One of the Most Underestimated Employee Benefits

What’s more important than salaries at your small business?

Small business owners and entrepreneurs sometimes believe they can’t compete for the best employees because of not being able to offer big money.

But a recent study shows another incentive might be far more enticing.

That incentive is a robust benefits package.

In fact, data from the recent 2015 Aflac WorkForces Report shows 59 percent of today’s employees would consider leaving their current job for a job with better benefits.

That’s true even if the new position pays slightly less than the job they left, the study goes on to say.

And while you might believe your company can’t afford great benefits either, other options exist that you may want to consider.

One such option is voluntary insurance. These are additional benefits options purchased by your employees over and above your existing plan — coverage like life, long-term and short-term disability.

And often these additional benefits options come at little or no additional cost to your business.

What’s more, from a competitive standpoint, making voluntary insurance available to your employees will be considered another perk of working at your company.

According to the Aflac survey, 88 percent of employees at least somewhat agree that voluntary benefits options are part of a comprehensive benefits package.

So not only will making voluntary insurance available at your company help give your employees greater peace of mind.

These options can also end up becoming a major recruiting and retention tool, too.

A few of the positives the Aflac study found with additional voluntary benefits options were that employees:

• Are less prone to personal financial distraction while at work,
• Are less likely to be looking for another job in the next 12 months,
• Are likely to say they are extremely satisfied with their benefits package,
• have greater reassurance that they are more financially prepared should they become ill and not be able to work,
• Are better prepared financially for medical emergencies when they occur.

Why should all of this concern you as an entrepreneur?

Well, apart from the fact that as a good employer, you care about your employees and want the best for them, there are other obvious benefits.

Additional benefits options can contribute to a more confident and secure 

workforce, able to focus on the growth of your company rather than on personal financial worries.

This is Aflac’s fifth annual WorkForces Report and explores benefit trends and attitudes at companies with three or more employees across the U.S.

The study was conducted January 2015 by marketing research company Research Now. And data was captured from 1, 977 benefits decision-makers and 5,377 employees.

More information on the research is available at http://goo.gl/WI9x3n