Recent research shows that employees’ satisfaction with their employer provided job benefits reached 50% in 2013. This was the highest level in over 10 years! These same experts also determined that employees who were happy with their benefit options were at least twice as likely to also say they were very satisfied with their work. They said these findings should show employers that offering more benefit options is a good asset for them as well as their employees. The brains behind this research explained that their research should illustrate the value of offering more benefits options, both from the employer side and the employee side.
Fun Facts
- More than 40% of workers said their loyalty would increase if their employee benefit options were customized to meet their individual needs.
- More than 75% of employees said they wanted more variety with their benefits
- 80% said they would like customized benefits that were tailored to age and individual needs.
- Approximately 60% of employees said they were willing to take on more of the fees associated with benefits in order to enjoy a wider choice of options, this statistic shows that employees are more willing than ever to share financial responsibilities with employers.
Although researchers found heightened employee satisfaction, they also saw there was a notable drop in the amount of companies agreeing with the idea that voluntary employee benefits were a key part of the company’s overall strategy. In 2012, about 60% of employers said voluntary benefits were a key part of their strategy, but this number dropped by 50% in 2013. Experts say that this decrease is likely attributed to employers being wrapped up with cost control challenges and health care reform.
If employers make changes to benefit offerings now, it could affect employee loyalty as well as productivity in the future. Since retention is still a high priority for most organizations, this is especially important to consider. Almost 90% of employers said that retention was a top reason for offering good benefits.
Voluntary benefits give employers the option to offer more choices. With voluntary offerings, there is no need to choose between retention objectives and cost control as priorities.
Over 1,500 employers were interviewed for this study, and over 1,200 employees were analyzed. The employees were over the age of 21, and all companies participating had at least two employees. More than 500 brokers and consultants were interviewed, and they sold benefits packages of all sizes. To learn more about voluntary benefits, plan costs and various options available when choosing these benefits for your organization, contact one of our dedicated Employee Benefits executives.