6 things start-ups should know before investing in employee benefits
Hooray specialises in helping start-ups and SMEs get to grips with employee benefits. We understand how confusing it can be when considering workplace perks for the first time. There are so many benefits to choose from and the expense can quickly mount up.
But this article should help!
Here’s our list of important things start-ups know before investing in employee benefits.
Need help creating the perfect combination of employee benefits and health policies? Contact one of our friendly brokers FREE of charge on 01273 222805 or drop us a message at [email protected].
#1 Know what options are available
Before investing in employee benefits, it’s useful to know what’s available! Some benefits relate directly to an employee’s physical health, others may tackle issues around mental wellbeing, while others may provide financial rewards. Providing a blend of benefits is a sure-fire way to provide a little something for everyone.
Here’s a list of available benefits to get you thinking:
- Group Income Protection
- Critical Illness Cover
- Health Cash Plans
- Business Health Insurance
- Employee Assistance Programmes
- Group Life Insurance
- Dental/Optical cover
- Wellbeing apps and platforms
- Employee rewards and discount schemes
- Lifestyle perks such as remote working, flexi-time, extra holiday entitlement, extra parental leave
- Travel expenses
We explore the different types of employee benefit in more detail here in this simple guide for business owners.
#2 Find out what your staff want
It’s one thing to offer employee benefits, it’s another to successfully give your staff what they want. Instead of trying to second guess their needs, it’s best to ask. Consider consulting your staff through workplace surveys, one-to-one meetings and/or group meetings to find out how you can best support them. For example, you could provide a list of perks and ask them to number them in order of importance.
Another great way to ensure your staff are getting what they want is through offering flexible benefits such as through an Online Benefits Platform. This enables staff to choose what they want, and gives them control and personalisation when it comes to managing and accessing their perks.
Start-ups employee benefits
#3 Meet your business goals
Before investing in any benefits, understand why you’re creating an employee benefits plan in the first place.
- Are you wanting to grow your business and attract the best staff?
- Do you want to boost staff retention?
- Do you want to match your competitors?
- Is it to help reduce absenteeism?
- Is it to help boost productivity?
- Is it to help create a happier, healthier workplace environment?
Providing carefully considered benefits is not only the right thing to do, they can be used to meet business goals too. Attracting and retaining the best people is not just about big salaries, it’s also about the workplace culture and the benefits on offer. If you want the best people performing at the height of their abilities, then a cleverly designed benefit scheme is a must.
You can judge the effectiveness of workplace perks by tracking staff turnover and seeing how often benefits are being used. A good benefit scheme should be evolved over time.
#4 Introduce them properly
Communicating and distributing your employee benefits offerings is just as important as the initial planning and selection process. A lot of businesses we’ve worked with have previously made the mistake of failing to communicate clearly what’s on offer – staff didn’t know they existed or how to access them!
End result? The benefits went underused and underappreciated!
So, spread the word to your staff and get the conversation started by explaining what each benefit is, how it can help and how it can be accessed. Have a strategy in place which includes one-to-one and/or group meetings, email comms, WhatsApp messaging, posters and whatever other means you have at your disposal.
#5 Consider flexible vs auto-enrolled benefits
When setting up your plan, it’s important to be aware that you can give staff the choice to enrol in certain benefits or provide a one-size-fits-all plan.
Offering a flexible benefits plan allows your staff to choose for themselves which perks they want from a list of options. As well as offering choice, it can also be a cost-effective solution for start-ups with tight HR budgets. You can also set some benefits (e.g., group life) as automatic, while others can be flexible.
Further reading: What perks should I offer staff? Maybe you should let them choose…
#6 Don’t go straight to the provider!
Using a broker rather than going straight to a provider is highly advised. A broker doesn’t charge for their services (or at least our friendly team at Hooray doesn’t!) and will give independent advice as to the best options available on the market. A provider, while they can be helpful, will only offer advice regarding their own product – they certainly won’t alert you to a better option provided by a competitor!
This is particularly important with the different types of insurance policies: health insurance, life insurance, income protection, cash plan and critical illness cover. Terms and conditions and price points vary wildly, so making straightforward comparisons is very hard. But if you have a good broker, you can be wise to all the potential pros and cons of different policies on the market – and ensure you achieve the best possible value.
Introducing an award-winning brokerage for start-ups and SMEs
The friendly and impartial brokers at Hooray simplify the process of implementing an employee benefits scheme. We offer free one-to-one advice and support on all things employee benefits and health insurance. We gather quotes from across the whole UK market to ensure the best policies and prices are in your grasp.
Contact one of our friendly advisors for honest advice at [email protected] or call 01273 222805.