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3 Ways a PEO Helps You Grow

It’s always exciting to see your business grow before your eyes.  Expanding with new services for your clients, adding on new team members, and opening new locations can be great new opportunities for your business.  Each of these opportunities come with their own challenges, of course. As a business owner, you undoubtedly know that you have to wear several hats to keep everything running smoothly. Yet, as your business starts to grow, you will find yourself wearing more hats than you can handle. This is where PEO’s can come in to help you with the growing pains. When you enter this growth phase of your business you face an entirely different set of challenges that you didn’t see when just starting like: Expanding teams and filling new positions Expanding your existing HR processes Increased need for technology Training employees Delegating tasks effectively Mess up any of these tasks and you’re in for a headache. PEO’s can help with these growing pains by taking away the burden of HR administrative tasks (and even strategic HR like training and onboarding). This can ensure that you can focus on your priorities while the administrative backbone of your business gets handled by professionals. That’s why we wanted to talk about three big ways that PEO’s can help you during a growth phase of your business. During important times like these, you must have someone watching your back and making sure that you’re focused on the overall strategy and direction of your business. 1) Growth Under a PEO  According to the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO), partnering with a PEO can help your business grow 7-9% faster. This is because partnering with a PEO gives you access to a slew of HR resources that let you take off some of those administrative hats. PEO’s offer services like payroll systems, benefits administration, employee training, compliance filing, HR support, and more allowing you to focus your attention on growth activities like sales, marketing, and product development. When partnering with a competent PEO you can see huge gains in your business’s growth by simply not having to worry about some of the more thought-consuming parts of the business. Think of it as getting some extra help from a bigger company to help push your smaller business in the right direction. 2) PEO’s can Help you Stay in Business  The NAPEO also says on their website that small businesses are 50% more likely to stay in business when they partner with a PEO. This is because of the PEO’s ability to help you focus on the bigger picture issues of your business instead of the more cumbersome administrative aspects of it. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), approximately 20% of new businesses fail during the first two years of being open, 45% during the first five years, and 65% during the first 10 years. Only 25% of new businesses make it to the 15 years or more mark. Investopedia lists four of the most common reasons that new businesses fail and two of those reasons are because they 1) lack proper management, and 2) have ineffective business planning.  Owners get caught up working “in” the business and don’t have the time to work “on” the business. When starting and running a business we know that it’s difficult to juggle all the different tasks and that’s why partnering with a PEO to relieve you of some of those tasks is a great step to ensuring that your business is one of the 25% that make it to the 15 years or more mark. 3) PEO’s give you a Pre-Built HR Infrastructure  Growing your business usually means that you need to scale your operations to match the required growth. This can be time–consuming and expensive especially when it comes to finding the right candidates that can meet your business’s needs. PEO’s come with pre-built HR infrastructures that help you bridge the gap between where your business is and where you want it to be. PEO’s can help you scale up by offering: Better Benefits– a big advantage of a PEO is its ability to provide cost-effective comprehensive benefits for your employees without the administrative and regulatory headaches that come with it. As a co-employer, the PEO can offer a wider variety of benefits to your employees than if you were to handle it in–house, such as medical, 401(k), vision, dental, life, and disability, etc. