Posted on: October 31, 2024
Recruiting talented educators and support staff is challenging work. Retaining them can be just as difficult. Educational institutions find that providing benefits employees want encourages them to stay. In fact, Care.com’s Future of Benefits Report found that 49% of HR professionals believe the primary goal of a benefits program is to attract and retain employees. Consider four ways to enhance benefits.
1. Choices
Educators and staff members want a range of benefit choices so they can select those that will help them take care of themselves and their families. They also expect employers to educate them about their plans. Employees still value their medical benefits, but it’s their dental, vision and hearing insurance they use regularly. During exams, doctors can detect signs of several health issues, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes or heart disease. Treating these concerns at an early stage helps avoid expensive medical procedures.
2. Tailored plans
Employees also want to customize plans to fit their needs. For example, they may want to add orthodontia coverage to their dental plan, or need a vision benefit that assists with LASIK surgery or provides annual choices for new prescription eyewear and contacts. This applies to all generations. More than half of all employees said they wish they had personalized benefit recommendations—for example, millennials would like child care or fertility benefits while Gen X would like help with aging parents.
3. Student loan repayment
A popular new benefit is one that assists employees with student loan payments. As of the end of 2023, 43.2 million Americans owe over $1.6 trillion in federal student loan debt, according to Federal Student Aid. With the burden of this debt, employers who offer student loan repayment assistance gain a competitive edge in recruiting top employees.
BenefitEd offers Employer-Assisted Student Loan Repayment, which allows employers to help their employees pay down their student loan debt. While they’re doing so, they’re able to retain employees and build loyalty. BenefitEd’s flexible education products allow employers to customize benefits that will help them recruit and retain the top performers they need for their educational district or academic institution.
4. Voluntary benefits
Employees are interested in newer voluntary benefits that help them address other concerns in their lives, such as:
- Identification theft protection
- Critical illness insurance
- Pet insurance
Recent studies show that nearly half of employees are more likely to stay with their current employer if they have access to voluntary benefits. Corestream’s study with Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business found that offering voluntary benefits improved the tenure by two times for enrollees.
Use benefits to find and keep top educators.
Your institution may have unique needs not identified here. Consider surveying staff to see which benefits matter most to them so you can more successfully attract the talent educators you need and keep them engaged with your district or institution.
Interested in learning more?
Discover how to put BenefitEd’s Employer-Assisted Student Loan Repayment product to work for your employees. Contact us today.