Voluntary Benefits Have the Competitve Edge

What do you think is the most important factor in recruiting and retaining employees?  Is it the pay?  Could it be the vacation time or the locality?  Or maybe it’s the opportunity for advancement?  While these all may be attractive features for a prospective employee, a recent news article from BlueCross BlueShield titled, “A Little-Known Employee Benefit Can Go the Extra Mile” states that voluntary benefits provide an edge when employees weigh the value of their jobs.  

In a national survey, conducted for Empire BlueCross BlueShield’s parent company, most employees (83 percent) think more highly of employers that offer voluntary insurance benefits than those that don’t.  Additionally, the survey reports that nearly 90 percent of prospective employees believe it’s important that companies offer a full range of health benefits, including voluntary.  The survey also reports that while 82 percent of employees whose employer offered voluntary benefits are satisfied with their offerings, that satisfaction fell by 30 percent for employees of companies that failed to offer voluntary benefits. 

So what’s all this mean?  Even with the possibility of health coverage for all on the horizon through the health care reform, employees are still seeing the value in having voluntary benefits as part of their benefits package.  In fact, the survey reports that 67 percent of workers say that having their employer provide voluntary benefits would increase their productivity at work. As an employer, this is really a “win-win” situation.  Employees expect them and can significantly save on healthcare costs and increase their spendable income by taking advantage of voluntary, pre-tax benefits. Employers can remain competitive, as well as attract and retain more productive employees at little to no cost, simply by adding or keeping voluntary benefits as part of their benefits package.  

The omnibus survey was conducted online among a national sample of 2,500 Americans ages 18+ (balanced to Census). Fielding took place in August 2010 by Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS). The survey has a margin of error of ±1.96% at the 95% confidence level, meaning if the study were replicated, the study findings would be within 1.96 percentage points 95 times out of 100.