What Do Employees Want? Here are the Most Popular Employee Benefits in the Biz

Freud’s infamous question, “What do women want?” still remains somewhat of an unsolved mystery. Similar to this query is one that employers are constantly trying to debunk: “What do employees want?”. As the workplace landscape has changed, today’s employees seek different benefits than those of generations past. While today’s technology has eased so many workplace headaches, it also can make the everyday employee more prone to burn out. This is where employee benefits come in. Are you keeping pace with the most in-demand optional benefits out there? Continue reading to find out what the most popular employee benefits are, and how you can implement them at your company.

Employee benefits

Go beyond PTO. Paid time off used to mean a few vacation days per year as well as sick days. Today, however, the idea of “sick” has changed. Now, mental health days are in high demand, especially if they’re paid. The West has finally accepted that holistic health is key, and that means taking care of more than just the physical body.

Celebrate accordingly. Grating employees a day off for their birthdays is also on trend. After all, who wants to be on conference calls, meetings or manning a desk on their birthday? Other businesses are giving PTO for other special occasions such as holidays that might not be mandated by your state (i.e. states choose to make Martin Luther King Jr. day an official holiday) or holidays that are widely celebrated in non-majority cultures and religions (such as Diwali). One solution to covering holidays that might not be on your company calendar? Offering floating holidays could be just the solution – it’s a surefire way to make sure all employees feel supported by their employers.

Help them save. Are there local coffee shops, gyms or lunch spots in your neighborhood that your employee frequent? Get in touch with the business owners and see if you can set up a partnership that features a discount or special deal.

Sponsor interest or learning groups. Set up an employee subsidy for interest or focus groups. Is there a book club or personal finance group that meets regularly? Take notice of this out-of-office collaboration, and support it! Offer employees a stipend that falls within your budget to foster their pursuit of said knowledge and bonding. Moreover, offering every employee a learning stipend is a great way to prioritize their individual growth, and by doing so, retain your top talent.  

Why are benefits so important?

Wondering what you’ll get out of it as an employer? Benefits attract and keep the best workers. Benefits make employees happy, and happiness increases productivity. Moreover, the right benefits can help keep employees healthy, and healthy employees are both happier and more productive. It’s truly a win-win.

Why do we offer benefits to employees?

Some employers offer benefits because they have to, but if that’s the case, they’re doing the bare minimum — and it will be apparent. Others offer benefits because they want to—they care about their employees, they want to attract top talent and retain their highest performers. By emphasizing great benefits, these employers create a thriving culture that’s vibrant in both work-related output and inter-office engagement.

Finally, offering unique benefits can also make a business stand out amongst the competition. Oftentimes job seekers are attracted to new companies when they hear about their amazing benefits. Set yourself up for success and adopt perks that will set you apart from the crowd. It won’t take long to see fantastic results.

What benefits are required by law to be offered to all employees?

Benefits required by law can vary from state to state. However, they often include health care coverage for full-time employees, workers’ compensation coverage, and paying a portion of social security coverage and Medicare coverage. Beyond the basics, what’s required is relatively limited. Employers have the opportunity to create a new standard, even if it’s above what’s legally required. Interested in getting a grasp on where your business stacks up in comparison to other employers? Download our Benefits Benchmarking report to get the full scoop.