We just lost a strong candidate at one of our customers this week because the company’s offer did not contain a well-defined benefits package. That always hurts. Now this morning I read the CareerJournal.com article titled Firms Increasingly Offer ‘Voluntary’ Benefits. I haven’t heard of this trend, but it is most intriguing.
A growing number of businesses, large and small, are offering employees so-called voluntary benefits ranging from pet insurance to homeowners insurance to help with house closings and estate planning.
The signature character of these voluntary benefits is that employees pay for them, but at a discounted rate obtained by the employer.
Medical insurance will always be the top benefit for employees, but this offering is an excellent idea for creating a different package. These items will stand out in a candidate’s mind even though they are employee paid benefits.
If I am already paying for some of these items and get get a better deal through my employer, I view that as a tangible, valuable asset.
Employees often don’t appreciate free benefits, Mr. Thompson said, especially if they are benefits they don’t use. However, workers “value having a whole shopping cart of benefits that they can select from,” he said.
I can foresee many small-sized companies taking advantage of this trend too. In case you are looking for some ideas:
Some of the most popular benefits include supplemental life insurance, group homeowners insurance and auto insurance, and critical-illness insurance, which pays a lump sum when someone is diagnosed with a serious illness.