Which Employee Benefits Should Your Small Business Offer In Houston
Small business owners in Houston face many challenges. One of these is deciding which type of employee benefits should be offered to their employees.
In many cases, the quality of the people within your business will play a big part in its growth and success. Finding and keeping great employees is one of the most important strategic efforts small businesses have to tackle. For that reason, a quality benefits package is something you have to carefully design, communicate and offer.
But what is a “quality benefits package”?
A well-rounded package often includes:
Health insurance
401(k) plan
Life insurance
Dental coverage
These are examples of the types of plans that you can consider offering while staying focused on affordability for the business.
In this article, we will share with you the value that a quality benefits package can create for your business as well as the benchmarks within the private small business industry. With this knowledge, you can better position your business for growth and longevity by understanding what your competition is offering.
The Value Of A Benefits Package
Benefits packages, when designed strategically, can help boost productivity as well as retention in a cost-effective way. Below are some of the advantages you will attain by offering employee benefits within your compensation package.
Healthy Employees Are Productive Employees
With health management, it is key to be proactive. By having a combination of health insurance as well as dental and vision coverage, you will enable your employees to take the necessary steps in staying healthy which will reduce sick days.
Also, healthy employees are productive employees. Having access to our premium programs will also help reduce the time to schedule an appointment with a healthcare provider and in turn, speed up the recovery process.
Controlling Overall Compensation Costs
In some cases, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employees are willing to forgo a higher salary or hourly wage if a benefits package is offered.
This is a strategic financial move for your business because the face value of the benefits package (call it the same thing all the way through the document) can equal a raise in salary for your employees, but will not increase your costs when you take advantage of group rates and lower payroll taxes.
As a business owner, you can take advantage of this and avoid hidden costs such as paying extra payroll taxes on higher monetary compensation Overall, your employees are rewarded while you increase your bottom line through lower payroll taxes.
Better Employee Benefits Equals Better Attraction & Retention
For your business to operate at its peak capacity, you need to attract and retain the right candidates. A strategic benefits package that speaks to the needs of top talent will give you an advantage in your industry.
To better understand how to tailor these packages, keep reading to find out more about the benchmarks within private industry small businesses (data sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Private Industry Small Businesses Employee Benefits Benchmarks
Within the data, a Small Business is defined by those that have fewer than 50 employees. In this case, some of the most frequently offered benefits were:
Paid time off work (such as vacation and holidays)
Medical plan
Defined contribution (such as 401(k) plans)
The average cost for employee compensation was $27.72 per hour worked in December 2017 for small businesses, with wages and salaries adding up to almost 75% of total costs. Benefits make up the remaining 25%.
Invest In Employee Benefits For The Long-Term
Trying to improve your bottom line by cutting the cost of your employee benefits package might seem like a good option in the short-term, however, it will eventually impact your ability to attract and retain top talent as well as an impact on productivity due to sick time.
If you want to be a sought after employer in your industry, establishing a comprehensive and cost-efficient benefits package will be key.
Benefit Concepts, Inc. (BCI) is here to help you design a strategic benefits package in line with your budget and industry benchmarks. We serve more than 4,000 companies and represent more than 50 top-rated global insurance carriers. We are in the ideal position to understand your needs and your industry.
We also lead by example when it comes to attracting and retaining key employees. BCI has an average employee tenure of 7 years, which is almost double the average of 3.6 amongst private companies, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Click below to learn more about how we can help you design a strategic and cost-effective benefits package that will help your business grow.