In today’s competitive job market, offering a comprehensive total rewards program has become a necessity for companies to attract, retain, and engage top talent. According to a survey by Glassdoor, 48% of job seekers say benefits and perks are among their top considerations before accepting a job offer.
Let’s take a look at five key components you need in your employee total rewards program – and why building a great program is important.
Benefits of Total Rewards Programs
First, let’s explore why total rewards programs are important. These programs can be beneficial to both employers and their employees. As an employer, you can benefit from gaining a more engaged and productive workforce, higher employee retention rates, and increased profitability, while employees report higher job satisfaction.
Key benefits of total rewards programs include:
- Making Recruiting Talent Easier
- Increasing Employee Engagement
- Reducing Turnover
- Boosting Productivity through Intrinsic Motivation
- Promoting a Positive Company Culture
- Supporting Programs that Improve Employee Health & Wellbeing
- Helping Control People Costs Across an Organization
- Supporting Strategic Efforts to Gain a Competitive Advantage
Next, we’ll walk you through the essential parts of building an effective employee total rewards program – making it simple to implement this method and leverage all the valuable benefits it has to offer.
1. Salary and Compensation
The first component of a total rewards program is salary and other traditional monetary forms of compensation. The primary reason that employees enter the workforce is to obtain a paycheck. To attract and retain the best employees, you can begin by offering competitive salaries as a starting point for compensation.
Once pay rates are established, your business can add traditional benefits like health insurance and retirement savings contributions, which are also widely recognized as part of a standard compensation package.
Then, to ensure that your salary and compensation provisions meet the needs of a diverse and increasingly younger workforce, consider implementing payroll flexibility – such as payment solutions from Juice. Many employees appreciate the flexibility of modern FinTech solutions, through which you can even offer employees early access to their wages, outside of a traditional pay schedule.
2. Health and Wellness Benefits
Next, look for ways to prioritize promoting healthy habits among your employees. A healthy workforce is essential for maintaining an engaged and productive team. While traditional health benefits like medical, dental, and vision insurance are standard components of any health and wellness package, it’s important to also consider additional ways to encourage healthy behaviors. Offering these benefits has become increasingly common among employers, even for part-time employees.
To stand out, many employers are turning to supplemental health and wellness benefits like reimbursing the cost of counseling services or providing zero-cost wellness stipend cards to help employees meet their personal goals.
Examples of health and wellness benefits for your employee total rewards program include:
- Gym Membership Stipends
- Healthy Food Options
- Mindfulness Apps
- Ergonomic Workspace Stipend
- Flu-Shot or Health Screening Reimbursements
- Flexible Scheduling
- Paid Time Off
- Healthy Behavior Incentives
- Access to Healthy Lifestyle Education
- Subsidized Fitness Trackers or Smartwatches
3. Professional Development and Training
The third element of a successful employee total rewards program fills the need for personal growth. By offering opportunities for continued development, you can encourage your workforce to upskill in a way that fosters intrinsic motivation and engagement.
According to a study by LinkedIn, companies that invest in employee development are 40% more likely to retain their employees than those who don’t. In addition, companies with strong learning cultures are 46% more likely to be the leader in their industry and 58% more prepared to meet future demands.
This suggests that providing employees with opportunities for growth and training can not only improve engagement and productivity, but also contribute to long-term organizational success.
To encourage professional development, your employee total rewards program might include things like tuition assistance, access to a self-paced learning platform, or stipends to complete training programs.
4. Recognition and Rewards
Another fundamental need that your employee total rewards program can meet is our intrinsic human desire for recognition and gratitude. According to a survey by Globoforce, 88% of employees said that being recognized for their contributions at work motivates them to do their best. Furthermore, 94% of employees who receive positive recognition from their managers said that it improves their work experience and makes them feel more engaged with their job.
Employee recognition programs boost engagement and retention, leading to a more productive workforce. Consider offering benefits like:
- Extra Vacation Days
- Performance-Based Bonuses
- Gratitude Gifts
- Incentive-Based Gift Cards
These rewards and recognition programs create a culture of appreciation and encourage employees to go the extra mile, providing impactful returns on your investment in an employee total rewards program.
5. Work-Life Balance Benefits
Finally, the last key component is one that you’ve probably heard the most hype about in recent years – work-life balance. The definition of work-life balance has evolved over the years and is now a top priority for many workers. These benefits are essential in today’s fast-paced work environment.
Offering benefits like flexible scheduling and paid time off reduces unexpected absenteeism and promotes overall wellness – both mentally and physically. This, in turn, has a positive impact on productivity. While remote or hybrid work isn’t possible in every industry, there are many different ways to provide flexibility for your team.
For example, EWA provides employees access to their pay when they need it most. By offering these types of benefits, you demonstrate that you value your team’s efforts on the job while also respecting their responsibilities outside of work. When your actions show that you appreciate your employees not just as workers, but as people, this helps to foster a sense of camaraderie and company loyalty among your team.
Bringing it Together to Build an Effective Employee Total Rewards Program
These five key components come together to create an effective employee total rewards program that meets the needs of today’s workforce while helping you solve some of your business’ biggest challenges. You can take a more holistic approach to compensating your workforce by considering compensation from multiple angles, including:
- Salary
- Health and Wellness
- Personal Growth
- Recognition
- Work-life Balance
In addition to standard benefits like gaining the ability to recruit and retain skilled employees or increase productivity, an effective employee total rewards program is also an important part of shaping a positive workplace culture that simultaneously strengthens brand reputation both internally and externally.
Juice Financial is a leading provider of modern FinTech solutions that are helping to ease the administrative burden of an increasingly complex compensation system. Learn more about Juice’s solutions to support your total rewards program.
