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Sometimes It's Best to Just Ask!

In my role as an employee benefits plans consultant, I get many questions from business owners and HR people. The one question I consistently hear is “what benefits should I be offering to attract and keep people?’ That’s a tough question to a very real problem.

One’s first thought might be to look at the menu of benefits currently being offered and see what’s missing. Do they offer dental, vision or disability insurance? Who’s paying for what and how much are they paying might be another question.

What about the health plan? What’s the deductible? Is it high? Does the plan have a “skinny network?” Is it an HMO with referrals needed?

I also get asked, “What are my competitors offering?” “How much of the premium are they paying?” “Do they give the employees options?”
That’s a lot of questions.

I do have answers to the above questions. Some of the answers are based on data I’ve collected, some from current experience and some from just plain old common sense. But let’s go back to the main question: What benefits should I be offering my employees and prospective employees? One way to find out is to ask.

A company’s culture and mix of employees often determine what employees expect, want and need. Obviously, a law firm's benefits will be different from those of a machine shop as will a company with older workers versus younger workers. Employee expectations and financial needs vary. So again, how do I answer the question?

How employee benefits research can help your company

The best way to get the answer is to ask the question. But how do you ask the questions?

Employee surveys are an effective tool to understand the likes, dislikes, and concerns of employees!

Employee engagement surveys will give you answers, answers that apply to your people and your company.

While you’re looking to find out what benefits your employees want, there’s a lot more information you could gather that will help you attract and retain employees.

Find employee benefits cues using BenHR

This sounds simple! Put together a survey, look at the results and you have your answers. Well, maybe it’s not that easy but there is help. BenHR!

BenHR has the answers to the questions you have about conducting a survey:

• What am I trying to accomplish with the survey?
• How do I conduct an employee engagement survey?
• What medium should I use?
• What should be included in an employee engagement survey?
• What questions should I ask? (this is a big one)
• Based on the information I receive, how do I use it?
• What happens if I don't do anything with the information collected?

BenHR will help you find the extent to which employees feel valued and involved in their everyday work. Employees who feel invested in their company's mission and its success with stay.

To find out more about what BenHR can do for you and how I use them in my employee benefits consulting practice, contact me at 262-207-1999 X122.

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About The Author —

Tim Pachowitz helps businesses build, communicate and implement employee benefit plans. As an Account Executive at Benefits, Inc. engineering a planned strategy from start to finish is the most rewarding part of the role. Outside the office, Tim enjoys the outdoors fishing, hiking, and making maple syrup. Most of all, he enjoys time outdoors with his 6 grandsons (no granddaughters yet).