Strategic Value of Employee Benefits Programs Essay

Introduction

Employees play a significant role in any organization and, as such, are often regarded as the most valuable asset for an organization. A well-dedicated workforce will help improve productivity in the organization, besides ensuring a good business-stakeholder relationship. The efforts put forth by employees can also help an organization have a competitive advantage over other players. Consequently, efforts must be put forth to ensure they feel valued for the roles they play. Recognition and appreciation are some of the key motivational aspects that can help reduce employee turnover. This task explores important organizational considerations in providing employee benefits programs designed to help attract, motivate, and retain good employees.

Important Considerations for Organizations in Providing Employee Benefits Programs

Managing employee benefits is a critical yet costly venture for an organization. Although employers have to remit mandatory benefits like social security, insurance, and worker’s compensation packages, other non-mandatory benefits can help differentiate one organization from the other (Knepper, 2020). For instance, paid-time-off benefits, educational assistance initiatives, retirement plans among others. Whichever the benefits, there are specific considerations that organizations must prioritize when providing such benefit programs. These considerations will ensure that the employee benefits programs are beneficial not only to the employees but also to the organization.

The first consideration is to explore the objectives of the benefits programs. Underscoring the program’s possible benefits will give overall guidance in selecting and designing the best benefits programs. The critical question that an organization has to ask is how impactful will be the benefits program? Will it help retain or attract employees and increase overall sales in the future? The benefits program’s objectives should be to help the organization achieve both short-term and long-term strategic goals. The best employee benefits program should have a positive impact both on the employee and the organization. Employees are always looking for benefit packages to help them and their families (Gautam & Jain, 2015). A total rewards package can thus be an all-inclusive approach towards meeting what employees want. By looking at the objectives, the organization needs to prioritize goals as not everything will be provided. Streamlining benefits by selecting those deemed to be important to the business is a key consideration. Furthermore, the benefits program should be aligned with the business objectives to help attain a better company culture and profitability.

Besides evaluating the benefits program’s objectives, the second consideration is what is reflected in the market after doing a benchmarking exercise. Employee benefits are to help attract new employees and retain the current ones. Organizations must, therefore underscore the market trend and offerings in helping to keep the workforce engaged. Conducting a thorough industry-wide survey that can help identify what is being offered in the market can be the first step towards meeting the employees’ needs and expectations. Once the trend has been explored, it will be prudent to establish what the organization stands for. For instance, will the organization go above or beyond the market’s standards, or will it be as per what is being offered in the market? Benchmarking will also be important in ensuring the organization remains above board in the market.

The third and probably one of the critical aspects is the financial implications that the benefit program is set to have on the organization. As much as the organization must ensure that the employee benefits program is streamlined, it should not be against the other sectors of the organization. All the employee benefits will come at a cost to the organization, and therefore, there has to be a balance between investing in the employees and the expected returns. Calculating the costs expected to be incurred in providing employee benefits is an important step that the organization can use to avoid blowing budgets and set up contingency planning.

Comparison between Income Protection Programs and Pay for time not Worked Programs

Income protection programs are equivalent to insurance programs designed to provide an employee and his family with financial protection in the event of death, long-term illness, and any form of disability. These protection policies were initially referred to as permanent Health Insurance, where employees have to give a percentage of their income as compensation if an employee is hurt in the course of duty. On the other hand, pay for time not worked programs are programs under federal law, which requires the employer to pay an employee even when the employee is not working. Through this program, employees are given a reasonable number of off days that have to come with pay. The employees can use the said days to engage in activities not necessarily related to their organization’s roles.

The similarity between income protection programs and pay for time not worked is that both programs are guarded under federal law, and organizations have to adhere to the programs. Organizations often utilize the programs in their quest to attract and retain a more competent workforce. Besides, both programs are left to employers to decide how they can help retain employees. According to the Fair Labor Standards Act, both programs are not mandatory but at the employer

‘s discretion.

