It’s expensive to replace employees who leave. Inc estimates that the this turnover cost is nearly 1.5 times the person’s salary by the time you factor in recruiting, interviewing, hiring and on boarding. That doesn’t even include the cost of everybody’s time spent hiring someone new. Invest that money into some unique benefits that keep your staff interested and excited to work for your company.
Reduce Your Employees’ Major Concerns
Analyze your employee base to find what their true concerns are. Tailor a benefits package to what your staff really needs and reduce those stresses so they can be more productive while at work. The Wall Street Journal Guides say that health insurance, life insurance and retirement are still at the top of the benefits list. Other benefits such as telecommuting, flex time, and a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy meet the employees’ desire to have a more flexible work schedule.
Addressing Day-to-Day Employee Needs
The less an employee is thinking about things they need to deal with at home, the more energy they have to focus on their job. Once you have addressed the major concerns above, begin adding benefits that help with an employee’s daily issues.
A North Carolina packaging company offers laundry services for its employees, reports Retention Connection. People bring in their laundry and leave it at a central location where it is washed, dried and folded. Employees then pick up their laundry at the end of the day for just $1 per load.
You can offer a simpler version of this by having a dry cleaner or laundry pick up items in the morning, and return them the next day. The convenience of this service is a time-saver for your employees and keeps them from wasting their lunch time running household errands.
Retain a handy man service that employees can use to do simple home repairs for the cost of the materials. You’ll get more focus from your employees when they’re not worrying about the leaky toilet at home.
Invest in Employee Training
Create a program that seeks to deliver supplemental education to your employees in line with their career objectives. This gives you the opportunity to promote from within, from a pool of already-trained resources. For example, research online accounting degree resources to find programs that match the needs in your bookkeeping and finance departments. Align the training with your company’s specific needs. You’ll have people ready to move into new positions and be productive the first day.
You can also develop mentoring or apprenticeship programs for those people who want to move into something entirely different. For example, a mentoring program in your graphics design department can help people find the right education and get some hands-on experience. With this, they’ll be able to work in the marketing areas of your business.
Create Community Opportunities
Give employees time off to do volunteer work in the community. Identify specific dates when the company gets involved in community activities, and encourage your employees to become part of the effort. Some examples include cleaning up parks and playgrounds, and building playground equipment. Rebuild trails in nature areas, assist with events such as the Special Olympics, or provide mentoring or tutoring for ESL students at local schools.
Make It a Team Effort
The Society for Human Resource Management says that more employees are willing to take on part of the cost of their benefits rather than lose them entirely. When cost to your company is an issue, offer this as an alternative to your employees. For example, offer to fund half of their supplemental training or degree completion programs.
