By: Sandeep Raghunath
About the Author: Sandeep Raghunath is the Head of Human Resources at EarlySalary, with 10+ years of international experience in HR across industries
Financial programs aimed at employees may be associated with several different perspectives both for the employees and for the business owners. In most cases, these employee benefit programs play a major role in attracting prospective employees and improving team morale. They can prove to be both a liability or advantageous to companies depending on how well they are handled and deployed.
That being said, there are fairly apparent advantages and drawbacks for a company to indulge in such programs, and the evaluation of the potential risks is certainly critical. In this post, we shall focus on the positive aspects of financial or employee wellness programs from a business point of view.
Prospective employees look for benefits such as health insurance, paid leaves, and bonus plans. These benefits not only draw more talent, but also help in retention. Employees working with companies with such plans are significantly less likely to quit their job, since they’re focused more on their work than their wallet. Since this leads to a larger and more productive team with only the best employees, it helps create a collaborative community where output is delivered faster and with high efficiency.
Deploying strategies that use financial benefit programs for employees might seem expensive at first, but with a closer look, it can be clear how these programs might actually benefit the company financially. A financial benefit program creates an atmosphere of productivity in the workplace by enhancing the quality and efficiency of work indirectly. This might seem unusual at first glance, but it is observed that employees largely do not abuse the benefits given to them – like paid leaves or bonus plans. This assists the company remain in sync with its revenue projections, and possibly even help retain clients for longer periods. Costs incurred in severance, employee training, and rigorous business development are therefore lowered.
Healthcare benefits as a part of financial wellness programs enjoy the highest demand among employees in any given sector right now. Thanks to the growing costs of healthcare worldwide, employees are actively looking for positions or jobs that offer health insurance packages. Companies that do so attract the most applicants and also maintain a great retainment number. This usually means that there is a positive culture created by healthy employees who are routinely tested medically to ensure top-notch productivity rates. While this can directly pump up the productivity rates of a business, it also increases business value as more employees with experience with the same company continue to work.
Benefits of this league can trigger small but highly impactful changes in the overall working of an organisation, which is, of course, crucial for optimal performance. Setting a positive culture, creating a collaborative community, increasing profits and improving sales pipelines are just a few of the changes that are noticeable due to financial wellness programs and there are numerous other small effects that drive radical changes in a business.