However, the difference is that employees contribute to insurance that employees contribute towards income protection programs. However, this is not the case for pay for time not worked, which is regarded as part of its normal salary. Therefore, it is right to argue that income protection programs are more of the employee’s obligation than the employer’s acting as the custodian of the insurance policy. On the contrary, the pay for time not worked programs is more of the employer’s obligation. Although it is a matter of agreement between the employer and employee, once consensus has been reached, it becomes the employer’s responsibility to meet the side of the bargain. According to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), organizations don’t need to pay for time not worked; an agreement will however, mean full compliance from the employer.

Other Benefits Recommended to the Management team.

Many other benefits can be recommended to the management team and regarded as necessary elements that the organization can use to attract and retain a more skilled workforce. The first benefit is the work-life balance, probably through a flexible work schedule. Leaders have to recognize the importance of employees having their time off the place of work. With the advent of technology, organizations can embrace a work-from-home policy for specific days or special tasks. Besides, the flexible work schedules can help employees have more time to build their social life or engage more with family, which is critical in building a more innovative workforce.

The second benefit recommended for the management team is career development. Letting employees explore their potential, advance their studies, or attend training and seminars is an important way to develop employees’ confidence and get their loyalty. The skills gained through such opportunities can help develop a more competent and dedicated workforce. The third benefit is providing employees with health insurance coverage for themselves and their family members. This is a value-added benefit that can be offered within the insurance plan. Health benefits like free fitness programs can go a long way in developing a more loyal workforce.

The fourth “other benefit” regarded as a necessary element for the benefits package is paid for overtime. To ensure that more employees are engaged and committed to attaining both short and long-term goals, guaranteeing them to pay for extra hours worked could be a good way to improve their organization’s engagement during busy working hours or when their specific productivity targets, employees are more engaged when they are assured of extra pay for every extra hour to stay and meet the set targets.

Employee Benefits Package for an Exempt or non-Exempt Position Level

Exempt jobs are those that are held by senior positioned employees and other highly skilled professionals. Such employees often work beyond the stipulated working hours, with their benefits packages being higher than the average or non-exempt employees. According to FLSA, some of the jobs that are categorized as exempt include administrative, executive, professional, outside sales, and computer-related. Although the details vary from one state to another, an employee that falls in the exempt category is entitled to a minimum of $ 684 per week or an average of $ 35 568 annually (York & Thor, 2020). The benefits package of a system’s engineer specialist who is an exempt employee can thus be presented as follows.

The first benefits package of an organization’s system engineer includes firstly having a flexible work environment. Since the employee is compensated for the job done, and not the time is taken to undertake the job, providing them with a flexible working schedule is key. The organization must consider whether every system is working as required without faults rather than requiring that the employee maintain a usual working schedule (Cascio, 2010). Since such an employee can take a long time, including working overnight to see systems are working without extra compensation, the working schedule should be flexible.

The next benefit is having the employee be paid a minimum yearly salary of $ 23 600 as per the Fair Labor Standards Act requirements. Regardless of how many hours the employees work, the salary earnings have to be sustained by the organization at all times. The employee will not have to worry about the number of hours worked as that will not influence their paychecks. The third benefit is a health and life insurance, which will all have to be paid by the employer even when other employees pay for themselves through deductions (Kadir et al., 2019).

The fourth benefit that will be granted to the exempt employee is a retirement plan, including sharing of profits, programs for stick options, education incentives, among other programs. Besides, employee stock ownership plans can also be incorporated to help improve the employee’s level of engagement.

Conclusion

Better management of employee benefits is an important consideration for employers in pursuit of attracting, motivating, and retaining good employees. Employers must ensure that whichever benefits they advance to their employees, the organization must also benefit. Important issues that employers have to consider in designing benefits packages for their employees include objectives of the benefits programs, market trends after benchmarking best practices for benefit programs, and the financial implications of the benefits programs on the organization. Income protection programs cushion employees against adversities and are also part of benefits packages used by organizations to attract, motivate, and retain quality employees. Several other benefits are also available for companies to explore and apply to their benefits programs. They include provisions for work-life balance, opportunities for career and professional development, health insurance cover, and paid-for-overtime.  For exempt or non-exempt positions, benefits packages may entail flexible work schedules, payment of a minimum annual wage as recommended by the FLSA, health and life insurance, and retirement plans. If implemented properly, these benefits packages can enhance employee productivity, attract new employees, and retain top talent.