In the latest of Bath Business News’ weekly Expert Panel series Iain Fox, director of Bath employee benefits firm Fidelius, explains why offering the right benefits to staff isn’t just good for them, but healthy for business too
Viewed in the right way, employee benefits are far more than just a simple ‘perk of the job’. Tailored and packaged in the right way, they can help your business stand out from the crowd and make it more attractive to top talent in a competitive job market.
If you are competing for the best personnel, then it is essential that your business has in place a system of emp
loyee benefits that helps differentiate your firm from others. Whether its healthcare, pension, insurance or salary sacrifice schemes, the use of benefits can ensure you are rightfully viewed by those both inside and outside the company as a progressive employer.
What benefits you offer staff says a lot about your attitude to your workforce – and your attitude as a business. A company that has taken the effort to develop a carefully-considered package of benefits is far more likely to have a positive ethos among its staff. And this isn’t something that’s just good for staff – it adds value to the business, too. That’s because a workforce that feels valued and wanted by its employer will be more productive than one that doesn’t.
The same line of thinking dictates that employee benefits should not be perceived as something entirely separate from remuneration packages. If each member of staff is to receive the best pay and benefits package that is open to him or her, then employers need to invest time in researching just what is the best overall, tailored deal for an employee.
One way of doing this is using salary sacrifice as a means of employees making pension contributions or a contribution toward other eligible benefits such as child care vouchers. At Fidelius, we call this method SMART – Save More and Reduce Tax. By doing this, both employee and employer can reduce National Insurance contributions and employees can also potentially benefit from income tax savings. If your company takes the right advice on this issue, then that will ensure such a SMART approach satisfies HM Revenue & Customs.
Employee benefits cover a multitude of areas, from private medical insurance and health screening through to critical illness insurance. In all these areas, communication is essential. Your company might want to implement the best benefits programme in the UK, but if you don’t communicate them to staff – or, indeed, to potential staff – then you are missing a trick.
In order to truly stand out from the crowd in terms of its employee benefit offering, a business needs to know what qualities its workforce has and be able to convey to that workforce the benefits open to it. That’s why it’s important for employee benefit consultants to spend time with your business, and then implement the agreed benefits package through clear communication and hassle-free implementation. Combine this with the final piece of the jigsaw which is to ensure that your benefits budget is being spent in the right areas, being those that are capable of delivering the best outcomes for you and your employees.
At Fidelius, we can do all these things for your firm and help you find the winning formula. By helping you piece together the right benefits package for staff, we can help you define your business in a way that helps recruitment and retention, and separates your firm from the pack.
For more information call us on 0845 241 6500.
