Perhaps Anne M. Mulcahy, former chairperson and CEO of Xerox said it best, “Employees are a company’s greatest asset — they’re your competitive advantage. You want to attract and retain the best; provide them with encouragement, stimulus, and make them feel that they are an integral part of the company’s mission.”

So how do you attract and retain the very best and brightest? Beyond providing meaningful work, and a mission everyone can believe in, design your benefits so that they resonate with your organization. Choose benefits that increase employee wellness and well-being by aligning benefits that matter to your workforce and make a difference in their daily lives. 

Careful curation

Start by curating benefits carefully. You have your standard medical, dental, vision and 401k plan, but what can you offer that is new, different and relevant? Consider the times we are living in. The 2020 pandemic saw record numbers of people adopting pets for the first time. At Prudent Pet Insurance, we have seen interest soar as pet parents take stock of their new furry family members and commit to giving their new friend the very best life possible. Pet Insurance is a timely and thoughtful addition to your suite of benefits since more than 67 percent of American households have at least one pet. 

Next, stay top of mind. You’ve already gone to the trouble of selecting meaningful benefits, but when it comes to communicating them, it typically happens at open enrollment or in new employee orientation packets — and that is usually the extent of the communication. Why not send out a monthly or quarterly recap on your benefits plan and remind your employees of the various perks they are entitled to and that you are providing to them as a valued employee? 

“All too often, we get calls from pet owners who had no idea that their company offered a discount on pet insurance,” says Lauren Mieli, vice president at Prudent Pet. If your employees are not using a benefit, it may not be because they don’t find it useful. It may be that they aren’t even aware that they are entitled to it. 

Careful communication

Does communicating about benefits sound like too much work? Don’t sweat it. Most of your benefit providers are more than willing to help you with employee communications — just ask! At Prudent Pet, we have a full marketing library for human resources professionals to “self-serve.” Many times, our marketing team will design something custom for a client by request. 

You’ve done your research. You’ve selected meaningful benefits for your employees. You took extra measures to communicate these benefits several times throughout the year. The question remains – did your employees find them useful? Did they appreciate them? You can find the answer to that question in a variety of ways:

• Measure utilization. Circle back with each benefit provider and find out how many of your employees have taken advantage of that benefit. Remember, just because the utilization percent might be lower, it doesn’t mean the benefit isn’t useful. Perhaps your staff was unaware of it. 
• Use Net Promotor Score and ask your employees to rate each benefit
• Put together a short survey and ask employees to force-rank benefits. Be sure to exclude medical, dental, and vision — assuming you already offer those — as those benefits will always rise to the top. 

Your workforce is likely a very diverse place and employee preferences vary from individual to individual. However, certain themes continually arise when it comes to what employees want: more time off for vacations, more flexibility in their schedules, time off to care for furry and non-furry family members, cool corporate perks, and discounts, etc. Choose benefits that help employees in their daily lives outside of work. And then make sure they know about them. 

To learn more about Prudent Pet Insurance’s offerings, visit https://www.prudentpet.com/. Plans are underwritten by Markel Insurance Company and Markel American Insurance Company.