Retaining valuable employees amidst a critical staffing shortage can be a daunting task. While competitive salaries are crucial, one often overlooked aspect plays a significant role in keeping your team happy and engaged – benefits. Offering a robust benefits package can be the edge you need to not only attract the best but also retain your hardworking healthcare heroes.
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Benefits Give Employees Financial Security and Peace of Mind
A benefits package demonstrates a commitment to your employees’ financial well-being and future security. This not only reduces anxieties, but it helps them focus on their work. Here are a few examples of popular benefits your facility can offer:
- Health benefits: It’s no surprise that healthcare professionals value access to quality, affordable health insurance for themselves and their families. This not only provides peace of mind but also demonstrates the organization’s commitment to their well-being. Remember, health benefits aren’t limited to insurance. Go the extra mile and offer a gym membership, or a membership assistance program to your employees. Encouraging positive health practices benefits everyone involved, and can even help boost your immune system.
- Retirement savings plans: Offering options like 401(k) with employer-matching contributions demonstrates your investment in their long-term financial security, a key factor in reducing turnover.
- Paid time off (PTO): Sufficient paid time off allows employees to recharge, maintain work-life balance, and prioritize personal well-being, leading to increased job satisfaction and reduced burnout.
Beyond the Basics: Tailoring Benefits to Your Workforce
Each workforce has its unique challenges, and healthcare is no exception to that rule. Most healthcare workers are required to reach a certain number of continued education credits or adhere to harder schedules than the average person. Tailoring benefits to match the requirements and lifestyles of your employees will help you retain more top talent.
- Educational Benefits: Companies that invest in their employees are more likely to see higher employee retention. In a survey conducted by PeopleKeep, they found that 61% of small to medium-sized business employees value benefits related to their professional development. Healthcare is a unique industry that requires continued education (CE) courses. By offering to pay for continued education resources, your company can stand out in the sea of companies already offering similar benefits. Besides CE courses, paying for nurses to continue their education can lead to company loyalty, even after they have finished courses, leaving you with more experienced, and valuable employees.
- Travel Benefits: Offering travel benefits that aren’t just paid time off can add a bonus layer of attraction to your company. At Cascade Health Services, we offer an additional program from a 3rd party vendor that gives employees access to cheaper hotel rates across the country. Nurses can use it professionally for travel contracts, or personal use, and it has become a favorite benefit from people who take advantage of it.
- The power of flexibility: Flexible schedules in healthcare are unheard of. Flexibility is extremely important to employees, as employers we oftentimes forget that they have lives outside of work, mainly because anytime someone is missing, we feel it. Especially in the healthcare setting. Partnering with a W-2 PRN agency will ensure that you can be more flexible when things outside of your control come up. Your employees will thank you in the long run, and you’ll thank yourself when you notice how much this helps employee burnout. Remember that not giving your staff the time they need to refresh will only lead to more stress, and ultimately lead to good employees leaving.
What if Your Facility Can’t Afford More Benefits?
There are free (or cheap) ways that you can show appreciation, and support your employees without adding more costly benefits. Remember, benefits aren’t just extra ways you “pay” your employees. A huge benefit to Cascade is that we offer flexible schedules to our field staff and a relaxed dress code in the corporate office.
- Employee recognition: Recognizing your employees when they go above and beyond is a great way to show them that you are noticing the hard work that they put in every day. Take the time out of your staff meeting to shout out some of the hard work you noticed, and encourage the rest of your team to do the same. If you can, offer some sort of incentive. This could be anything from a free lunch to a better parking spot for the month.
- Team builders: Everyone loves eating, and sharing some of your favorite recipes is a great way to get to know your coworkers and encourages everyone to socialize. A potluck is a great way to encourage personal connections with coworkers. Personal connections employees feel like they are in a place where they belong, and this encourages them to stick around.
- Volunteer opportunities: Encourage your employees to volunteer for a cause they believe in by offering them a day off to participate in an event. This will be a signal to your employees that you care about them, and the things they believe in enough that you’ll give them extra time to accomplish their goals.
Why is Employee Retention So Important?
Employee retention is important for a lot of reasons. Firstly, your HR team spent a lot of time creating ads, interviewing candidates, running necessary background checks, and putting them through orientation. That costs a lot of money, and having an employee leave because their benefits package isn’t as great as they expected is not cost-effective. Imagine how the families of patients would feel if they walked into your facility and saw the same happy faces there every time. Now picture the opposite, and imagine how you would feel never knowing who is caring for your family, or seeing the people caring for them frustrated and burned out.
Remember, the biggest key is listening to your employees and finding solutions that benefit both your facility and them. By offering employees more benefits, you will see an increase in employee retention and have more choices in applicants.
