The Best Workplace Benefits to Make Employees Feel Valued

Do your employees know how much you value them?

If you want to retain an engaged, hardworking team, learning how to make employees feel valued is an absolute must. Not only do staff who feel appreciated work harder and take more ownership of their work, they are also more loyal and tend to stay with their company for longer.

Want to show you care? Providing the right employee benefits is a great place to start. Here are four ways benefits can help you strengthen your team, take care of your staff, and show them how important they are to you.

Valuing Employees in the Workplace: How Can Employee Benefits Help?

1. Ensure your team feels protected with group health benefits

When employees feel protected, valued, and cared for, their sense of security and loyalty increases. And as any HR manager knows, a healthy, stable, and satisfied workforce is essential to your company’s bottom line.

To build the best and the brightest team possible, make sure your overall compensation includes a strong retirement plan and financial wellness strategy.

Today, many people, especially millennials, are concerned about not having enough money to retire. As life expectancy increases and cost of living rises, you can help by providing a great retirement savings program.

But for many younger workers, retirement is not top of mind.  Concerns such as paying down debt and saving for a home are among the most pressing. To help your whole team reduce stress and be more productive, a comprehensive employee financial wellness strategy is key.

Offering a comprehensive medical and dental employee benefits plan is another way to keep your team committed. However, today’s health plans need to go beyond the standard plans of yesterday.

Providing an element of choice, flexibility, and individualization are key. Benefits today need to be tailored, whenever possible, to align with the needs of your diverse workforce. The right plan should provide a safety net in case of unexpected health issues, and make your staff feel more secure and valued in the long term.

2. Help your employees do their jobs better with wellness benefits

We know that when people are focused, calm, and engaged, they feel better equipped to do their jobs. But because financial troubles, health issues, or problems at home often get in the way, helping staff deal with these stresses is essential to keeping them content and committed. Plus, it will boost productivity!

Some key wellness benefits that help relieve stress include:

Employee Assistance Programs

By providing confidential, short-term support for a variety of personal issues, employee assistance programs allow staff to get counselling and guidance that they wouldn’t have access to otherwise. The result? Your team will be healthier, happier, and more dedicated.

Health Care Spending Accounts

Looking for a more flexible option? A health care spending account is the perfect solution. These accounts work by providing a predetermined amount of money to all employees each year, which they can spend as they see fit. This allows you to cover a range of medical expenses with one benefits program, while also giving staff the freedom to make their own choices.

If you want to go the extra mile, consider adding a taxable wellness account. The principal is the same as a health care spending account but the funds can be used for non-health expenses such as gym memberships or transit passes.

Workplace Wellness Programs

Introducing a workplace wellness program is another good way to reduce mental and physical health issues. These programs take a proactive approach to employee welfare, rather than simply treating illnesses after they happen.

Not only do wellness programs increase employee engagement, they also reduce sick leave, decrease work stress, and improve teamwork. Plus, they are completely customizable, and can include everything from nutrition consulting and exercise programs to proven stress reduction techniques like mindfulness training.

3. Create time for socializing and team building

Encouraging people to connect with each other at work is one of the best ways to retain a strong, loyal team. More than half of employees stay at their jobs because of positive relationships with colleagues. Social connections at work can curb loneliness, increase trust and creativity, and boost overall happiness and job satisfaction.

Simple things, such as encouraging people to eat together, or take a proper lunch break and go for a walk rather than eating at their desks, can improve health, happiness, and productivity. Furthermore, because employee wellness programs are team-based, they are a perfect way to bring some healthy socializing into the office.

4. Make employees feel heard

Finally, connecting with your employees on a personal level can go a long way to making them feel valued. How are they doing? What concerns and stresses are they experiencing? Show staff you care by listening closely, and then do what you can to help.

This applies to choosing an employee benefits program, too. Not only are benefits an integral part of how you support your team, they’re also a powerful reflection of your corporate culture. Get input on what employees value most from their benefits offering before you invest in a plan.

Final Thoughts

The best employers know and emphasize the importance of valuing employees. The benefits of doing so include increased loyalty and engagement, and a happier, more productive team.

Providing group health benefits, including medical and dental benefits, will go a long way toward helping employees feel protected. In addition, help your team feel financially secure by offering an employer sponsored retirement plan.

Finally, wellness offerings help keep stress at bay, by addressing employees’ financial, physical, and mental health issues. The result? You’ll end up with happier, healthier, more dedicated staff—today, and for years to come.

Next Step

Download this white paper will help you learn how wellness programs reduce absenteeism, increase productivity, and ultimately, save you money.