The Importance of Boosting Morale Through Employee Benefits

The Importance of Boosting Morale Through Employee Benefits

Whether it be in the modern workforce or the Spartan warriors of the past, morale remains a primary concern for leaders and business owners. Unlike Spartan warriors, however, morale in the workplace primarily is formed through employee benefits. In light of the new year, all businesses whether a start-up or a corporation ought to evaluate their employee benefits. These employee benefits encourage a positive work-life balance. According to Forbes, employees with a positive work-life balance are 21% more productive than employees who don’t believe they have such balance. Ultimately, employee benefits lead to productivity which leads to a more efficient business. 

At the dawning of the new year, you likely asked yourself many questions in order to improve your lifestyle. However, are you asking yourself what benefits you currently offer your employees or what benefits you should be offering your employees? According to Business 2 Community, 75% of employees would choose a job with better benefits and rightly so. However, even if you aren’t trying to find new employees, what are you doing for your current employees? Due to high employment rates, many individuals are free to choose where they want to work, and no longer must settle for good enough. Are you offering good benefits or “good enough” benefits? The answer to this question can very well be the difference between an efficient company and a “sub-par” company.

What laws and legislation should I be aware of? A new year is here, taxes are on the horizon, and the government is experiencing vast amounts of drama. However, at the same time, legislation is being passed which impacts employee benefits. According to JDSupra, a website for expert insight, during the closing of 2019, legislation was passed that repealed the following:

  • The 40% excise tax on high-cost health plans 
  • The medical device tax (after December 31, 2019)
  • The tax on health insurance providers (after December 31, 2020)

These repeals may seem like foreign concepts to some business owners. However, at Insuraty, we specialize in helping small to medium businesses with their HR, including employee benefits to make these repeals work for you.

What benefits should I be offering? Ultimately, in the workforce, it can be increasingly difficult to know every employee’s name, their favorite pizza topping, or even their birthday. However, as an employer, the human must be put in human resources. Recognizing your employee’s needs and offering benefits to complement their needs is a great start. Unfortunately, it can be increasingly difficult to understand each employee’s needs, so here is a list of what you should be offering at a minimum:

  • Health Insurance
  • Paid time off
  • Retirement Savings Account

While this is a good set of benefits, this set should be considered as a minimum, not a maximum. In fact, if you are looking for new employees or to boost morale around the workplace, you should consider adding these benefits to the ones previously mentioned:

  • Dental Coverage
  • Flexible Hours
  • Company Gifts (bonuses or small gifts that show you care)

Adding these benefits to those you currently have, can greatly improve productivity and employee well-being. This improves morale and leads to an efficient company rather than a sub-par company.

Complete list of benefits. Maybe you’re unable to provide certain employee benefits mentioned above, or maybe your employees have different needs. Ultimately you ought to seek to provide benefits that are specific to your employees. If the previously mentioned benefits fall outside of your employee’s needs, here is a list of other benefits you can offer:

  • Vision coverage
  • Remote work opportunities
  • Free food or drinks
  • Fitness or wellness stipends
  • Some paid parental leave
  • Use of a company car
  • Paid time off to volunteer

Some of these benefits may stand out to you and you may believe that it’s impossible to achieve a few. However, you should always ask yourself “What If?” In fact, you wouldn’t be in business if you hadn’t asked yourself that question in the first place. While these benefits may not seem achievable now, set them as goals to achieve or to get close to for this year.

Employee benefits benefit everyone. It may sound corny but employee benefits impact the business as a whole. This includes the employee and the employer. In fact, better benefits show that your business cares for its employees and treats them well. This gives you both a better image in the eye of the public, as well as a productive and positive work environment. Not to mention, better word of mouth about your business from your employees. Employers that provide better benefits get a better reputation for their business, productivity and decreased turnover. Take a look at 2019 and what you did last year. If you had a great year, consider ramping up benefits in order to have an even better 2020. If you had a less-favorable year, consider how employee benefits and morale can improve your 2020 and lead to a great year.

In this ever-changing business climate, success cannot be overlooked and as you’ve seen, a morale boost through employee benefits can lead to success.

We are here to help. You’ve seen how employee benefits can improve morale and which benefits to put in place for your company. However, as a small or even quickly-developing business, you may not be able to check off all the boxes for employee benefits. Unfortunately, every business is not in a position to offer great benefits to its employees and that’s why we’re here. At Insuraty, we are here to help you. We specialize in a vast range of HR topics, including employee benefits. We would love to help you provide better employee benefits and grow your business. Make this year different with better benefits and provide your business with a great image and productive workforce. Feel free to call us so that we can make your business a better environment for your employees and boost your business to the next level this year.