Employee Management System

Five Stunning Strategies To Design a Complete Employee Benefits Program

A quick reality check– in modern times, just a few paid time off (PTO) and healthcare package fall short in front of the mounting issues in the professional and personal lives of employees.

Which firms would take care of them financially after their retirement?

Which companies provide tele-health services for emergency medical guidance on a Sunday night?

And if they decide to adopt a child into their expanding family, who will offer parental leave?

These are some of the few questions that bother them.

In such a scenario, the most effective method to meet the complicated and evolving needs of your workforce is to create a solid Employee Benefits strategy. Being absolutely fruitful in developing an encouraging work environment, an employee benefits plan is a road map for your recruitment and staff retention campaigns.

In this article, we’ve narrowed down several kinds of employee perks that you need to incorporate and the strategies to design a comprehensive employee benefits program. Read on to know more!

Three Must-Have Employee Benefits

The umbrella term “Employee Benefits” comprises a whole range of workplace benefits. Although every organization designs its compensation program in a different way, here are three key categories to be aware of:

Compulsory benefits

Depending on your company’s location, you might need to offer your staff some basic perks like:

Community Security
Workers’ compensation, includes payments for lost wages, healthcare, job rehabilitation, and other advantages
Insurance for the unemployed
Prolongation of Health Insurance (COBRA)
Disability insurance benefits (as per the Family and Medical Leave Act)
Sick leave

Health Insurance Benefits

Considering the current situation, it’s crucial to support the physical and mental wellness of your employees. This might appear as follows:

Medical coverage (such as prescription drugs, doctor visits, and hospital stays)
Dental insurance benefits
Vision insurance benefits
Accounts for Flexible Spending (Employees are given a stipend to use as they see fit.)
HSA or Health savings account (Employees are permitted to set away pre-tax funds for healthcare expenses.)
Health Reimbursement Plans (Employees receive tax-free money to cover qualified medical costs specific to their needs.)
Mental health counseling
Stress management classes
Dietary advice, and other wellness programs

Financial Benefits

According to MetLife in 2023, 48% of employees reported that their financial worries were negatively affecting their mental health.

Employers can provide financial security to their employees in the following ways:

401(k) plans (employers and employees contribute to this company-sponsored retirement plan)
Life Insurance Benefits
Equities compensation (a form of employee reward whereby employees are given stock options in the company)
Plans to buy stocks (A form of employee reward whereby employees getting equity compensation may buy and own stocks.)
Bonus schemes
Plans for incentives and acclaim (programs that link monetary awards to career milestones, accomplishments, anniversaries, and birthdays)
Financial planning

Now that you’re aware of the kinds of employee perks you need to incorporate, let’s dive right into the ways to create an employee benefits program.

Strategies to Design a Comprehensive Employee Benefits Program

The foundations of a compelling strategy will include obligations for contributions, benefit design, communication, delivery, and compliance costs. If you want to provide a benefits package that is truly competitive, you’ll also need to keep track of employee trends in the larger labor market. Follow these five strategies to succeed.

Determine the organization’s goals, objectives, and budget

Finding the goals is the most significant step in establishing an employee benefits program. In most cases, this approach does not result in the enlisted benefits; rather offers a summary of the organization’s goals for providing perks that take into account the requirements of both the employer and the employee. The formulation of the objectives will be guided by the HR of the organization because these objectives should aid in achieving the overarching strategic goals.

Establishing the budget is equally crucial because it will influence the overall employee benefits packages you can offer. Don’t forget to account for extra expenses like implementation fees, foreign currency fees, administrative expenditures, and the possibility of price hikes when summing everything up. If your employees don’t spend their entire allowance, it’s important to know if your perks are refundable.

Examine the demography of your entire workforce

Instead of considering a certain character when planning your perks, consider your workforce demographic. Design your benefits package in a way that appeals to employees of every generation. Notable points are:

By 2024, a quarter of the U.S. workforce will be over 55. This would thereby make them eligible to receive retirement, financial planning, and health insurance benefits.
Ensure family planning benefits since 68% of younger adults would be likely to switch jobs to acquire fertility support.
Employees in the “squeezed middle” who are in charge of both youth and senior citizens, may require more help in juggling work and personal life.

