Gilbert Ramos
BUS 311
To get the best employees out there, HR works with companies so they can add certain benefits to offer to their employees. These benefits do not only make employees happy and achieve organization goals, but they help attract and retain the best talent for critical roles. But coming up with benefit packages is not a breeze for HR managers. They need to take their time and evaluate packages that will satisfy their employees and be cautious of the cost of these benefits without effecting the employee’s motivation.
In today’s competitive market, organizations are changing their operations to incorporate new benefits for employees that offer work life balance and wellness. One example of this is paid time off. Employees are allowed to have a certain amount of days off which can be used either for vacation, holidays, or sick leave. For vacation employees are usually offered 9 days off if they have been working with that organization for a year. Sick leave will differ among employees but the average sick days an employee can have is about 8 days per year. Another nontraditional benefit that has really been beneficial due to the pandemic is working remotely. This is known as telecommuting. Besides working remotely to lower the rate of COVID-19, employees save money, feel more productive than at an office, working at your own pace and the organizations saves office space and supplies. Of course, there are many more nontraditional benefits organizations are incorporating but these stand out to me.
Benefits that are important and appeal to me is a 401(k) plan and medical insurance. 401(k) is important to me because the money I deposit from my check goes into my retirement. Also, if I were to leave a job, that 401(k) comes with me. There nothing wrong and more important than investing in the future. Sadly as I did research on 401(k), there seems to be a lot of negativity. For example, according to vox.com, 401(k) “will be seen as an unfortunate interregnum, a massive waste of tax player dollars”. Savings at rates like 10% is too low and this is not good especially living in NY and the cost of living increases. Last, medical insurance will continue to be sustainable because it creasing attracts talent and boosts morale. The downside of medical insurance are the yearly cost to the company. It is up to HR managers to contain the cost while not affecting their motivation.
Sources:
- https://www.oercommons.org/courses/human-resource-management-3/view#
- UNIT 9 Lecture
- https://www.vox.com/2019/3/27/18174385/retirement-savings-401-k
Hi Gilbert, thank you for sharing your opinions, even though these are traditional benefits that employees take into consideration, they are important in the benefit package impact on employee’s satisfaction.
Hi Gilbert, I never thought about it until you mentioned it that HR managers have to do alot to think about the benefits that will also help their company and the employees. Also being able to be working remotely helps people to be more comfortable with their colleagues/coworkers because some don’t feel comfortable enough to go in front of people.
Comments to classmates
Hello Gilbert R.,
Thanks, you for your Post
I concur with your 1st paragraph – Benefits help to attract and retain the best talent , therefore motivating employees resulting in achieving organization goals. Developing a competitive Benefits program is not an easy task for the HR manager, as it requires continuous work to refine the benefits program, researching the best fit for the organization, competing with challenges of rising medical costs and meeting the employee’s changing requirements. The changing workplace and employee priorities will continue to change the benefits program an employer develops, as the employee’s work life priorities change. I thought your comments of adding “wellness” was a good point, expanding to mind & body.
The examples you provided with he current work-from-home scenario due to covid-19, demonstrated that an employee can save on commmuting costs & travel time. Therefore, while that may not be a direct monetary raise to the employee, the employee has less expenditure getting to & from work.
Although, I think there may be mixed feelings whether or not your comment “employees..feel more productive than at an office, working at your own pace..”. I’ve read differing view points; Reference excerpt from the following article – “Working from home makes males feel more overwhelmed than females. We asked respondents to respond to the item, “I feel overwhelmed with too many priorities from both work and family.” 60% of males agreed or strongly agreed with that statement. Only 47% of females agreed or strongly agreed.” , Folkman, Joseph. Survey Shows How Employees Really Feel About Working From Home. https://www.forbes.com/sites/joefolkman/2020/09/01/survey-shows-how-employees-really-feel-about-working-from-home/?sh=28a4fe48184a
Your thought about acknowledging “the downside of medical insurance are the yearly cost to the company” is a real concern for organizations. From Unit9 Lecture, it was important to understand that organizations are not required to provide health benefits. However, many US workers value Health benefits over job security and autonomy. As a result, Health insurance is a big focus for HR Managers to strike that balance to provide competitive health benefits in order to compete with attracting and retaining top talent & motivating employees.
Thank You,
Chris Narine
Hey Gilbert,
You have brought some things to my attention about the 401k, the negative thoughts about the 401k, but I agree with it. Living in NYC, putting 10% of your income into a 401k really won’t go far, but most people can’t afford to put more than that into their 401k because people need the money immediately versus in the future. I also agree with you that there is a competitive market, as more and more businesses arise. Hence, more companies want to have an enticing benefits package to lure employees into the company. Everybody looks for a different benefit that is important to the employee and their family; for me, health insurance is a benefit that I look forward to, and as a parent, I look for paid time off and sick leave.