What Are the Best Employee Benefits for Small Companies?
By Steve Magento, CCA Contributor

There are many reasons I love small companies. From the incredibly dedicated, talented people to the sense of purpose I get each day knowing I’m building something with my colleagues. Small companies often have a sense of teamwork corporations lack, and it’s knowing your efforts really make a difference that can stop you from feeling like just another cog in the wheel. 

But there’s one thing I dislike about small companies, and that’s their small benefits packages. 

With small businesses, there are a lot of unique challenges, namely being able to provide the same level of benefits as a corporation or enterprise. Big businesses have the money to do the talking, which is why smaller organizations tend to focus on perks like work flexibility, pet-friendly offices, and even laptops for remote workers.

Let’s back pedal for a minute and consider what I was looking for when I was comparing job opportunities. There were three job offers on my plate, two with large companies and one with a small startup. The first two businesses had between 250 and 1,000 employees. The startup had 25.

What made me decide to go with the smallest group out of the bunch? It wasn’t because they had a strong track record, or I knew they were going to do big things in the future. Taking the job was a risk, but it was worth it. And part of the reason why were the hand-selected benefits their founder offered. 

Job Benefits Small Business Employees Need

It’s important to avoid falling into the trap of just offering what everyone else is. Yes, there are staples every employee cares about, but there are also additional benefits not considered the norm that make an enormous difference in a worker’s life.

Let’s walk through each benefit, along with why it matters and the value it brings to an employee. I’ll also let you know, from a jobseeker’s perspective, why these benefits were considered valuable.

Health Insurance

We all know how stressful health insurance in America is. People rely on their jobs most of the time to make healthcare affordable for them and their families. With 79 million Americans struggling with medical bills or debt, there is nothing more important than offering them some type of security through your organization.

Here’s what you should consider as you’re looking for coverage options:

• If you can afford to cover the entire plan for the employee, that’s great. But it isn’t the most important factor.
• What we really want are options. Being able to choose our own providers and knowing we have access to specialists when we need them.
• Costs should be balanced. Some employee-sponsored plans have such high deductibles and co-pays we might as well be paying out of pocket.
• Variety matters. A combined health, vision, and dental plan offers greater security to an employee. 

I know that companies need to consider their bottom line, but so do employees. For us, it’s not only our salaries. It’s our health, housing, retirement savings, and opportunities to better ourselves.

We don’t just turn to employers to earn a living. We come to them to give us the platform to support our entire lives. 

This is why I looked closely at the health benefits package on offer by my employer. It was clear that while they were a small company, they weren’t interested in cutting corners that jeopardized someone’s financial and medical stability. 

Worker’s Compensation

While workers’ compensation laws vary by state, small businesses typically need a policy in place as soon as they hire their first employee. In most states, workers’ compensation insurance usually isn’t optional.

Accidents on the job happen, and it’s nice to know that there’s protection in place if one occurs. Policies for worker’s compensation offer wage replacement as well as coverage for medical bills and work rehabilitation. What really mattered to me was knowing that my employer thought ahead and wanted to have provisions in place if I ever needed them.

401(k) Plans

Next to health insurance, retirement savings are one of the biggest financial hurdles for American workers. Nearly half of us aren’t saving enough to comfortably retire. With the cost of living continually rising, that means Social Security benefits won’t be enough to relieve us of working through our 70s.

A 401(k) makes saving easier because we get to decide how much we automatically contribute from every paycheck. This also comes with a tax deduction. As an employer, you also qualify for tax credits by offering retirement plans.

Something that really won me over at my current job was their employer-match to my contributions. Which, by the way, is tax-deductible for them, too.

Identity Theft Protection

As we become more reliant on technology, our risks exponentially increase. Identity theft causes $50 billion in financial losses every year, and affects 15 million Americans. Criminals are getting more sophisticated, so should our protection.

My employer offered identity theft protection through Norton LifeLock. Norton continually reviews the use of my name, Social Security number, credit cards, birthdate, and address. If there are ever any causes for alarm, I get instant text messages and email alerts. 

This is often a voluntary benefit that employers offer today. For me, I found this a major perk because it alleviated some of the stress I’d face managing these threats on my own.

Paid Maternity/Paternity Leave

When my wife was pregnant with our first child, the thought of having to leave her at home with our newborn was depressing. Dads want to bond with their babies just as much, and they play an important part in the early days of a child’s life. They pitch in and support their partners, deliver much-needed reprieve, and make all those sleepless nights a little easier with feedings and diaper changes.

As I was job searching, finding a company that offered paid leave for new parents was important to me. I was willing to even accept fewer weeks off as the non-birthing parent. Imagine how happy I was to discover the startup not only had paternity leave, but it was also 8-weeks long.

Getting to spend the first 2 months of my son’s life with him every day was invaluable.

A Chaplain

When I saw that my company offered the services of a chaplain, I thought it unusual and over the course of the first few months, I didn’t feel I needed him. But he was there, week after week checking in with the entire team. But when our OB/GYN began expressing concern about the health of our baby, our world came crashing down. Our chaplain reached into our lives and cared stayed close to us during those frightening days. My wife would say he was a buoy in a sea of hopelessness. He was even at the hospital the day our baby was born! 

It will never be lost on me that my company provided someone to help us navigate this difficult time in our lives. It is an unusual benefit, but one I’ve seen so many of our team utilize as they have navigated an illness, death of a family member or a divorce. I’ve seen our Chaplain coach our team through some difficult times, just like they did for my wife and I. 

Not All Benefits Have to Cost a Fortune

While many businesses focus solely on expensive benefits and how it affects them, there are many other benefits that are low-cost or free. These benefits shape the entire employee experience and company culture. 

Here are some other perks I’ve come across over my career. My advice to any business owner would be to consider what type of environment you want to create. What are your values, and how do your benefits elevate them?

• Paid-time-off (PTO) for sick days and vacation days
• Remote working options
• Flexible work schedules, with late-starts weekend hours
• Coaching (financial, mental health, life)
• Professional development courses paid for or reimbursed
• Dog-friendly office spaces
• Gym memberships
• Quarterly Amazon book stipend 
• Childcare benefits
• Student loan debt assistance
• Sign-on bonuses 
• Short-term disability insurance
  

Some of these aren’t included in my workplace, and I wish they were. 

Choosing the Right Benefits for Your Small Company

Every business works differently, and we know that cultures vary greatly even among companies in the same industry. I’d suggest you start by determining what matters most to the people you employ.

Some employees make a generic list of typical benefits and stop there. They figure, “No one’s complaining, so everything must be fine.” But that isn’t always the case.

It’s not likely someone will knock on their employer’s door and say, “I appreciate the health insurance, but have you thought about letting me work from home?” 

An anonymous internal survey could help shed light on what benefits people want the most. I say anonymous because it isn’t necessarily comfortable to voice what you’re unhappy with, even if you love your job.

