
Suphanida Thakral