Weighing Employee Benefits & Perks

It’s probably safe to say that traditional employee benefits such as retirement plans, healthcare/insurance, and vacation/holiday time have evolved to “expectations” – meaning that all prospective employees today expect standard benefit offerings. If you are an employer and you have competitive standard benefits, chances are you are always on the lookout for potential employee “perks” that could enhance your employer brand and employee loyalty. Below are some popular employee perks that are receiving high marks by talent today.

Popular Employee Benefits Today

• Gym memberships– Typically, this offered and covered as long as the employee utilizes it.

• Profit sharing– A great way of creating “skin in the game”!

• Extra paid time off around the holidays– If your business activity slows around the Holidays, this is a no brainer!

• Maternity/Paternity leave above what’s required by law– This is becoming more and more popular despite how one may feel!

• Education subsidizing– A very common but very treasured perk. Employee’s expenses often covered as long as employee stays employed for defined period of time.

• Paid time off for birthdays– Does not cost much at all, but very much appreciated by most people!

• Paid time off for community service– This could include coaching a sports team, giving blood, working a homeless shelter, or participating in local food drives.

• Flex time– In a recent AgCareers.com survey (2100 professionals), both men and women rated “flexible hours” a highly valued perk!

Competitive compensation is considered to be a part of an employers’ standard benefit package. Owners and leaders within organizations should NEVER make the mistake of trying to make up for low wages with perks. Perks should only enter the picture when the employer is confident their compensation system is within what is expected or the norm for a particular region and/or industry sector. If employees suspect they are under-compensated, perks will have little affect with respect to motivation and productivity.
 
Participating in 3rd party salary surveys can be very helpful in determining industry standards for certain roles. AgCareers.com’s online Compensation Benchmark Review has over 125 participating employers with 250+ Ag/Food industry roles mapped. Also, watch for the 2015 Agribusiness HR Reviews soon to be released on our Market Research page.