If employee engagement is subpar within your company, you may want to take a hard look at the fringe benefits you’re offing your employees.
The benefits you offer can also make or break a prospect’s final decision as to whether he or she will accept a position at your company. Don’t scare away fresh new talent by offering the bare minimum health benefits set by the state and federal governments. Give current and potential employees better options and you’re sure to see improvement in the workplace.
Stand out in the deep sea of employers and increase your employee retention ratio by offering some of these lesser known uncommon employee fringe benefits to keep your staff afloat.
1. Relocation Assistance
Moving is incredibly stressful, both emotionally and physically. Offering this fringe benefit only adds to your credibility as a company and shows how greatly you value the sanity and comfort of your employees.
If you’re looking to hire a particularly talented individual who lives quite a distance away and requires relocation, offering relocation assistance will certainly leave a lasting impression and possibly even prompt that person to refer others who may become valuable assets to your company.
2. Child Care Benefits
Single parents or families with both parents working full time often struggle to find sitters for their little ones, especially during the summer months. There are three types of child care benefits you can choose to offer these employees:
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- Employer-funded Child Care — You as the employer offer to pay full or partial child care costs, regardless of the child care facility’s location.
- Off-site Child Care — A child care facility away from the workplace is managed by either a single employer or group of employers.
- On-site Child Care — You provide child care at the workplace.
Choosing to offer any of these child care services to your employees demonstrates your concern for the well-being of their families, which to them is invaluable.
3. Employee Discounts for Vacation Spots
Everybody needs to get away from time to time. Help keep the mental health of your employees intact—make rest and relaxation retreats for your employees even more relaxing by offering a benefit system that provides discounts on hotel and travel expenses.
You can also show your appreciation to your employees and their families by offering annual discounts on theme park and theater admissions. Companies that promote family fun are more pleasurable to work for and more likely to have higher employee retention rates than those that offer only the bare minimum requirements for benefit packages.
4. Gift Card Incentives
Companies that provide incentives to show the importance of reaching monthly, quarterly, or even annual goals are much more appealing to work for in the eyes of job hunters. These fringe benefits help bring employees together to ensure each department or company reaches those goals by cooperating as a team and bringing out the best in one another. Gift cards for these locations make great rewards for progress and achievement:
- Popular restaurants
- Local movie theaters
- Grocery stores
- Retail stores
Gift cards allow employees to treat themselves or their families to nights out, compliments of you as the employer.
Offering these employee fringe benefits to new and current employees in addition to those required by state and government standards will help increase the loyalty of your employees to your company. You can rest assured your employees will provide you with quality work and help maintain your company’s reputable name.
Daycare Photo via Shutterstock
Love this encouragement to offer unique employee fringe benefits – powerful tool to boost morale. Have fun people! – A
Hi Alex,
Thank you for the feedback, glad you enjoyed the article!