Considering what benefits to offer your employees be a stressful decision for business leaders. The options seem endless: medical insurance, flexible spending accounts, health savings accounts, dental, orthodontia, vision, life, disability, 401k plans with a matching contribution, vacation time, sick pay, maternity/paternity leave, and more.

Additionally, we often hear about the high-profile companies that offer nap rooms, unlimited vacation time, free lunches, massages, and a full-time barista. You want to attract great talent and keep great employees. But, when considering a benefits package that is competitive enough to retain those people, you may get overwhelmed as you consider the impact those benefits may have on your bottom line.

It may seem like a huge gulf between the benefits that the bigger, national companies have and what you can provide. But a simple, four-step plan can help you maximize your benefits budget and attract and retain the best people in your industry.

Find out what your employees actually want

According to a 2017 survey of 2000 people of all ages by Frac.tl.com, the benefits most important to job seekers are health, dental and vision insurance. No surprises there. Note, however, that the next benefits listed in importance were more flexible hours, more vacation time, and work-from-home options. In other words, employees currently place a high value on these low-cost or no-cost benefits that give them flexibility and increased work-life balance.

Try conducting an internal survey to find out how your employees rank a list of benefits. You may find that some of the things on their wish lists won’t cost you much or anything at all.

For example, if very few of your employees have children in the pre-teen to the teenage range, should you bother paying extra to include orthodontia in your dental plan? Maybe not at this point in time.

If your age demographics tilt more toward a younger group without children or an older group whose children are grown, you may want to offer health coverage that speaks to the needs of those employee populations.

You can control some costs by trying to predict what will actually be used and appreciated by your team.

Consider what will make your workplace fun and desirable. Can your company help a local charity or do a clean-up project in a park on a Friday afternoon? Would someone in your professional network want to come in and teach a lunch-and-learn—such as your banker speaking about budgets and saving, for example? What discounts or memberships can you arrange with local businesses? Are you presenting a monthly achievement award to employees who have gone above and beyond their normal job duties? All of these things help people feel appreciated and involved.

You can check current national averages of benefits costs by reading the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employer Costs for Employee Compensation report. More specifically, you can investigate your local competition on Glassdoor.com by reading what their employees say about their benefit offerings.

If you still don't think you can offer competitive benefits, don't worry. There's a better way! Axios HR is a full-service HR outsourcing company who manages the benefits packages and administration for hundreds of organizations in the midwest. With that type of buying power, we can help you offer Fortune 100 benefits packages that the most talented people in your industry are looking for. 

But that's not all! Included in our full-service HR partnership is error-free payroll processing, expert compliance support, and recruiting services. To find out if consolidating HR costs and elevating your benefits offering can move the needle in your business, call 1.844.44.AXIOS or explore the rest of our site for more information.