No-Cost Benefits You Can Offer Employees

It’s mid 2024, and the unemployment rate is sitting at 4%. You need to hire, and the employee market is in favor of the employee, so you need to be competitive to attract the best hires. However maybe you just opened your doors, or are in a tight spot of growth. Money is tight. You can’t offer everything you want to offer to your employees right now, but you want to offer something. You want to support your team of employees without breaking the bank…So what can you do?

Let me answer that question with another question: Did you know that you can offer benefits to your employees at no cost to you or your business? It’s true! There are many benefits available for employers to utilize or adopt into their business which are attractive to prospective employees. Here are a few ideas.

Please note there are no paid promotions in this article; all example providers were selected because of the services they provide. This does not constitute an endorsement for any one provider or individual.

1. Voluntary Benefits

   Many companies who provide benefits beyond health insurance like dental, vision, cancer coverage, etc. also provide an option for business owners to offer these benefits to their employees at no cost to the employer. The employee receives a discounted rate for the benefits simply because the business has partnered with a voluntary benefit provider. One example of a benefit provider would be working with an agent with Aflac.

2. Using Modern Technology

   Believe it or not, easily accessible paycheck information, time-off requesting, and the like can be an attractive “leg-up” which a company could hold against a competitor who is not quite using modern technology in ways that are beneficial. For example, choosing to use a payroll service provider who has a mobile app available for employees to easily access their paycheck stub or W-2/W-4 information. One example of these providers is Absolute Payroll.

3. Automotive Driver Training

   Some auto insurance providers offer driver safety trainings for the employees of their clients. The employee receives a certificate which they can provide to their personal auto insurance company for a potential discount. Not all insurance providers offer the certificate, however, so contact your agent to verify. One example of these insurance providers who offer the training would be FCCI.

4. Partnerships

   If you were to ask around town, I’m sure you would find a plethora of businesses who want to work with you as a preferred referral partner. How it works is these businesses offer a discount to your employees to use on their services or products, and in turn the business gets your employee’s business. While this may not sound like a perk, depending on the business you partner with, you may be saving your employees money. An example would be if your employee goes to a gym, and you partner with this gym to provide your employee with a discounted gym membership. An example of this kind of business would be the gym Crunch Fitness.

5. Flexibility and Understanding

   While flexibility and understanding might be listed last, they are certainly not the least important. When an employee knows their employer can be approached regarding a situation, whether that situation is in the workplace or at home, it establishes a safe and trusting work environment. Imagine one of your employees having coffee with friends and everyone’s talking about work. Your employee starts to share their work experience. What will they say about you? Will they say that you are the kind of business who would give an employee a hard time when they needed to call out of work because their child was sick? Or are you the kind of business who understands pet loss and grief, and your employee absolutely can take a few days off to grieve. If you set up your business to value respect and understanding, it will resonate through your employees, and therefore the community.

   There is a philosophy coined by Dr. Ivan Misner that says “Givers Gain.” While Dr. Misner uses this philosophy in a business-networking sense, it can be used to explain the employer-employee relationship as well. The more an employer is willing to give to their employee—be it the time of day, a listening ear, or an understanding break off work—the more the employer gains back in respect, loyalty, and even productivity. There is evidence to support positive work cultures and how they positively affect organizational productivity. You can learn more about this at the Harvard Business Review article, “Proof That Positive Work Cultures Are More Productive.”

If your organization is struggling to acquire applicants, retain employees, or both, I’m happy to go over where your organization is now, where you want to be, and how we can get you there.