Analyze the advantages of competitors

You must be aware of what your competitors are offering in order to surpass them. For a better understanding of the present landscape, undertake benchmarking and research.

Explain the importance of your benefits program

The ideal situation when businesses invest in benefits is for the utilization by their employees to maximize growth, development, and well-being. Explaining the value of your perks to your employees is thus important if you see a lack of participation in your rewards program.

Maintain compliance

Alongside post-employment support, consider the legal standards you must follow as you routinely review your approach. To avoid any sort of issues, be sure you are familiar with both local and federal labor regulations.

Conclusion

Your team members ought to feel valued and heard at all times in the office. What could be more motivating for them than a complete employee benefits package that takes employee wellness into account on every level? By employing the above-described tactics, you can design a plan that caters to the various needs of your workforce. After all, by investing in the future of your employees, you are also investing in the future of your business.

How project tracking motivates employees to be more productive?

Project Tracking aims to track a team’s work on a project. Simple enough for anyone to understand, but with plenty of options for customizing your workflow. No matter how skilled or inexperienced you are, Project Tracking will help you focus on other essential tasks that require attention.

It’s easy to see where your team or company spends its time and resources. A clear view of the work is presented, and it is more accessible for managers to see how their employees utilize their time and on what project. That allows them to provide additional training and supplies to make their employees more efficient. Plus, businesses can improve processes, saving the company money in the long term.

This blog is about how project tracking incentivizes employees for increased productivity. Let us learn why you should use project tracking software to increase productivity in your business now.

Benefits of project tracking

For employees, Project Tracking helps them improve their skills. It gives them a way to collect and focus on what they’ve learned so far and build on it, practicing until they master the work. It motivates employees to explore new fields and work out of the box.

Companies with Project Tracking can see where their money is going and set budgets for various projects. The software makes it easy for managers to look over employee work, giving them insights into the job details to evaluate the employee’s performance better. Some other benefits that project tracking can offer include the following:

Increased productivity

Staying focused on projects has become a problem. Businesses can fix it with proper project tracking software. Agencies can see where they spend their time and performance. They’ll be able to prioritize what needs to get completed and stay committed to completing assignments.

Communication is improved

With such software, businesses would have a way to inform other team members of what work is being done. Also, members can contact each other whenever they want and raise questions and concerns. It allows them to ask questions at any time, leading to improved communication and a better overall working environment.

Cost savings

For small businesses, balancing finances is always a concern. They might have more work than they can handle, but they must be efficient. Project tracking software allows them to prioritize critical projects instead of doing everything simultaneously.

Improved communication

Making it a priority to communicate with your team can help you avoid misunderstandings and other problems that could potentially arise. Allowing flexibility with the information you get from your software enables you to make decisions when working on projects, especially when incorporating other ideas from others or outside sources.

How project tracking motivates employees to be more productive?

Project tracking is a status overview of your projects. This allows you to view what has been completed, what hasn’t, and how things need to be done. You’ll be able to see where each employee is in their work and what they have done up to this point. That way, if there are any issues or delays, you’ll know who is responsible for them and why the problem occurred. For example, if a deadline isn’t being met, you’ll be able to see why and get it fixed before it’s too late.

This software allows for complete transparency into your team’s efforts which can help motivate them because of the recognition they might get from their manager or boss. Even if you’re looking for other areas to boost your employees, tracking projects will help keep them motivated. Employees tend to be more motivated by their team’s success than their performance. By helping the employees with their tasks, there is no longer a need for them to feel stressed by doing suboptimal work.

It’s time to get the best project-tracking software for your company. Various software, including Zoho, Juntrax, Trello, Monday.com, and Asana, help in project tracking. Juntrax provides an integrated platform where an organization can measure project and employee efficiency. To manage projects, it provides you with a unique feature, i.e., Automated timesheets, which help employers understand the tasks performed by employees. If you wish to bring in efficient project tracking, reach us at Juntrax.

What Is Employee Turnover and Why Does It Matter?

Employee turnover, or employee turnover rate, is the measurement of the number of employees who leave an organization during a specified time period, typically one year.

While an organization usually measures the total number of employees who leave, turnover can also apply to subcategories within an organization like individual departments or demographic groups.

What Is Employee Turnover?