The focus isn’t to determine what’s missing so much as what could be gained. Sometimes, simple organizational changes can lead to major benefits for an employee. For example, letting teams discuss their latest projects over a paid lunch can lower stress and even help improve collaboration.

The Bottom Line

People work their best when they’re their happiest. As their employer, you should put their well-being first. Creating a positive work environment is more than just covering basic health insurance and retirement accounts; it’s being responsive to your employees’ needs and ever-changing lives. 

I know that from a financial standpoint, some benefits won’t be possible for a small business. But don’t shy away from growth, either. As your company becomes more profitable and your team grows, you should revisit your benefits package and consider expanding it for everyone. 

The post Time Doesn’t Wait for Providing the Best Employee Benefits appeared first on Corporate Chaplains of America.

Time Doesn’t Wait For These Important Decisions

“From the beginning of my medical practice and after I got married, I was told I needed to get an estate plan for my family. I did one but then forgot about it. I did not update it or review it as had been recommended. Life simply got in the way. When Mike Clowers introduced me to Richard Blackmon at The Giving Crowd, I knew it was time. I would describe my engagement with Richard as refreshing, creative, and thorough. He showed me WHY it was so important to keep this current and ways I can establish kingdom generosity after my wife and I are gone. And now, it’s done!” 

— Dr. Otis T. Gordon, MD
CHI St. Vincent 

One of the ways CCA supports our partners is to provide you with excellent counsel in the context of tax mitigation and generosity. Giving you the tools you need to make wise stewardship decisions is one of our top priorities at CCA and The Giving Crowd helps us help you maximize generosity and minimize taxes. The Giving Crowd does not replace your current advisors and does not sell any products.  They are truly “philanthropic architects,” and CCA is honored to cover the costs of their consultation.

On November 1st at 10:00 am eastern time, The Giving Crowd will conduct a webinar for CCA partners, introducing you to what they do. You are welcome to join us and invite your advisors as well. Richard Blackmon will show example strategies that have moved millions of dollars from the government to the charities our partners love most. 

Last year alone, they helped with nearly $600 million of business and real estate sales. And in some of those situations, they were able to help reduce long-term capital gains by 71%! 

Join us and let’s explore how we might help you provide for retirement, reduce taxes, provide for your heirs and make massive gifts to charity rather than pay huge taxes to Washington DC. 

You are invited to a Zoom webinar.
When: Nov 1, 2022 11:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Topic: Don’t Waste Your Money Being Generous!

Register in advance for this webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_i3xULf4eQhSlKI4lW88K1g

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with details about joining the webinar.

The post Time Doesn’t Wait For These Important Decisions appeared first on Corporate Chaplains of America.

Unfortunately, keeping employees engaged is easier said than done. Fostering engagement is an ongoing process that requires experimentation, transparency, and respect. Today, we’re going to explore some tried-and-true strategies for boosting employee engagement.

What does it mean to be engaged?

The only way to know if your engagement strategies are working are to recognize the signs of an engaged employee. While a healthy level of engagement isn’t easily defined, there are some telltale signs:

• They take pride in their work and are eager for feedback
• They are consistently focused on the tasks at hand
• They exhibit high levels of energy and enthusiasm
• They seem present during meetings and contribute often
• They look at the company’s big picture goals and understand how they fit into them
• They exhibit a general sense of well-being while at work

These signs aren’t always infallible, but they provide a basic framework for measuring your progress. In practice, you’ll often find that it’s obvious when an employee is truly engaged. They self-motivate, take initiative, and work efficiently. Let’s explore some strategies to help move your staff in the right direction.

1 – Seek company feedback consistently

Engaged employees feel valued and heard. If you want to simultaneously drive engagement while learning how your staff currently feels about their jobs and your company, start with a survey—preferably an anonymous one to encourage honesty.

Surveys are one of the best initial strategies to improve employee engagement, but they are only effective if you use what you learn to create positive change in the workplace. If 75% of your employees indicate they wish the company would switch to a hybrid schedule, it’s important to address this concern in a way that shows you are taking the request seriously. Either take steps toward a hybrid schedule or have a meeting in which you raise concerns, allowing employees to ask questions. Otherwise, your surveys will be rightfully considered ingenuine.

It’s also important to seek feedback continuously. Your workplace changes constantly, and it’s important to make sure you keep up. This will also allow you to measure your progress in building engagement.

2 – Set up a thorough onboarding process

A proper onboarding process lays the foundation for a relationship between your employee and your company. When you take the time to instill a new hire with a deep understanding of your company’s methods, goals, and hierarchy, they are far more likely to develop a bond with the company that creates lasting engagement and satisfaction.

A thorough onboarding is multifaceted and shouldn’t be rushed. Obviously you’ll need to go over company policies and paperwork, but that should only be the beginning. It’s crucial that your new hire learns all about your company, your values, and your mission. You should also make sure they take the time to meet and get to know the other staff members, especially those they’ll work closely with.

During onboarding, your new hire should also get a thorough rundown of all of their job duties and the tools they will need to complete them. Make sure they have plenty of time to ask questions. You’ll know if your onboarding process was successful if your new hire feels comfortable with their new role. They should also feel comfortable asking questions, and they should know who to go to if they’re feeling confused.

Once you’ve found an onboarding process that works, solidify it. Make sure all members of management and HR know the details of the process so that you can utilize its success again and again as you bring new people into your company.

3 – Invest in your employees’ careers

A career is a marathon, not a sprint, and nobody wants to feel like they’ve stagnated or hit a dead end on their journey. Even if someone joins your company at the very bottom of the ladder, they are far more likely to feel engaged and motivated to do well if they feel confident there are rungs to climb.

For some companies, especially those that are small or new, it can be difficult to provide a clear framework for internal advancement. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t invest in your employee’s careers in other ways. Find new skills, certifications, and projects that will expand your employees’ capabilities and skillset. This will not only help them achieve success at your company, but also set them up for further success in other directions their careers might take. The effort won’t go unnoticed.

4 – Recognize high quality work

According to a Gallup survey, only one in three American workers agree that they’ve received recognition for the high quality of their work in the past work week. Management across the country is missing an easy, low-cost opportunity to not only make an employee feel valued for their contributions, but to encourage them to continue their hard work.

People are social creatures, and we all crave validation and respect from our peers. A simple congratulations or thanks during a meeting or on a company-wide chat can work wonders for an employee’s morale. That morale boost is likely to encourage more praise-worthy behavior, creating a positive feedback loop.  It also feels good to make other people feel good, making this a win-win technique.

It’s also important to realize that not all recognition is created equal. According to that same Gallup poll, employees were far more likely to value recognition that was both authentic and personal. In other words, be both honest and specific, letting them know why the work was so valuable and how it helped their peers and the company as a whole. It also helps for the recognition to come from someone higher on the corporate hierarchy.

