The Ultimate Guide to Employee Benefits

You can’t have a discussion about recruitment or retention without employee benefits. They are a foundational pillar in who you are as an employer. Your workforce and candidates alike will judge your value as an organization based on the employee benefits package you offer.

That’s why we’re exploring the importance of employee benefits, which employee benefits matter most and how you can use your company’s employee benefits to improve your recruitment strategy.

What Are Employee Benefits? 

Employee benefits are additional perks on top of an employee’s salary. They can be intangible or tangible in nature, but always offer additional support to an employee’s overall well-being. 

Companies are expected to offer employee benefits within a compensation package. Some benefits are required by law, while others are offered as additional support for an employee or as a way to stand out among competitors.

Examples of Employee Benefits 

While employee benefits can be categorized in many different ways, Benify suggests the following four categories when thinking about your company’s benefits package. We’ve laid out some of the most common benefits companies offer within each of these categories.

1. Work Environment Benefits

These are the benefits employers offer to support a proper working environment. Most of a company’s benefits package will fall under this category. Here are some examples of work environment benefits:  

• Paid time off 
• Paid sick days 
• Casual dress 
• Professional development stipend 
• Culture clubs or committees
• Happy hours 
• Stocked kitchen
• Pet-friendly office
• Remote work program

2. Health and Wellness Benefits

The employee benefits that fall under this category are all about the mental and physical well-being of a company’s workforce. They range from more traditional offerings like health insurance to ones that have become more common in the past few years like mental health benefits. Here are some examples to inspire your own benefits package:

• Health insurance
• Vision insurance
• Dental benefits
• Employee assistance programs
• Family medical leave
• Wellness programs
• Fitness subsidy
• Onsite gym 
• Mental health days
• Telehealth services
• Transgender healthcare 
• Fertility benefits 

3. Financial Security Benefits

Financial security benefits are perks that offer employees additional compensation support beyond their salary. These help incorporate additional monetary value to an employee’s overall compensation package. Here are just a few examples of what financial security benefits might look like in your organization:

• 401(K) 
• 401(K) employee match program 
• 403(b)
• Pension plans
• Disability insurance
• Charitable contribution match
• Relocation assistance
• Education reimbursement
• Company equity 
• Performance bonus

4. Lifestyle Benefits 

This category includes all of the employee benefits that go above and beyond to make an employee’s life easier, including promoting better work-life balance. These benefits are sometimes more unique to offer but help a company stand out against talent competitors. 

• Commuter benefits
• Life insurance 
• Parental leave 
• Pet insurance 
• Legal services
• Sabbatical leave
• Child care 
• Daily meals provided 
• Generous or unlimited PTO
• Employee discounts

Why Are Employee Benefits Important? 

Employee benefits aren’t just necessary to running a company, they can actually benefit the bottom line of your business. Here’s how.

Better Retention Rates 

Employee benefits impact your success in recruiting candidates and keeping them happy and engaged as employees. Your workforce directly benefits from these offerings, so making sure their needs are addressed by the package you offer is important. 

According to a 2022 MetLife Report, when companies take care of their employees’ well-being, employees are 51 percent more likely to say they intend to stay with their company after 12 months. And increased loyalty means a better chance of retaining your workforce long-term. Being happy within a role is also another way to retain employees and your employee benefits can help with that. The same report shows employees are 74 percent more likely to be satisfied with their jobs when their companies address their well-being. 

Attract More Talent 

There are a lot of factors that influence a candidate’s decision-making process regarding which company they want to work for. Yet, one of the most common is a company’s employee perks. A 2022 Gallup workplace survey found that 64 percent of employees consider more pay and benefits to be “very important” when searching for their next job. This is followed closely by work-life balance, which is “very important” to 61 percent of respondents. 

You won’t be able to meet every candidate’s needs with your employee benefits package, but understanding the importance of them in the job search is vital to your hiring success. It’s not just about having a great recruitment strategy, you must be able to sell the candidates on working for you once they are in your talent pipeline — and employee benefits can help you do just that. 

Positively Influence Job Offers 

The influence of employee benefits doesn’t stop at attracting more talent, it also influences a candidate’s final decision of whether or not to work for your company. Almost 90 percent of job candidates have dropped out of the hiring process due to employee value proposition-related issues, including disagreements over compensation and benefits. This is critical. You’ve spent all of this time (and money) to get this candidate to the final stages of your hiring process — don’t let them slip away because your employee benefits weren’t up to par. 

Still not convinced employee benefits are that important? A majority of employees would rather have more employee benefits than additional pay. This is just another indicator of how important a solid benefits package is in your overall compensation for a role. It could be the difference between hiring your ideal candidate and having to restart your recruitment process from square one. 

The Most Desirable Employee Benefits 

While there are an infinite amount of benefits to choose from, asking your workforce for their thoughts on your benefits package and what’s missing can be extremely helpful in determining which benefits you should invest in. It’s also helpful to understand which benefits candidates are most interested in. This will help you proactively meet the needs of future employees and attract more of the talent you need.

We teamed up with Brandata to survey 1,099 employed tech professionals between March 18 and April 5 of 2022. Our findings show the following employee benefits were the most popular among technology professionals nationwide:

1. Health insurance 
2. 401(K) matching
3. Remote work 
4. Employer retirement contributions
5. Generous or unlimited PTO
6. Retirement planning
7. Mental health and wellness benefits
8. Company equity
9. Parental leave
10. Food stipend

We break down the data even further, analyzing what benefits matter most to professionals based on age and gender. Download the full report now to see all of the research we did on employee benefits. 

One thing to keep in mind is that your employee benefits package should never stay stagnant. A working environment can change quickly and so does an employee’s needs. Being flexible in your offerings will ensure you’re always aligned with both your employees’ and candidates’ expectations. 

3 Ways to Showcase Employee Benefits in Your Recruitment Marketing Strategy

Once you’ve narrowed down the employee benefits you’re going to offer, it’s time to show them off. To help you do that, we’ve outlined a few ways you can make employee benefits a pillar of your recruitment marketing strategy.

1. Make Employee Benefits Prominent on Your Careers Page 

Your careers page is the place to show off why you’re a great employer, so it’s vital you’re showcasing your employee benefits. Highlight the benefits you know candidates want or your employees enjoy most. Sharing your more unique employee benefits will help differentiate your company from your talent competitors. 

2. Emphasize Employee Benefits in Your Employer Branding Content 

Show off the impact your employee benefits have by interviewing employees about their favorite benefits and how they’ve helped them. Maybe you have a parent who took advantage of your robust parental leave program or an employee who got their MBA and used your educational reimbursement program. 

All of these stories will help put more legitimacy behind your employee benefits and make them memorable. Candidates will be able to picture themselves working at your company and enjoying these benefits.

3. Mention Employee Benefits in the Interview Process

While an interview process is typically spent assessing a candidate’s fit, it’s also important you find time to sell your company as a great place to work. Briefly talking through the employee benefits that differentiate you as an employer and how your employees have benefited from them will help seal the deal, especially since we know that candidates heavily weigh employee benefits in their final employment decisions. This is especially important if you’re hiring sought-after talent. Make sure you discuss your employee benefits prior to sending them a job offer.

Frequently Asked Questions