How offering better benefits could knock out your labor woes
As the hospitality industry looks to make a comeback from the gut punch that was COVID-19, much like the rest of the world, hotel owners are scrambling to attract and retain employees. But an often-overlooked key to getting the right people on your team and keeping them can be as simple as offering robust and competitive employee benefits.
According to a study by Justworks, 88% of employees said the quality and options of health benefits were important when accepting a job offer, and 41% of employers offer health insurance as part of their benefits package. In the increasingly competitive war for talent, health benefits have become one of the most important battles to win. The secret to success? Employers who think of employee benefits as tax-free compensation vs. a pesky expense are better at building competitive employee benefits packages.
No matter the size of your staff, benefits can be a vital way to keep your most valuable asset, your people, healthy and happy. But more than that, there also are key benefits to your hotel when your offering stands out against your competition.
FINDING WHAT WORKS
How do you know which benefits your employees will value? How do you know what’s worth investing in vs. what’s a waste of resources? How can you offer benefits that actually benefit your employees and serve your hotel? How do you piece it all together?
This is where a benefits consultant comes in. A good benefits consultant does more than just negotiate with insurance companies, present plan renewals, and tweak your cost-sharing. Today, you have the opportunity to take a supply-chain management approach to their health plan and build a program that’s customized around your hotel’s unique goals, demographics, geography, financial position, and risk tolerance. By working with a benefits consultant who embraces this approach, you can increase the quality of care and improve the employee experience, while significantly reducing the annual medical spend of your business.
To get started, you should look for a benefits consultant who can teach you about the variety of available tools, options, vendors, and resources, and then help you design and implement a solution that is built around you and your needs. Then, you’ll have a plan that’s compelling for recruiting and retaining employees, maximizes employee health and wellbeing, and is aligned with your financial objectives.
Here are a few strategies that a benefits consultant can help you explore and make sense of:
- Reference-based pricing
- Centers of excellence programs
- Direct contracting
- Specialty drug programs
- Direct primary care
There are many more things to consider when evaluating a benefits consultant, including ACA strategy, compliance, and reporting, and add-ons such as benchmarking reports, pharmacy consulting, predictive analytics, medical advocacy, and actuarial services. But the most important thing to consider in benefits consulting is being there for everyone.Does your strategy ensure your employees and their dependents are getting the right care at the right place for the right price?Whether your employees are blue collar, white collar, old, young, or something in between, a benefits consulting partner can help you customize a plan that meets each of their unique needs.
4 REASONS a flexible, competitive benefits plan works
1. A great employee benefits offering can help improve health and productivity. When you take care of your employees, they have a reason to remain loyal to your business and work harder in the long run. Plus, according to the AICPA, 80% of workers would keep a job with benefits rather than take one that offered more pay and no benefits.
2. Benefits increase attendance and presenteeism at work. According to the CDC, employees who prioritize their health through preventative care, such as regular check-ups, get more accomplished at work because they remain healthier than their less-diligent counterparts. A MetLife study backs that up, too, with 60% of employers noting that offering healthcare has increased their overall productivity levels.
3. A great plan improves employee retention and recruit-ment. In a survey by Glassdoor, employees said that of all the benefits they receive from an employee, health insurance is the most important. Plus, according to an SHRM study, retention (72%) and recruiting (58%) were the top reasons for increasing the quality of your employee benefits plan.
4. Offering benefits boosts employee morale and loyalty. When you take care of, and address, the needs of your workforce, your employees recognize this, and you can organically increase morale and the overall happiness of your employees.
Geoff Rowson is the senior vice president of sales at Totem Solutions, a benefits consulting company and an AAHOA Platinum Industry Partner that handles everything from administration to enrollment and employee advocacy. For more information on employee benefits and employee benefits consulting, visit totemsolutions.com or contact Geoff at [email protected].
