Employers tend to think of benefits in terms of recruiting, retention, and cost. They measure the value of their benefits packages in terms of how effective they are in the competition for talented employees. That being the case, personalized benefits are a hot trend right now. Companies are starting to offer benefit personalization as yet another way to compete in a tight labor market.

Personalized benefits bring a lot to the table. They are an excellent recruiting incentive, they make it possible for companies to offer voluntary benefits at a reduced cost, and they make it easier to craft a benefits package that meets the unique needs of an employer’s work force. But the real value of personalized benefits is found in the people who use them.

Personalization With Voluntary Benefits

Nearly every benefits package includes health and retirement plans, at minimum. There is very little personalization with regard to these two product types. Personalization really begins with voluntary benefits. These include things like dental and vision plans, life insurance, etc.

Dallas based BenefitMall describes voluntary benefits as those benefits that go above and beyond standard health insurance and 401(k) plans. They are considered voluntary because employees can choose to utilize them as needed. A company might have a basket of six or seven voluntary benefits while one of its employees only uses three of them.

Meeting Unique Needs

Voluntary benefits are important to employees because they can help meet unique needs. A good example BenefitMall cites regularly is pet insurance. Pet insurance isn’t a product every employee needs or wants. But among those who have pets, pet insurance can be invaluable.

This suggests that offering a basket of voluntary benefits requires an open mind. Diversifying a basket to appeal to the widest possible audience is the way to go. Employers accept the fact that not every benefit in the company basket will be utilized by every employee. But all of them will be utilized by a certain percentage of employees.

Personalization Empowers Employees

Personalized benefits add value to a company’s entire benefits package by empowering employees. That empowerment is manifested in an employee’s ability to pick and choose which benefits will be utilized. Employees can essentially design their own packages by combining the most attractive voluntary benefits with their health insurance and retirement plans.

There is real value in this, especially when employers are looking to their benefits packages as a means of retaining their best employees. When employees feel empowered to take control of their benefits, they are more likely to take ownership of what they do as workers. Empowered employees also tend to be more satisfied and loyal. Check out the PEO plans at BenefitMall

Personalization Also Empowers Brokers

It is hard to fully measure the value of personalized benefits without talking about benefits brokers. They are the ones who search out voluntary benefits in hopes of helping employers craft the perfect basket to offer their workers. Personalized benefits offer brokers real value in that they make it possible to meet just about any need an employer could think of.

Brokers willing to invest themselves in voluntary benefits always have something special to offer clients. They have more options for crafting the best possible benefits package they can come up with. The more choices a broker has, the better.

It is fine to think of employee benefits in terms of dollars and cents. But where personalized benefits are concerned, the real value is found in the people who use them. As a result, personalized benefits can make an enormous difference in the employer-employee relationship.