Offering benefits can often times feel like quite the undertaking, especially for a small business with limited profit margins, but there are several steps you can take to ensure that your employees have access to necessary health or dental coverage and feel as though they are cared for and taken care of.

For a growing company, finding and retaining quality employees is one of the most essential factors to success. Employers that are able to offer benefits that employees can’t access on their own provide a desired value for employees at a relatively low cost to company providing the benefits. The benefits package a company chooses to offer is often times a deciding factor for candidates deciding on where they would like to work

What are the initial steps you should take when deciding on the benefits that are best for your company to offer to your team? The short answer is, offer as much as you possible, as soon as you can. For additional guidance, consider these examples:

1) As an employer, evaluate your budget

The costs of employee benefits will usually average about 15% of payroll in a small company, or 30% in a larger one. As a first-time buyer, it’s strongly encouraged that you seek the help of an Advisor to help you navigate the process of setting up a benefits program. Working with a licensed Benefits Advisor is recommended as they will provide you with expert advice on how you can get a plan that is appropriate for your business and help you get the most from your benefits investment.

2) Talk to your employees

Before deciding on a benefits package, be sure to ask your employees what benefits matter to them most. Employee benefits such as health, dental, vision and paramedical care are examples of benefits that you should discuss with your employees. That being said, if your company provides competitive benefits, you’ll be more likely to succeed in attracting and retaining talented staff. Competitive employee benefits commonly include: employee assistance programs, vision care, and health, life, dental and disability insurance.

3) Limiting your costs in the long run

If you’re worried about cost, there are several strategies you can implement to help with this, your Advisor will be able to direct you more. First, you can share the cost of premiums between your company and employees. Second, you can make use of deductibles – for example, your company can decide to cover 60%, 80%, or 100% of dental costs. Third, you can set up caps for the amount of insurance coverage you want to offer – for example, $400 can be spent on vision care over a set period of time.

Offering a competitive benefits package to your employees will go a long way when it comes to building office morale and workplace productivity. Benecaid would love to walk you through the process of setting up your first benefits package. We can answer any questions you or your Advisor may have – contact a Benecaid Consultant today at 416-626-8786 or email us at sales@benecaid.com.