Are your employees using and appreciating the benefits your business offers? Do you know how your offering stacks up to the competition? Many businesses use benchmarking to assess and improve their benefit programs, and federal contracting companies have much to gain by adopting this approach.
Here is a look at the benefits of benchmarking and some insights into the process.
What Is Benefits Benchmarking?
Benchmarking is analyzing how your federal contracting company’s benefits compare to those of other businesses of a similar size operating in the federal contracting sphere.
Some benchmarking reports are general, while others will break down information according to categories you request, such as job title or geography. This insight can improve your offering and attract and retain top talent.
The Benefits of Benchmarking for Federal Contracting Companies
Here is a look at some ways benchmarking can benefit emerging federal contractors.
Determining Return on Investment in Benefits
Investing in a benefits program can pay off well in attracting and retaining good employees, but how do you know if your program is effective and cost-efficient? Benchmarking can help you determine important factors, such as the program participation rate.
In addition, if some of the benefits you offer have specific goals, benchmarking can determine if they are being met. For example, suppose your federal contracting business implemented a wellness program to decrease your company’s healthcare premiums. In that case, benchmarking can determine whether this has been successful.
Reducing The Costs of Unnecessary Programs
Once your federal contracting company understands the return it is getting on its investment in benefits, you can identify programs that are not being used so they can be eliminated. This can help you to cut unnecessary costs.
Moreover, you may determine that the money spent on an underutilized benefit would be better spent offering a more affordable benefit that aligns with your employee base.
This is particularly relevant in the post-pandemic era, when many workers have shifted to remote or hybrid work. For some federal contracting companies, expensive on-site perks such as a cafeteria may no longer be relevant. Replacing these offerings with home office or wellness stipends could provide more value to employees.
Understanding Employee Engagement
Benefits benchmarking can also help your federal contracting company determine employee engagement by measuring absence statistics and issuing and assessing employee surveys.
This can help reveal whether mental distress or work-related stress is causing employees to miss work and whether implementing other mental wellness benefits might help your business be more productive so you can remain competitive when bidding on federal contracts.
Identifying New Trends In Employee Benefits
It is essential to think outside the box regarding employee benefits and offer perks beyond typical retirement and healthcare benefits.
By knowing what is trending among other federal contracting companies in your area, you can ensure that your offering aligns with employee expectations and that you retain valuable talent to the competition. For example, perks such as prepaid parental leave and unlimited paid time off are popular in some sectors.
The Process of Benefits Benchmarking for Federal Contracting Companies
Here is a brief overview of how benchmarking benefits work for federal contracting companies.
Assessing Existing Benefits
The first step of the process is benchmarking the benefits you are currently offering your employees, such as health, retirement planning, insurance, education, and financial benefits.
Other areas that should be explored include paid leave and vacation time, family assistance, and work flexibility perks such as flexible schedules and remote work.
Surveying For Employee Benefit Opportunities
Benchmarking involves maximizing employee benefits through surveys to employees to gain insight into how the current offerings are being received. Not only can this indicate employee satisfaction with the current offering, but it can also point to benefits you are not offering that your employees would value.
The survey questions often ask employees to rank specific benefits on a scale of 1 to 10 and ask how they feel their benefits compare to those of other employers.
Comparing The Employee Benefits Data
Next, you need to compare your benefits to the ones offered by other federal contracting companies that operate in your industry. Employee benefits brokers draw from raw data sources, reports by industry experts, and consultations with other relevant professionals to develop a comprehensive report that provides optimal insight.
Discuss Benchmarking Analysis with the Federal Contracting Employee Benefits Brokers
Benchmarking is valuable for helping federal contracting companies attract highly qualified employees and develop a good reputation in the federal contracting sector.
To learn more about how your company’s benefits stack up against the competition or about the benefits of benchmarking, contact the federal contracting employee benefits brokers at Business Benefits Group (BBG) to request a consultation today.