The days of working nine to five and getting a pension are gone. Today, employers are looking at ways to create employee benefits that will entice employees to join their company and stay longer. From retirement benefits to extra vacation days, there are a multitude of avenues a company can go. A few popular ways to encourage employees to stay with their companies are matching 401k’s, implementing an ESOP, and adding to vacation or maternity benefits.
401k Matching
Back in the mid 1900’s, many people worked at companies that provided pensions, which was the typical road to retirement. Many would work 30 to 40 years at a particular company to obtain these pensions, but that is not how the market works anymore. Companies are going away from pensions and implanting a 401k matching program.
A 401k matching program allows for the company to contribute to the retirement of their employees, but not have to reserve funds for future payment. Also, matching a 401k allows for the employee to allocate the funds how they see fit. Overall, it is a much more clean and modern way to encourage employees to stay within an organization, which in turns allows them to become more efficient in their career.
ESOP’s
A slightly lesser known, but still popular method of employee benefits is an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, or ESOP for short. Without going into detail, an ESOP allows the company to sell itself to their employees by allocating shares to them. The idea behind ESOP’s are that since the employees know are part owner, they’ll work harder to better the company. This will then raise the stock price, giving them a higher stock value they can cash in when they retire.
It should be noted that an ESOP is not usually the only form of benefits for retirement. Most companies also have a 401k to offer, so there is diversification. Everyone has heard not to put all of his or her eggs in one basket, and an ESOP is no different.
Adding Vacation Days
A simple way to entice employees to stay and grow with the company is to provide more vacation days. That includes the days starting out to gain employees, and giving more for more seasoned employees. Vacation time is beneficial because it allows your employees to rest and not get burned out.
Another item is to add paid maternity leave and allowing fathers to leave work to be with their newborn. All to often companies do not allow the father to take time off to bond with their family. Something simple as that could make the difference of a valued team member leaving to go with another company or even competitor. Be sure to always be in sync with the feedback your employees are giving.
It’s fair to say that employee benefits are an extremely important part to any company’s model for growth. Many people out there are sure to have left solely based on lack of benefits. Although important, be sure that this is being used along with other items such as team outings and celebrations to keep moral up. Using this tool in the proper manner can motivate your team to grow and become valued long term.