5 – Invest in personal growth and wellness

Your employees care about their work, but it’s far from the only thing they care about. They have families, hobbies, and goals that aren’t work-related. If you can support them outside of work, the resulting bond will have positive echoes in the workplace. Invest more in them, and they will invest more in you. One of the best ways to do this is through a generous benefits package.

Your employees care about spending time with their kids. Support them by offering plenty of family leave and vacation time. They care about their fitness, so offer a gym membership stipend or office gym. They care about their physical and mental health, so offer them insurance with high-quality coverage.

Of course, it’s also important to provide a good salary. There are tools available to help you determine salary ranges for specific roles and stay competitive. This shows how much you value an employee’s time and efforts in the most fundamental way a business can. Periodic raises also show you aren’t taking them for granted.

6 – Emphasize a sense of purpose

Your employees dedicate a huge portion of their lives and their energy to your company, so it’s only natural that they seek fulfillment in their work. Study after study has shown that a feeling of purpose at work is extremely valuable to employers as a driving force of employee engagement.

One of the best ways to promote a sense of purpose is to shift focus away from profits and toward the people your business is helping. When you carefully craft a mission statement that reflects values promoting a greater good, always return to it even after your company finds success. Doing so will foster community among the entire staff and drive more engagement.

Purpose is not just about the company’s big picture—it’s about personal fulfillment, too. Think about what drove your employees toward your industry and their specific skill set. Consider what they hope to gain from their work beyond a salary, and speak to that purpose. For instance, a statement like “nice work on that copy you wrote, it generated over $10,000 in sales for our company” can be reframed as “Nice work, your writing skills sharpen every day.” 

Let Corporate Chaplains of America care for your employees

A cared-for employee is an engaged employee; one of the best ways to show your employees you care about them is to offer them a listening ear. However, this can make it difficult to maintain a healthy professional distance. Partnering with a third party is an excellent way to show you care while remaining professional.

Corporate Chaplains of America has over 25 years of workplace care experience. We provide whole-person care with a team of highly trained and certified chaplains who offer voluntary, confidential, and permission-based care.  
We offer in-person and 24/7 virtual support to you and your team members, so everyone can get the care they need when they need it most. Contact CCA today to learn more about what we can do for your company.

The post 6 Employee Engagement Strategies That Work appeared first on Corporate Chaplains of America.

A healthy benefits package may be difficult to pay for, but it’s essential to retention. A 2018 study by Randstad found that 63% of employees wouldn’t consider job offers for a company offering less than fifteen paid vacation days and over 36% were considering leaving their jobs due to an inability to work remotely. 

Considering this study was done before The Great Recession and the pandemic, it’s safe to say that the need for good benefit plans for small businesses has only increased. Let’s explore how your small company can boost its benefits plan without breaking the bank.

What employee benefits am I required to offer?

Before we talk about the benefits you’ll have to make decisions about offering, let’s start by outlining the ones that are legally required. Knowing your obligations will help you budget for the total cost of employee benefits for a small company.

• Medicare and Social Security matching – You must withhold social security and medicare taxes for the first $137,700 you pay an employee. The required rates are 1.45% for Medicare and 6.2% for Social Security. You must contribute an equal share.
• Unemployment insurance – The Federal Unemployment Tax Act requires companies to pay unemployment taxes on behalf of employees.
• Overtime – The Fair Labor Standards Act requires overtime pay for employees working beyond 40 hours per week. You can avoid paying for this by keeping employee hours below the threshold. 
• State dependent benefits – Some states require employers to offer additional benefits. These can include disability insurance, worker’s compensation, paid jury duty leave, and more. Be sure to check your state’s individual labor laws.

Offer a flexible work schedule

Let’s start with workplace flexibility, because it’s one of the few benefits that may actually save you money rather than cost something. It’s also one of the most effective ways to keep your employees happy. A 2021 study found that the ability to work from home increased the likelihood of job satisfaction by 65%. The same study found that letting employees set their own hours increased satisfaction by 62% and reduced overall workplace stress by 20%.

In the last few years especially, companies all over the world have found that they can switch to a remote, hybrid, or flexible schedule without harming productivity. It’s a win-win benefit. Physical workplaces are expensive, and they limit your hiring pool to those who can commute. For these reasons, every small company should strongly consider offering flexible work schedules if your business model can support them.

Offer a healthy amount of paid leave

The United States is one of the few developed countries in the world that doesn’t require companies to offer paid leave to employees, but even so, it’s essential that you do. In a recent study of most valued benefits, job seekers reported more vacation time and unlimited vacation time to be ranked third and fifth overall. If you want to attract great talent, it’s important to give them the time off they need.

More paid time off seems expensive on paper, but the positive effects it can have on the workplace counterbalance that expense. An SHRM study found that employees who use most or all of their vacation time were more productive than their non-vacationing counterparts.

Maternity and paternity leave are important too

If you want to attract and retain young talent, it’s important to remember they may be planning on having children in the near future. Women in particular have been having a difficult time in the workforce recently. March of 2021 saw a 33-year low in women’s labor force participation. This creates a massively reduced overall hiring pool.

You can take advantage of this situation by offering a healthy amount of parental leave for potential employees. This will open your hiring pool enormously and provide stability to talented young professionals trying to balance family life with careers. While it might be expensive, it will likely pay off as a win-win for everyone involved.

Boost your healthcare benefits

Healthcare benefits are notoriously expensive, but they are absolutely essential if you want to retain employees. Over half of all Americans rely on health insurance through their employer, and if your company doesn’t offer any plans, it will be to your own detriment.

As a small business owner, you might feel like you’re stuck between risking losing good employees and breaking the bank to provide high-quality insurance. Luckily, you have a few options to consider:

• High deductible insurance with a health savings account – High deductible health plans are the most affordable, but it isn’t the best option for employees who actually need to utilize its benefits on a regular basis. To combat this, you can also offer a health savings account, which allows you to set aside pre-taxed income for employees to be used on medical expenses.
• Traditional group health insurance – Traditional health insurance is typically the best option for larger companies, but given the variety of plans available, they are worth looking into for companies of any size.
• Buy insurance through SHOP – The Small Business Health Options Program offers affordable insurance plans to companies with 50 employees or less. If your company qualifies, you might be able to find a much better deal than you would otherwise.
• Health reimbursement arrangements – The Small Business Health Care Relief Act recently reintroduced the legal use of healthcare reimbursement for companies of 50 or fewer employees. Your business can contribute up to $4,950 per employee, pre-taxed. Your employees can use this to buy their own insurance or pay for expenses directly.

Don’t forget one of the basic needs of employees: Meaningful Care

Many leaders want to know how to drive positive employee engagement while offering comprehensive care beyond traditional healthcare. Jane Miller, President and CEO of Gallup, recently said, “Wellbeing is a significant component to any strong culture. It’s a foundational element. It impacts how a person shows up at home, how they show up at work—and really, it’s about their capacity for what they can accomplish every single day.” Creating a culture of care has many positive impacts on your company, including improved employee retention, reduced absenteeism and increased productivity. 

