59% Of Employees Likely To Accept A Job With Slightly Lower Pay But Better Benefits

A new study from Alfac shows that benefits continue to be a critical tool for employee recruitment and retention. Specifically, the study revealed that 59% of workers at small companies are at least somewhat likely to accept a job with slightly lower pay but better benefits. Also, 49% of small-business employees who somewhat agree they’ll be looking for jobs in the next year also said improving their benefits package is one thing their employers could do to keep them in their jobs.

With the costs to recruit and hire new employees increasing due to the strong job market, the value in employee retention continues to rise. The study confirms the importance of developing robust benefit packages that go beyond providing health insurance. Since employee engagement is also important to retention, a wellness program is a great benefit for employers to keep their best asset – their people – engaged, happy, and healthy. This means lower turnover, a more experienced workforce, and significant cost savings.

Although the value of a wellness program is usually associated with controlling healthcare costs, the benefits of these programs also include employee recruitment and retention as well as improving productivity and engagement. In increasingly competitive job markets, employers must broaden their thinking about optimizing their workforce, which means broadening the benefits of wellness beyond cost containment. Employers that use a holistic approach to evaluating the benefits of wellness programs will quickly recognize the incredible value wellness programs can capture.

The key to success will be making sure the specific elements of a wellness program are designed with the intention to capture all the potential benefits of wellness. For example, a health risk assessment or biometric screening will not improve employee engagement or build culture the way wellness challenges can. These differences in wellness programs must be considered in order extract value.