In the context of human resources, employee turnover is the act of replacing an employee with a new employee. Partings between organizations and employees may consist of termination, retirement, demise, transfers and resignations.

An organization’s turnover is measured as a percentage rate, which is referred to as its turnover rate. Turnover rate is the percentage of employees in a workforce that leave during a certain period of time. Organizations and industries as a whole measure their turnover rate during a fiscal or calendar year.

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If an employer is said to have a high turnover rate relative to its competitors, it means that employees of that company have a shorter average tenure than those of other companies in the same industry.

High employee turnover may be harmful to a company’s productivity if skilled workers are often leaving and the worker population contains a high percentage of novices. Companies track voluntary turnover more accurately by presenting parting employees with surveys, thus identifying specific reasons as to why they may be choosing to resign.

How Do You Calculate Employee Turnover?

In order to calculate your employee turnover, follow the steps given below

Step 1 – Divide the sum total of the number of employees that leave within a particular period of time (month, quarter, year, etc.) by the average number of employees that work within the selected time frame.

Step 2 – Multiply that number by 100 to calculate the employee turnover rate. i.e.

Employee Turnover = (Total Number of Employees that leave within the time period / Total number of employees that work within the time period) x 100

For example,

if you have an average of 150 employees working during a month’s time and 30 employees leave,

your turnover rate can be calculated by following the above mentioned formula

(30/150) x 100 = 20%

So the Employee Turnover rate of the company is 20%

Note – while calculating this turnover do not include temporary hires or employees who go on temporary leave in either factor of the equation. Incorporating these kinds of temporary shifts in workforce numbers will skew your turnover rate higher than it really is.

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Why is Employee Turnover a Problem for a Business?

Employee turnover is one of the grossest problems in today’s cutthroat IT talent marketplace. Unfortunately, many businesses have no one but to blame themselves for high employee turnover rates.

Employee turnover rates tend to shoot up when the economy is at its peak because IT professionals tend to be more confident in higher pay, or cultural fit. Employee turnover rates have become a constant headache for hiring securing a better job, managers, talent acquisition experts, recruiters, and HR professionals.

Often a high employee turnover rate costs businesses loads of finances in lost resources, productivity, training, and recruitment. Worst part: high employee turnover rates lead to an increase in the number of dissatisfied employees and remember that disgruntled employees can throw your business off the track completely.

Reasons which cause ET and Ways to Reduce it

Many organizations have discovered that Employee Turnover is reduced significantly when issues affecting employees are addressed immediately and professionally. Companies try to reduce Employee Turnover rates by offering benefits such as paid sick days, paid holidays and flexible schedules.

Here are some of the common reasons that contribute to Employee Turnover and some ways in which they can be tackled-

Time to pay heed

Studies continuously have shown that a staggering number of IT organizations are failing to make efforts when it comes to defining expected job timings, bettering infrastructure, etc. Employee retention in the volatile IT talent market is very challenging these days.

Whilst some organizations do have programs and policies in place to curb attrition rates, most of the efforts turn out to be uninspiring and dull. So it’s time to pay heed and learn from the mistakes of yesteryear. This is the reason employee retention is more important than ever for HR in 2021.

The ‘X’ factor

Whilst a majority of business managers and HR leaders cited compensation as the key driver for attrition, there are various other aspects to make an employee stay or quit.

For instance, employees expect a perfect work-life balance, vacation time, benefits, perks, culture, career development/growth, etc. Unfortunately, there are several loopholes when it comes to IT professionals’ awareness towards the benefits packages and programs which if bridged can improve retention rates significantly.

Though there may be programs and packages in place for addressing the attrition problems, these are not properly communicated to the employees. Communication is a severe problem with most of the IT organizations.

HR managers and business leaders may believe that they are putting in all they can to retain the best talents, but unfortunately, all these efforts might not actually be reaching the target employees. Thus, communication is one of the must-have HR management skills in 2021 to mitigate turnover problems.

Remunerate competitively

Remuneration is imperative and businesses ought to ensure that they pay their employees competitively that is in line with the industry and market considering cost of living and to curb job-hopping. A competitive salary is a must and IT hiring professionals must have a thorough understanding of the tech market’s demand and supply for IT skill sets to reduce the employee turnover rate.