Let Corporate Chaplains of America care for your employees

Corporate Chaplains of America has over 25 years of workplace care experience. We provide whole-person care with a team of highly trained and certified chaplains who offer voluntary, confidential, and permission-based care.  

Corporate Chaplains of America offers in-person and 24/7 virtual support to you and your team members, so everyone can get the care they need when they need it most. Contact CCA today to learn more about what we can do for your company.

The post The best employee benefits for small companies appeared first on Corporate Chaplains of America.

Some employee turnover, however, is inevitable. It can even be healthy. Rather than lament the loss of your staff members, it’s better for your company to assess whether your turnover rate is a cause for concern or is simply the cost of doing business in a changing world. This guide is here to help.

Calculating your turnover rate

Before you can assess the health of your company’s turnover rate, it’s important to define what counts as turnover. Generally, your employee turnover rate consists of the percentage of employees who leave the company within a specific time period, usually monthly or yearly.

You should consider all types of turnover in your calculation, whether departures are due to dismissal, retirement, or resignations. While not all reasons for departure are equal from a company health standpoint, all are natural parts of a business life cycle. However, it isn’t useful to include employee transfers like promotions or demotions. If you wish, you can calculate separate rates for voluntary and involuntary turnover.

How to calculate your turnover rate

Calculating your yearly turnover rate requires two figures:

• Amount of employees at the start of a yearly period (S)
• Amount of employees who departed during that period (D)

Remember to count new hires who began work and quit within the year in your D category, but don’t count new hires who are still working at your company as part of your S category. Once you have your figures, use this equation:

Annual turnover rate % = 100(D/S)

So, if your company starts the year with 238 employees, and 22 of those employees leave within that year, the annual turnover rate is 100(22/238)=9.24%

What is a healthy turnover rate for a company?

Unfortunately, there is no simple answer as to what makes for a healthy turnover rate. Every industry is different. The overall average turnover rate in 2021 was 47.2%, with the leisure and hospitality industry topping the charts at 84.9% and the financial industry sitting around 28.5% on the opposite end. 

It’s worth noting that 2021 was in the heart of The Great Resignation, with estimates of 50% looking to leave in 2024, so these numbers are somewhat skewed. The effects of that process are still in motion, so you should factor them into your target turnover rate.

A rule of thumb followed by many businesses is that you should shoot for a target turnover rate of about 10%. Obviously, the average is much higher than this. While 10% is a good starting point, it’s more useful to take a look at statistics within your own industry. However, it’s also worth considering your business as an independent entity. Has your turnover rate been increasing or decreasing? What reasons do employees have for leaving? The rate itself might be less useful than its context.

Top reasons for employee turnover

To best understand if your turnover rate is healthy, it’s more useful to examine the reasons people are leaving than the number of people leaving. If you can fix problems within your company, your turnover rate will become healthier as a side effect. Pew Research conducted a 2021 study that outlined the top three reasons people quit their jobs over a one-year period. If you feel that these reasons don’t apply to your company, you might have a healthy turnover rate.

1. Low pay

This reason might be the most obvious. If your employee finds a better-paying opportunity with another company, they might leave even if they’re generally satisfied with your company and their position. 

Wage increases for people who have switched jobs generally outpace those who have stayed at one company for ten years. The reasons for this phenomenon are complex, but they can be attributed to a sort of business inertia. Sometimes, management at companies see no need to fix a system that doesn’t appear broken until it’s too late. More workers are finding that new hire salary budgets outweigh current company raise budgets.

We get it: raises are difficult. In larger companies, authorization for a pay increase can be difficult to attain, and staffing costs are one of the biggest expenses a company faces. However, it’s worth noting that due to the high costs associated with hiring a new employee, offering a pay increase can actually save your company money in the long run.

2. Lack of advancement opportunities

Nobody wants to work a dead end job. You want ambitious employees, but it’s important to remember everyone has their own career goals. If someone sees no room for advancement at your company, they’ll find somewhere that more closely aligns with their goals. 

How often do you offer promotions at your company? Do you typically offer new positions to outside hires before internal staff members? Do you offer educational advancement opportunities that help current employees develop their career-related skills? Investing in your current employees is often a win-win situation.

3. Feeling disrespected at work

People want to feel recognized and respected at work, especially when they succeed. A lack of recognition is a sure path to employee disengagement and burnout. 

Respect is more than just positive recognition, though. It’s about the entire work situation being offered. You can show respect through pay increases, better benefits, and a more flexible work schedule. The best way to offer respect to your employees is to ask them what you can do to improve their work-life balance and support them.

When is turnover a good thing?

Let’s say your employees are happy with their pay, advancement opportunities, and respect given in the workplace. Your company seems to be working in harmony. There’s just one problem: people are still leaving. What can you do to fight this? Well, maybe you shouldn’t. Some turnover is not only inevitable but healthy, too.

Slight turnover might indicate that your company isn’t remaining stagnant. If the majority of your employees are pleased with working conditions, the few that still leave might have simply been bad fits. Both you and departing employees might be better off parting ways. New people can mean new, innovative ideas, and those who haven’t been long ingrained in your company will be able to see things long-time staff can’t.

Turnover can also expose cracks in your company structure. A departing employee throws a wrench into the system, and understanding how their leaving affects day-to-day work can help you better understand the important aspects of their former position, especially if the position evolved since their hiring. These insights can mean a smoother, more well-informed onboarding process for their new counterpart. You can also make adjustments to company structure as needed.

Let Corporate Chaplains of America support your team

Whether you want to decrease your turnover rate, boost your benefits, make your employees happier, or all of the above, chaplaincy is an excellent addition to your benefits package. 

Corporate Chaplains of America offers in-person and 24/7 virtual support to you and your team members, so everyone can get the care they need when they need it most. Contact CCA today to learn more about what we can do for your company.

The post Does my company have a good employee turnover rate? appeared first on Corporate Chaplains of America.

The power of relationships in leadership

Ask nearly anyone what matters most to them in life and you’ll get the same answer: their relationships. While most people are referring to personal relationships, we spend a huge amount of our lives at work. Everyone wants the respect, care, and empathy relationships provide whether they’re at home or at the office.

Good leaders are more than just decision makers. They put people first. Truly great leaders do four things extraordinarily well:

• Develop positive, healthy work environments that encourage employees to grow and collaborate together
• Inspire workers to take pride in the impact of their work and self-manage accordingly
• Make employees feel valued and included in the decision-making process
• Operate their business in such a way that benefits not only employees, but society as a whole

Maintaining all four of these objectives requires a mastery of personal relationships. In the case of the first three, leaders must take the time to develop relationships with their employees and continue nurturing those relationships on an ongoing basis. The fourth item in the list requires thinking of a business’s relationship to the society it participates in and from which it benefits. Leaders must look at their leadership status as a relationship in itself.

