Top Eight Flexible Benefits for Employees

Providing your employees with flexible benefits can have many benefits for your company. It can boost employees’ morale and increase their productivity, as well as improve your organization’s culture and reputation. However, in order for you to gain these advantages as an employer and business owner, you must choose the right flexible benefits to offer. As an aid to you, this blog post lists the top eight flexible benefits employees can take advantage of.

So let’s get right to it.

What are flexible benefits for employees?

Flexible benefits, also known as payments-in-kind, are employer-provided salary supplements in which employees receive products or services for free or at a discounted price. 

Usually, organizations set a financial limit for such benefits packages.

This flexibility allows employees to customize their benefits package according to their individual needs.

What is the difference between benefits and perks?

Benefits are part of an employee’s salary, whereas perks are auxiliary. 

Money rewards for great project results or completing it before the deadline are examples of perks.

Additionally, perks can take the form of non-wage compensations, such as in-office snacks, company cars, and more.

Why are flexible benefits important?

Offering flexible benefits means also taking multiple advantages. The following are some of the most relevant.

1. Boost employees’ mood and productivity

As you can imagine, giving employees benefits like gym memberships makes it easier for them to spend their time doing what they enjoy. This improves your employee’s morale and performance.

When employees are happier at work, they are more productive, which makes your business more efficient. A happy working environment also boosts collaboration among employees.

1. Improve your brand reputation

As your workplace environment improves, so does your brand’s reputation. As a result, if you promote and make your flexible benefits packages known, also external people and stakeholders will have a positive perception of your organization.

In addition to attracting potential investors, this may also attract companies interested in establishing partnerships with you.

1. A higher retention rate and talent acquisition

Offering competitive benefits packages can help your business entice more applicants and attract top-quality employees.

You’ll have the opportunity to include these benefits along with your job listing so potential applicants will be able to acknowledge them and be more likely to apply.

Additionally, if your employees enjoy these packages they will be less likely to leave your company for another, increasing your retention rate.

Best 8 flexible benefits for employees

As promised, here are some of the best flexible benefits to offer your employees, which they will surely appreciate.

• Private medical insurance

Private medical insurance is very often included in flexible benefits packages. 

Tax-free treatment insurance for illnesses or injuries resulting from employment is available. 

Nevertheless, employers are expected to report medical and dental insurance on behalf of their employees if they are part of a salary sacrifice agreement.

Many companies negotiate with insurance companies so that their employees are able to access the services at a lower price.

• Wellness benefits

Benefit packages focused on wellness are among the most appreciated among employees. Discounts or free passes to a gym are examples of wellness benefits. Occasionally, they may also include free passes to specific classes, like yoga and pilates. It is not only beneficial to the physical form of your employees, but also to their mental health. Employees who participate in physical activities feel more productive and energized at work, making the entire organization more efficient. 

• Transportation vouchers

Additionally, you may wish to consider offering transportation vouchers to your employees. When your company is located in a large city where transportation is needed, such as buses and subways, this is an extremely useful benefit. As a result, you will save them money in transportation fares and services that they would otherwise need to purchase on a daily basis or on a month or annual basis. 

• Pension contributions

Pension contributions are also a common and appreciated flexible benefit that you can offer to your employees.

They consist in providing employees with extra money once they retire.

Plans like these will be able to attract more people and retain employees, including top talent.

• Buying or selling annual leave

As a rule of thumb, most companies allow employees to take a certain number of days off as annual leave. 

The ability to buy or sell annual leave, however, offers greater flexibility, which many employees appreciate.

Not every employee requires the same amount of vacation time. In this way, if you offer this flexible benefit, your employees will be able to take extra days off or earn some extra money when they don’t need them.

• Meal vouchers

By providing meal vouchers to employees, they will be able to save money or pay nothing for food during the working day, such as lunch. 

You’ll decide how much each voucher is worth.

With these benefits, employees will feel as though their salaries are increasing without the need for you to actually increase them since they won’t have to spend money purchasing food or time preparing it.

• IT equipment and mobile

Offering working equipment, such as mobile phones, desktop computers, and other devices, can boost employee appreciation and help them save money since they won’t have to buy them on their own. 

The popularity of remote working has led to this benefits package becoming more common. So, if your company offers remote or hybrid work options, this benefit will surely be appreciated by employees.

• Childcare vouchers

If most of your employees have children, childcare vouchers would be highly appreciated. 

This would in fact save them money on childcare facilities and other expenses.

If, however, your team consists mostly of young adults without children, you should consider a different benefit package. 

Tips for choosing a flexible benefits package that fits your company and employees’ needs

It can be difficult to develop a flexible benefits package that meets both the needs and preferences of your company and your employees. However, there are some considerations to take into account in order to facilitate this choice process. Here are some of the most relevant ones.

• Understand your company’s availability and benefit’s return on investment

Your first consideration should be your benefits budget. This refers to how much money you can spend on offering flexible benefits packages to your employees. Depending on your company’s size and type, the budget may vary. Moreover, you must consider that each type of benefit has a different return on investment. Take annual leave as an example, it often pays for itself. Some benefits, however, don’t have a financial return. Others, such as health benefits, can enhance your employees’ wellness, both physical and mental, resulting in improved mood, higher productivity, a higher retention rate, and a lower absence rate.

As you can imagine, therefore, benefits differ in many ways, and you need to pick the one that you believe is going to benefit your employees as well as your organization.

• Consider company location and employees’ demographics

Other factors to consider when choosing the best flexible benefits package for your employees include your company’s location and employees’ demographics. In terms of location, it is important to keep in mind where the offices of your company are located. If your company is located in a city that requires your employees to travel almost always, then you can think about offering transportation vouchers. You should also consider the demographics of your average employees. If most of your employees are above the age of 40, you may want to focus on health or medical insurance. As an alternative, if you have young staff, you may want to consider wellness benefits, such as gym memberships, or offering annual leave since they are willing to travel.

• Take into account the employee’s personal situation

A third factor to consider is your employee’s personal circumstances. These may include their age, family status, health status, and more.

You may opt for children’s care vouchers, for example, if your team is mainly comprised of individuals with families and children. 

• Conduct surveys

The best way to understand which flexible benefits will be appreciated by your employees is to use surveys and ask them directly what they would like to receive. Besides emails, you can also send them papers and anonymize the survey. When you get the answers, you can choose to offer the most requested package. Therefore, you will be able to ensure that most of your employees will be satisfied.

Conclusions on Employee Benefits

Providing flexible benefits to your employees can benefit your business in a number of ways, as outlined in this blog.

You can expect positive and beneficial results only when you provide the right benefits; the ones your employees can truly enjoy and appreciate.

This blog post provided you with the best eight flexible benefits for employees. 

However, if you feel that other packages would be better suited for your company, you can offer them.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I hope it was insightful and useful to you.

To find out more on this topic, I recommend reading this article on how to create a competitive employee benefits package your team will love.

Flavia Silipo is a skilled SEO copywriter and digital marketing specialist with over two years of experience. You can find her on LinkedIn.