Benefits Articles

Ignoring employee complaints just sends them underground.  Workers who receive an inadequate response from management will choose to discuss grievances among themselves instead.  This spreads dissatisfaction and resentment, reducing productivity.  Issues that could have been addressed early on may escalate over time.  In extreme cases, unresolved conflict can result in incidents of workplace violence or costly lawsuits.  Keep potential problems in check by instituting fair and reasonable policies.  

Putting a dollar figure on a set of job perks makes it easy for employees to grasp the true worth of their position.  Nothing makes this process simpler than a comprehensive overview of their compensation and benefits.  Statements detailing this added value should be distributed at least once a year to highlight your company’s commitment to its employees.  

Employee healthcare is a complex issue involving a vast array of market forces, endless regulations, and hundreds of billions of dollars each year nationwide.   However, you don’t have to be an expert to know that prices are going up.  The panel is out on who is ultimately to blame but there is no lack of finger pointing.  Profit driven insurance companies, inadequate government funding, and a shortage of qualified medical professionals all play a role.  To further complicate matters, lack of good preventive care (among both the insured and uninsured) leads to expensive surgeries and costly ongoing drug treatments. The staggering number of emergency room visits each year in the U.S. takes a further toll on already strained resources.  

The role of managing a company’s human resources is never more crucial than during an economic upheaval.  This is not the time to make things worse by giving in to panic.  Decisions made in haste can have far reaching negative consequences.  Instead of going into “crisis mode”, view this as an opportunity to regroup and plan for the future.  If your business is fundamentally sound, there is no reason for it to flounder when faced with change.  Your goal during this time is to be flexible and look for ways to increase efficiency. 

In today’s fast paced world, many people are experiencing high levels of job related stress.  Employers can do their part to address this problem by helping employees achieve a healthy work-life balance.  This is the key to encouraging high morale, productivity, and loyalty.  Companies that acknowledge the needs workers have during their non-work lives will get more from them while they are on the clock.

Employee wellness is a hot topic for companies seeking to increase workplace productivity and reduce medical costs.  A properly run program encourages workers to take responsibility for improving their own health.  It also provides tools to help them do this.  If you are implementing a wellness initiative at your company, take time to think through all the implications first.  

When human resource departments hear the term ‘employee assessment’, they think about the company sizing up an employee.  However, this process can work the other way around too.  What do your workers think about the job your company is doing?  Are they satisfied with their supervisor’s performance?  Do they have needs that are not being addressed? There are only two ways to find out.