Leadership as a relationship

Healthy relationships work both ways, and good leaders know that being a good leader is just as much about listening to and incorporating feedback as it is about executing decisions and determining policy changes. When you recognize the importance of workers at every level of a corporate hierarchy, you build the foundations for trust from the top to the bottom and vice versa.

The more traditional approach to corporate leadership is one based on title, authority, and objective analysis. Leaders look at the bottom line of a company (often profit) and make decisions to benefit the entity as a whole, at least as they perceive it. The problem is that the view from the top isn’t always comprehensive, and this style not only alienates those at the bottom, it misses out on the valuable insights those on the ladder’s bottom rungs can provide.

A rational, strategic leadership style can be valuable in some situations, but companies are better off overall when they recognize that the top is unstable without a solid foundation. Developing healthy relationships improves that foundation by creating trust between levels. Ultimately, you’ll find that leadership is a relationship like any other.

The keystones of relationship-based leadership

Relationship-based leadership entails more of an approach to business rather than any specific actions, but a few guiding principles can help ensure you’re always putting relationships first. All four of these ideas inform one another, so nurturing one will in turn, nurture them all.

Good intentions

It’s vitally important that leaders employ relationship-first tactics for the right reasons. Good leaders must actually prioritize relationships rather than just prioritize the perception of them putting relationships first. It’s worth nothing to ask your workers for feedback if a decision has already been made or a leader has no intention of incorporating their feedback.

It helps to approach each conversation and interaction without assumptions about how they should turn out. Use your interactions to get to know your employees’ work styles, and try to listen as much as you speak. Your employees will take notice and be more willing to share things with you. In short, be kind and curious!

Empathy

Any healthy relationship must allow both sides to put themselves in the shoes of the other. From a leader’s perspective, it’s important to remember that your employees see a side of the company you don’t. Situations may look different to them than they do to you, and their perspective is no less correct or valuable than yours or anyone else’s. 

The ability to see things from the employee’s point of view not only helps build your relationships, it’s an asset to your business’s bottom line too. A recent study found that empathy was the most important leadership skill in business. 76% of employees with self-reported empathetic leaders disclosed feeling consistently engaged at work as opposed to 32% of their counterparts without empathetic leaders. 61% of those in the first group also reported feeling innovative at work as opposed to only 13% in the latter group.

Frustration and conflict often form as a result of assumptions made about someone’s approach to an issue. If you’re having a difficult time understanding why someone is behaving the way they are, try to keep your mind open and encourage them to help you understand. You’ll also learn about yourself in the process.

Respect

While it’s true that respect should be earned, it’s also important to act respectfully from the beginning. Most people pick up on the amount of respect you display, and those who are offered respect are far more likely to offer it in return. Assume your employees are hardworking and knowledgeable about their positions unless proven otherwise. After all, you or someone you trust hired them.

Respect should also be balanced with confidence. As a leader, showing confidence in your team is a great way to boost company morale and display the respect you feel toward your employees. Often, you can turn your assumptions into a self-fulfilling prophecy. When you show respect, people become happy to prove you were right to do so.

Trust

If you strive for the previous three ideas, trust will come naturally. It’s the glue that holds a healthy workspace together. Empathizing and showing respect with good intentions will make your employees trust you and be more willing to come to you with ideas and concerns. This openness will in turn boost your trust in your employees. If you do things right, everything will be on the table.

Hitting roadblocks

No matter how hard you try, you’ll inevitably struggle with an employee at some point. Maybe they aren’t willing to communicate as openly as you’d like, or maybe you sense them disengaging at work. In these situations, it’s easy to get frustrated. However, an authority-based approach might only make the problem worse, especially if you resort too quickly to disciplinary measures.

When dealing with difficult employees, it helps to frame the problem in a healthy, relationship-based way. Schedule a time to sit down with them and ask how they’ve been feeling at work. Ask what you can do to help them succeed. You might be surprised to find that the root of the problem is something far different than you assumed. It may have nothing to do with work at all. Your staff members are only human, and problems in their personal lives can affect their work behaviors.

Let Corporate Chaplains of America care for your team

Walking the line between personal and professional support for your staff can be tricky and time consuming. Often, business leaders find it helpful to offer employees third-party support to care for them while keeping a healthy level of professional distance. Chaplains are great resources to provide that care.
Corporate Chaplains of America offers in-person as well as 24/7 virtual chaplain services to you and your team members, so everyone can get the care they need when they need it most. Contact Corporate Chaplains of America today to learn more about what we can do for you to help your work relationships thrive.Contact Corporate Chaplains of America today to learn more about what we can do for you to help your work relationships thrive.

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However, creating a healthy work environment can be challenging. Let’s break down the makings of a healthy work environment, the benefits of fostering one, and what you can do to help get your work environment where it needs to be.

What makes a positive work environment?

At the top of the list of healthy workplace traits comes trust in all directions. At a healthy company, not only does management trust their employees, but that trust is reciprocated. Trust encourages communication, engagement, and healthy boundaries. It also paves the way for all other healthy behaviors.

In positive work environments, employees feel encouraged to speak their mind freely, get rewarded and recognized for their efforts, and feel cared for professionally and personally by the company. It isn’t always easy to categorize a workplace as healthy or unhealthy, but if you find yourself questioning the positivity of your company culture, there is probably room for improvement.

What are the benefits of a positive work environment?

It isn’t hard to see why having a company full of engaged, satisfied employees makes going to work more pleasant for everyone, but the benefits don’t stop there. Choosing to prioritize workplace positivity is a smart financial decision too.

Retention

If you’ve followed trends in human resources over the past few years, you’ve likely heard some variation of this phrase: employees don’t quit jobs, they quit their bosses. Some people quit positions due to dissatisfaction with their job duties, but far more quit due to problems with their leadership and work culture. 

A survey from Pew Research Center found that the top reasons for quitting a position included lack of advancement opportunities, feeling disrespected by management, poor benefits, and a lack of flexibility. All of these boil down an unhealthy work environment. Another study in the Journal of Nursing Management found that the ongoing nursing shortage in the United States was being heavily driven by unhealthy work environments.

Productivity

When employees work for a company with a healthy work environment, they thrive. Proper communication means more effective collaboration, encouraging teams to seek more creative solutions to problems. Engaged employees are more likely to participate more frequently in brainstorming sessions and bring their whole selves to work each day. Workers also are more likely to work hard when they know they’ll be recognized for their efforts. This all means greater productivity for the company.

Reduced spending

Retaining employees and boosting productivity are already money-saving hacks on their own, but there are other ways that healthy work environments save companies money. Companies which operate under consistently high levels of stress spend nearly 50% more on healthcare than other companies. Additionally, 60-80% of accidents in the workplaces are attributed to stressful working conditions. Avoiding these problems can save you a ton of money.

