Employers in the United States are familiar with the positive and negative attributes of employee benefits. Good, comprehensive benefit packages are vital to recruiting and retaining the best employees, but the rising costs of traditional benefits can be painful and even a financial drag on the long-term profitability and sustainability of a small business. Business owners and HR professionals are increasingly turning to alternative benefit options that are often more affordable and better suited to meet the needs of modern working professionals. Alternative benefits are not always about cost – many employers are also using alternative benefits to establish, shape and steer a desired company culture, while others may wish to promote proactive health and wellness initiatives.
Alternative benefits mainly fall into two categories: voluntary benefits, which are an array of benefits offered to employees that include either limited or no employer subsidies, and creative benefits that improve workplace moral through relatively inexpensive but “fun” benefit subsidies and complimentary consumables, gifts and sponsored outings. One of the more prominent categories of voluntary benefits are elective medical benefits, which many employers and HR professionals believe will be crucial to protecting employees from the rising deductibles of traditional medical insurance plans. These elective benefit plans include critical illness, accident and hospital indemnity benefits. Other voluntary benefits offered by employers have included pet insurance and an array of group insurance plans while creative benefits have included lunch subsidies, complimentary snacks and inexpensive gifts to mark special occasions.
As with any new HR-related initiative, it is important to track the level of employee engagement in alternative benefits. Creating and launching pilot benefit programs are a good way to gauge the interest and engagement of employees in a set of programs chosen by the employer. If employees show disinterest in some or all of the alternative benefits being offered, it may also be necessary to provide a limited survey to determine what other alternative benefits may be of interest to employees. Surveys can also reveal if the employees are disinterested in the benefit itself or if they have become unsatisfied with the specific product or level of service being offered by the current benefit provider.