Remember that you are not only competing with other IT organizations for talents, but you are also competing with all those organizations that are recruiting for IT skills. Thus, compensation ought to be competitive besides growth opportunities and career development.

Conclusion

IT organizations ought to accept the fact that attrition is real and work accordingly to implement robust programs and policies in place that go beyond compensation. Failing to understand this grim reality may trigger the need to reboot your entire workforce planning strategy.

Therefore investing time, money and efforts in catering to the needs and comfort of employees must be on the priority list of managing a company.

What is Employee Engagement and Why is it Important?

What Is Employee Engagement and Why Is It Important?

The current work culture involves much more than merely focusing on numbers. HR is understanding the importance of Employee Engagement and working towards the creation of an active workspace.

In this article we will discuss Employee Engagement and how it benefits any enterprise.

What is Employee Engagement?

Employee engagement refers to the extent of how much an employee feels passionate about their work, is committed to the organization, and understands their job role.

Employee engagement surveys provide organizations with valuable information that helps them know if employees are involved or separated from the overall functioning of the workspace.

How Does Employee Engagement Differ From Job Satisfaction?

Employee engagement takes place when the employees are dedicated to helping their company accomplish all its goals. The actively involved employees are encouraged to demonstrate daily performance and do their best to help their companies thrive.

For example, some employees provide evident work results and constantly develop ideas, work plans, and work output that enhance the company’s overall performance.

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Employee satisfaction refers to the condition when an employee enjoys their job but is not involved in it.

For example, you might come across employees who show up to the office on time and complete their work hours, but their work output is not satisfactory.

Why Is Employee Engagement Significant?

When a company comes up with a constructive work strategy, it motivates employees to engage more actively with their projects. Employee engagement further promotes practical work and invites better talent and ideas to the work system.

Discussed below are some of the reasons that highlight the importance of Employee Engagement-

More Employee Engagement yields better work output.

Numerous surveys conducted to analyze the impact of employee engagement clearly indicate that employees who are devoted to their job roles tend to be more prolific than those who are not. You must look for different ways to engage your employees. You can come up with challenges, responsibilities, and even healthy competition to motivate employees to improve their work and step ahead in their performance, creativity, and output.

Employee engagement nurtures customer satisfaction

People who love their work are ideal people to communicate with customers. The most committed employees are more invested in ways to translate good communication to increased sales. When an employee is engaged with their job role, they feel valued and pose a positive persona that benefits both the workspace and the customers.

Employee engagement enhances corporate culture.

When people are constantly engaged with their work, they understand the technicalities behind it and address the importance of their work and the contributions of their colleagues.

An office space with actively participating and interested employees is a healthy workspace that has the potential to gain impeccable results and boost company performance. This environment attracts good talent and presents a positive example for newly hired employees.

Better Employee Retention

Employee turnovers are costly affairs. Hiring a new employee includes numerous hectic processes like shortlisting resumes, conducting interviews, and on-boarding employees. It not only consumes capital but also requires time. Disengaged employees are more likely to opt for better offers or leave their job due to a lack of interest. It is therefore essential for companies to look for ways that promote employee engagement.

Employees engaged with their work are more likely to stay back and communicate with their managers in case of queries related to their increment or scope of promotion. Companies that work on maintaining employee engagement have a better shot at retaining their top talents. This employee retention saves them from the hectic process of employee turnover and allows them to save their talented employees and form a better relationship with them.

How Can You Improve Employee Engagement?

Now that we are aware of the importance of employee engagement let us discuss some ways that will help you improve employee engagement at your company :

Pay attention to the crucial areas

You need to focus on areas that require more attention. Once you start planning against the overlooked challenges, you will have a better framework for coming up with engagement strategies.

Every company consists of different work departments. Every department is vital for the company’s overall functioning, but there are still some areas that impact it the most. You need to review the crucial areas that directly affect your company’s performance and transform the existing work system into a more engaging discourse.

Active Communication

Active communication is the basic necessity of every workspace. You must invest time in communicating with your employees, addressing their problems, asking for their suggestions to improve engagement, and keeping them involved in the process of forming new strategies and work plans.

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Conclusion

Keeping employees engaged with their work aligns them with the company’s goal and their role in achieving the same. Hence, it is essential for company admins and managers to constantly administer their workspace and come up with improvements that bring in more engagement.