When a poor work environment causes disengagement, this can make things worse. A study by Queens School of Business found that disengaged employees had 37% higher rates of absenteeism and 60% more errors. Dealing with these problems at their root can save you tons of money.

How to create a healthy work environment

Once you’re committed to improving the health of your workplace, it can be difficult to know where to start. While there are plenty of ways to encourage positivity for current team members, it’s usually best to start at the beginning of the hiring process.

Ensure a proper onboarding and training process

Starting a new job is a stressful process for most people no matter the circumstances. You can help new employees by making the process as thorough and empathetic as possible. Make sure you outline job duties as best you can and leave plenty of room for questions throughout the process. 

First impressions are very impactful during onboarding. Give new hires the margin they need over the first few days and weeks to digest significant amounts of information. It’s important that they understand their positions on a deep level or you risk them feeling frustrated and confused about how to spend their time. This can create negativity.

Be sure to use the onboarding process to introduce not just a worker’s role, but a company culture of positivity. Make sure new hires know where to go with questions, how to use their benefits, and what to do when they’re feeling overwhelmed or frustrated. Establish empathy early and you will put your team members on a positive path.

Encourage communication

Poor communication is at the heart of nearly all relationship problems, regardless of whether those relationships are personal or professional. Always encourage your employees to communicate both successes and problems, but realize that you’ll often have to be the one to ask.

If you notice something isn’t getting done, ask the responsible employees how they are doing without making any assumptions. Even when things are going smoothly, check in with people periodically. Show compassion and build trust along the way. An employee who is consistently willing to share how they’re doing is one of the most important signs of a healthy work environment.

Demonstrate empathy

To those toward the bottom of a corporate hierarchy, it can sometimes feel like those at the top don’t care. As stated above, proper communication can help prevent this perceived divide, but there are other ways to offer empathy to employees. 

For instance, if a team member gets sick during a busy season, it’s natural to worry about how their absence might affect productivity. However, when you talk to that employee, make sure to emphasize that feeling well is the most important development. Any lost productivity will likely be made up for by that employee feeling cared for and not so stressed about missing work that they don’t take the time to heal properly. 

Recognize and reward team members

Recognition is a huge part of employee satisfaction, and it can make all the difference in fostering a healthy work environment. When an employee works hard and goes above and beyond on a project, they deserve to be recognized and rewarded for their efforts. If they aren’t, resentment can build, which contributes to a negative work environment. It also disincentives them to work hard in the future.

Recognition is a key part of proper communication on an ongoing level. When an employee consistently shows how valuable they are, it’s important to make sure those constant efforts are leading somewhere.

Offer room for growth

Recognition is important, but a truly healthy work environment doesn’t stop there. A lack of room for growth is another major reason employees quit jobs. After all, what’s the point of going above and beyond if doing so only results in a pat on the back? If your company is growing, make sure employees know that they have a chance to climb the ladder. A promotion is often the best reward for hard work. If workers know they have a shot at growth, it will enrich your entire workplace environment.

Offer benefits that show you prioritize a healthy environment

Paying employees well is obviously important, but benefits are equally as important as pay. A robust benefits package is one of the best ways to show your employees you care about their wellbeing, which will in turn make your workplace a more positive place. Thorough health care benefits show you prioritize their physical and mental health, while generous PTO and vacation time show you care about their time outside work. Childcare benefits show you care about their families.

When putting together your benefits package, think outside the box. Unique and generous benefits not only improve workplace positivity, they also draw in a larger pool of applicants for open positions.

One often-overlooked benefit is chaplaincy.  As an extension of leadership, having someone available to help employees navigate life’s struggles not only helps the employee, but also creates an amazing asset to your company’s culture.

Let Corporate Chaplains of America care for your team

When life is difficult and stressful, a caring ear can make a huge difference in someone’s ability to cope and thrive. Offering access to third party emotional support is a great way to encourage a positive work environment without overstepping personal and professional boundaries. A chaplain can offer this support.

Corporate Chaplains of America offers in-person as well as 24/7 virtual chaplain services to you and your team members, so your people can get the care they need when they need it most. Contact Corporate Chaplains of America today to learn more about what we can do for you.

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Remote meetings can be difficult to adjust to, but once you get the hang of them, they can be just effective. Let’s explore a few virtual meeting tips that will help you capture the feeling of an in-person meeting with your remote team.

How to plan the perfect remote meeting

A solid plan can make or break your team’s remote meeting. Before you send your team members an invitation, ask yourself a few questions to help guide your plan in the right direction.

Be selective with meetings

Remember that as a team leader, you’re deciding how team members should be spending their daily time. Too many meetings can distract workers from their essential job functions and leave them annoyed and starved for time to complete projects. Too few meetings can mean some team members might be left in the dark about certain aspects of a project or feel disconnected from the rest of the team.

If you only have something simple to say, try presenting it as an email. Encourage team members to respond with any questions they might have. However, if your email runs long or feels ambiguous, go ahead and call for a meeting.

Be selective with invitees

When more invitees attend a meeting, the meeting becomes less effective. Harvard researcher J. Richard Hackman spent almost fifty years studying work performances and concluded that optimum teams had between four and six members, and that no teams should have more than ten people. 

Hackman’s conclusions illuminate the problems with large meetings. When too many people are present, conversation quality quickly deteriorates. Not everyone has a chance to speak, and rich discussions are replaced by shallow talking points. Attention tends to wane, and more time is wasted overall.

Remote meetings pose further challenges to productivity. It’s more difficult for team members to find the right moment to speak when they’re unable to use body language cues as easily and conversation doesn’t always flow as naturally. You can help prevent this erosion in quality by only inviting those absolutely essential to the matters at hand.

How long should a virtual meeting last?

People love even increments. Something about a half-hour or hour-long meeting sounds ideal, even when it isn’t. If you only have fifteen minutes worth of matters to discuss, there’s nothing wrong with setting a fifteen-minute time limit for a meeting. The feeling of the ticking clock will make attendees use time more efficiently. If that same meeting were set to half an hour, attendees would likely fill the excess time with unnecessary filler.

There’s no exact answer as to how long a virtual meeting should last, but some careful observation into a few meetings should give you a good idea. Next time you lead a thirty-minute or hour-long meeting, ask yourself if you could have done it in less time. Effective remote meetings can be any length.

Plan a specific agenda (with questions)

Having a sharp plan when approaching a meeting will make it far more effective. Instead of using a list of talking points, consider writing a list of questions that need to be answered. This helps avoid unneeded repetition or wasted time. If there is nothing to be answered on a topic, you may not need to bring it up.

Test your technology ahead of time

Nothing kills the momentum of a remote meeting like a bad internet connection or an outdated program. You can’t always account for your team member’s technology, but as the host of the meeting, you are the glue that holds it all together. Hop online five or ten minutes before the meeting is supposed to start so you can troubleshoot if needed. Encourage your team members to do the same.

