An employee benefits benchmark strategy is a powerful tool that can propel a business to the top of its field, but many companies overlook its value. As talent acquisition and retention become increasingly challenging, businesses that take the time to develop this valuable compass can create attractive and sustainable benefits packages that align with their industry’s standards.
Employee benefits benchmark efforts help human resources departments set realistic expectations within the company and the broader industry. However, communicating the benefits of benchmarking to all a business’s participants is essential for getting these projects off the ground and driving strategic decisions.
Understanding Employee Benefits Benchmarks
An employee benefits benchmark is a point of reference based on data that illustrates the norms regarding benefits throughout the market in a specific industry. It typically entails primary metrics such as health insurance coverage, paid time off, retirement plans, and other types of perks offered to employees.
Participation rates, employee satisfaction levels, and average costs are all data points that might be used for these calculations. This effort can provide an excellent return on investment.
After all, benefits packages can be a decisive factor when choosing among different employment offers. These packages also influence current employees’ engagement and satisfaction with the company.
Businesses should bear in mind that these benchmarks evolve as the economy and workforce dynamics change, and staying on top of these changes is essential for ensuring their benefits package is compelling in the long term.
Analyzing Benchmark Data
Gathering benchmark data can be time-consuming; analyzing it requires careful attention to detail. The first step is identifying and accessing reliable sources of benchmarking data, such as analytics carried out by benefits consultants, HR organization surveys, and industry reports.
There are a range of approaches to analyzing this data, from basic comparisons using spreadsheets to in-depth predictive modeling by high-tech software. Employee benefits benchmark experts know how to look beyond the numbers to see the bigger picture about the organization’s overall company culture and employee satisfaction.
Communicating Benchmark Insights to Stakeholders
A significant component of successful employee benefits benchmarking is accurately communicating the insights it provides to participants. Hence, they understand the value of the effort and can implement the changes it identifies.
It is imperative to customize benchmarking insights to different audiences. For example, executives tend to prefer high-level overviews of the project. HR professionals often seek more detailed analysis; employees will want to know how this impacts their personal lives. The particular interests of the various participants should drive their messages.
Finding the best way to communicate these insights is often as important as the message. Consider the target audience when deciding whether to use a presentation, meeting, social media post, internal report, or other approach.
Take time to anticipate and address the questions employees and other participants may have, and create an FAQ or organize a question-and-answer session to provide more information and reassurance.
Implementing Changes Based on Benchmark Insights
After successfully communicating the insights gleaned from an employee benefits benchmark project, it is time to implement changes that can strengthen the organization’s ability to offer competitive benefits. Gaps in the current offerings are a good place to start, and this should be supported with measurable and actionable strategies.
Keep in mind that this is an ongoing process; businesses should monitor the effectiveness of their new strategies and adjust them as needed to ensure they remain competitive.
Measuring the Impact of Changes
How can businesses convey the impact of benefits benchmarking to participants? Measuring the impact of these changes using key performance indicators can be very powerful.
Whether you are most concerned about the cost per employee or the overall retention rate, find the KPIs that align with your goals. It can also be helpful to hold employee feedback sessions or conduct surveys to determine what is working and not performing as expected. Be sure to adjust the offerings based on this feedback.
Overcoming Challenges in Benchmarking
Benchmarking can be complicated and is expected to have challenges. For example, the diversity of benefits packages can make it difficult to make accurate comparisons; standardizing metrics can help in this regard. Employee benefits benchmarking professionals are well-versed in avoiding common pitfalls. It is also essential to make sure the data being used for benchmarking is recent and accurate.
Partner With Business Benefits Group
Is your business ready to become a true contender in the competition for high-performing and loyal talent? You don’t have to crack the employee benefits code on your own. At Business Benefits Group, our expertise in employee benefits benchmarking enables us to create customized solutions for your organization. Contact us today for a consultation.