Best practices during remote meetings

Knowing how to run an effective online meeting is half planning, half execution. Let’s explore how to maximize productivity while a meeting is happening.

Open with an icebreaker

Let’s face it: remote meetings can be awkward, especially when your team is new to them. It can be difficult for people to get a feel for when to talk and how to interact naturally. Instead of jumping straight into the matters at hand, take a quick thirty seconds to a minute to ask how everyone is doing or bring up a light topic. 

Once everyone is feeling a little more at ease, you can move on. So long as you don’t let the icebreaker go on for too long, it won’t feel like wasted time. A positive tone will also set the mood for the rest of the meeting and encourage more creativity and engagement.

Ask everyone to turn their cameras on

Many people are hesitant to turn on their cameras for remote meetings. Maybe their home office is dirty or they’re self-conscious about their appearance. Regardless, it’s very important to urge people to do so anyway. Inform them in the meeting invite you’ll be asking them to participate with video. Being able to see each other’s face will make meetings feel much more personal and engaging, and being able to view body language will help discussion flow more organically.

Make sure everyone gets a chance to talk

We’ve already discussed the value of smaller group sizes in meetings, but sometimes large meetings can’t be avoided. When meetings are large, some members may get lost in the background. This is especially true of soft-spoken and introverted personalities. 

Before a meeting ends, review all of the participants and make sure they’ve all had a chance to make their views known. If someone got left out, invite them to share their thoughts. Alternatively, ask someone to keep track of participation so you can focus on content.  Have them send you the names of people who have not participated in a private chat message.

Review the key points at the end of a meeting

Before you end your virtual meeting, make it crystal clear to everyone what was accomplished during that meeting. Review key points and talk about next steps in the project. Make sure everyone is on the same page. Thank everyone who participated for their work, and end on a positive, productive note. Be sure to ask if anyone has any questions. If anyone looks or sounds dissatisfied or confused, help clear up any concerns. Leave time in your schedule for this conclusion.

Ask for employee feedback

You can do everything right when it comes to running a remote meeting and still miss something essential. It’s important to follow up on your meetings with an email to your team members, asking if they have any concerns with how a meeting went or suggestions for future meetings. 

You can do this after an individual meeting or once every so often to check in on the state of meetings overall. Not only will you get valuable feedback from your employees, you’ll let them know you care about how they feel.

Let Corporate Chaplains of America care for your team

Running meetings and leading a team are difficult acts to juggle. Even when you have the best intentions, some things are bound to slip through the cracks. You can do your best to improve employee attitude and engagement at work, but sometimes there are personal problems that seep into your team members work lives. A third-party care provider can help.

Corporate Chaplains of America offers 24/7 chaplain services to you and your team members, so your people can get the care they need when they need it most. Contact Corporate Chaplains of America today to learn more about what we can do for you.

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No matter what’s happened to lead to termination, it’s also important to maintain a sense of fairness and honor throughout the process. Termination can be stressful, embarrassing, and devastating. It’s important to respect the employee, yourself, and your company throughout the process. Let’s explore how to terminate someone with honor.

Know why you’re terminating an employee

It may seem obvious, but you should have a clear-cut reason for terminating an employee, and you should be able to describe it in a way that’s simple to understand. Long before termination begins, keep this reasoning in mind throughout your daily interactions with this employee and let it guide you in your attempts to rectify their behavior.

What to do before terminating an employee

The termination process starts (and hopefully ends) long before an actual firing takes place. If you notice that an employee is not fulfilling their job duties in a satisfactory way, there are early steps you can take to help prevent further problems.

Document everything in writing

Documentation is important even for satisfactory employees. During the hiring process, you should document orientation procedures, explain policies, and have your employee sign an agreement saying they’ve read and understood your policies. This early step will be useful if problems arise. If you do so for all employees, you’ll be protecting yourself in the instance that the fired employee claims to have been treated differently than others.

When problems arise, take note of them. Capture relevant screenshots, save emails, and make note of and date verbal incidents. As you take actions to rectify the situation and talk to your employee about issues, make notes of what you say and how they respond. 

Make sure there’s been understanding on both sides

In some cases, employees are confused about the expectations of their position. While you can help prevent this with a clear job description and a thorough onboarding and orientation process, things sometimes slip through the cracks.

One of the first steps you can take in rectifying poor performance is to reference relevant parts of the company’s policies and job description when discussing problems with your employee. This will give the employee the chance to make sure they understand why their performance isn’t meeting expectations. If you followed our documentation advice, they will also have signed off on a written agreement to these terms.

Try to coach your employee into improvement

Cutting your losses may seem tempting when you’re frustrated, but it’s always better to try to fix an employee’s behavior than to fire them and hire someone new. A 2016 study from the Society for Human Resource Management found that the average cost of replacing an employee is $4,129, and it takes an average of 42 days to get a position filled.

In addition to the monetary costs associated with firing and rehiring, the process takes an emotional toll on everyone involved. It’s better to show compassion to your employee, try to understand why they’re performing poorly, and show them a clear path to doing better work. Depending on their role, you might be able to do this yourself. If not, finding someone to help them in their department or with their skillset is worth the effort. 

Start with warnings

Firing an employee should never come as a surprise. It’s best for you and your employee if they are given written and verbal warnings about their poor performance. If they still fail to change their behavior after being warned repeatedly, you can be more confident in your decision.

How to fire an employee

Unfortunately, it’s come to this.  You’ve done all you can to fix a problem, and now you’ve decided to cut your losses. It can be hard to predict how the termination process will go, but there are some steps you can take to help it go smoothly.

Prepare your documentation

Before you call for a termination meeting, gather all relevant documentation, preferably in a physical folder or packet. It should include everything from the employee’s  signed onboarding paperwork to written warnings and steps taken to rectify behavior.

If the employee has questions or concerns about their termination, you’ll have everything you need on hand to address them. If they make false claims, you can refute them. Ultimately, having everything available will make the process go more smoothly no matter what.

Call for a semi-private meeting at the end of a work day

Choose a neutral location for your termination meeting. Don’t do it in your office or their workspace to avoid a lopsided or exaggerated power dynamic. It’s best to make the meeting as private as possible for the sake of the employee’s discretion, but having a witness is helpful. If you aren’t in HR at your company, your HR representative is the best choice. They can help ensure the meeting is compassionate, fair, and professional.

There are varying opinions on the best time of day for a termination meeting, but we recommend doing it at the end of the day. This gives your employee the chance to leave with the appearance of normality if they choose to. It also takes into account that their transportation situation might leave them stranded until the late afternoon.

Make a list of everything you need to say

A termination meeting should be succinct and simple, but it can get sidetracked easily. Your witness can help with this, but you should also prepare a checklist that lines out everything you want and need to say.

Make sure communication isn’t one-sided

When preparing your checklist, make sure you leave time to let your employee say anything they need to say. They’ll likely have questions and concerns that you don’t anticipate, so a checklist that doesn’t leave room for their input can feel one-sided and unfair. It’s important that your employee feels respected and listened to. Even if what they say doesn’t change the inevitable, they should be heard.

End things on a respectful note

Do what you can to help your employee retain their dignity. Unless you are firing your employee for particularly awful behavior, thank them for their time and effort in the company, and tell them you’re sorry things didn’t work out. If you can, offer to provide them with a letter of recommendation to help them find their next job.

If you can think of a job that might work better for their skillset, tell them. You might also offer some advice as to how they can thrive better in their next position. Regardless, try to end things on the most positive note you can.

Support After the Termination

While you are under no obligation to care for an employee post-termination, there are still things you can do. One great advantage of engaging a third party like CCA is that they can help you to continue to care for the former employee. A chaplain can provide a partnership of care even after they are terminated. 

Let CCA support your team

Sometimes, an employee’s poor job performance can be linked to personal problems you may not be aware of. A little help and care might be just what they need to do better in the workplace. However, as a manager or HR representative, finding the right balance of respect, compassion, and professionalism can be hard. That’s why Corporate Chaplains of America offers 24/7 chaplain services to you and your team, so everyone gets the individual support and care they need.

Contact Corporate Chaplains of America today to learn more about what we can do for you.

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Despite what some claim, employees aren’t leaving to do nothing. The surplus of employment opportunities leaves skilled workers with plenty of options, and many are leaving for better pay, more flexible hours, and more attractive benefits. 

In order to compete, your company might need to improve the benefits you offer. One of the biggest demands is for child care benefits. Let’s explore if offering child care benefits to employees is right for your company.

Why offer child care benefits for employees?

Raising children is expensive. While maternity and paternity leave benefits are helpful in the early stages of childhood, where does that leave parents for the next ten to fifteen years that their children need to be cared for while they work?

Daycare costs are highly dependent on where you live, but the average cost per year per child is around $12,000 for infants and $10,000 for toddlers. The cost goes down a little for older kids, but not by enough to relieve the immense financial pressure involved.

If you’re paying an employee $50,000 per year but not offering child care benefits, that can mean they’re forced to relinquish 20% or more of their paychecks just so their child has a place to go while they earn money. This can be devastating to both morale and productivity. It also might make your employees seek out different opportunities.

Working parents are already heavily favoring companies that are adapting to their needs. Major employers are catching on. Companies like Citi, Goldman Sachs, Intuit, Intel, Patagonia, Microsoft, Google, and Best Buy all offer some form of employee child care. It’s likely this list will continue to grow. Those that don’t offer care might get left behind.

What do child care benefits cost companies?

There’s no one answer to the cost of offering child care benefits. It varies based primarily on the size and scale of your company and the level of benefits you decide to provide. You have options. 

Before we explore these options, remember that money put into these benefits should be looked at as an investment rather than a burden. Offering high-quality child care benefits attracts a larger pool of employees, boosts company morale, and helps prevent turnover. All of these things benefit your company finances in the long run, so the cost might be less than you think. The IRS will also reward you for your effort.

Tax breaks for offering child care benefits

Paying for child care benefits may feel like a lot of money out of pocket, but the federal government does offer a major incentive: tax breaks. The IRS allows businesses to claim 10 to 25% (or up to $150,000) each year when they pay directly for childcare expenses. This can make a huge difference.

Types of employer-sponsored child care benefits

You might be envisioning a full-on daycare facility in your workplace, and while that is an option, it’s far from the only one. Most companies still offer no childcare benefits at all, so anything is better than nothing. Providing childcare for employees takes many forms, so let’s explore a few options.

On-site childcare

Yes, on-side childcare is expensive, but it can be your best option. While it might be a hard sell for the bosses upstairs, employees absolutely love it. Not only is it easy and convenient for parents, who can avoid adding a trip to a third-party daycare as part of their commute, it also gives your employees the rare opportunity to interact with their kids during the work day.

This model is working out extremely well for some companies. Patagonia, for example, has maintained a 100% return to work rate for women who have given birth while employed over the past five years. This compares to a 79% average at other companies.

Some companies contract services from outside companies, while others choose to staff their in-house facilities themselves. It all depends on your company and your needs. If your office space is sparser thanks to a new hybrid scheduling policy, consider converting the extra space into a daycare facility. If space is tight, consider a facility in a neighboring building. Regardless, daycare benefits will be appreciated.

Childcare subsidies

A simpler and less expensive way to offer child care benefits is through subsidies. This is mainly done in one of two ways. Some companies offer direct payments for a specific amount to employees with kids, and those employees can do what they want with the money. Other businesses partner with specific child care facilities to share the cost of enrollment. Many facilities offer child care corporate discounts, so ask around.

Childcare friendly scheduling

How about a schedule that benefits more than just parents? A recent survey by Bankrate showed that 55% of working adults care more about a job with flexible scheduling than before the pandemic. 

For parents, the reason is obvious: they can work around their kids’ needs rather than the rigid demands of a traditional schedule. In some cases, they can work while kids are in the house, so no external care is needed.

Workers who aren’t parents love flexible scheduling too. Flexible schedules are more conducive to travel and allow workers to create a schedule that works for them. It builds trust between employer and employee. It also might cost your company nothing. After all, if the work is getting done, it may not matter when and where it happens.

Back-up assistance for childcare

Back-up assistance is essentially an extension of paid time off that applies in case of extenuating circumstances. If a family member gets sick or hurt, schools close for weather-related events, or some other emergency occurs that stretches workers beyond their allotted PTO, this can act as a safeguard.

Back-up assistance is an inexpensive option that gives flexibility to parents, but it might not be enough of an incentive to parents who still have to pay for daycare most days. However, it does benefit employees who aren’t parents. Not all family emergencies are child-related. Alternatively, you can give your employees more PTO from the start.

Flex spending accounts for childcare

Like back-up assistance, flex spending accounts are more of a perk than a full-on child care benefit, but they can come in handy for parents. Essentially, parents can opt to have money withheld from their paychecks before being taxed to pay for child care expenses. Employers often match opted-in funds. The money has to be spent on child care-related expenses.

Choosing the right childcare benefits for your company

The options outlined above aren’t the only possibilities, so we encourage you to get creative and think about the needs and resources of your company. One of the best ways to choose the right type of child care benefits is to analyze the needs of your employees. 

Talk to your employees about what would work best for them. Chances are, you’ll be able to compromise on a form of corporate child care benefits that makes everyone happy.

Let CCA support your team

Offering child care benefits to your employees is a wonderful way to offer support, but it’s only one part of the equation.  One of the most common elements of care provided by Corporate Chaplains of America is to help employees navigate family relationships, especially in the areas of parenting and marriage.  CCA offers 24/7 chaplain services to you and your team, so everyone gets the individual support and care they need.
Contact Corporate Chaplains of America today to learn more about what we can do for you.

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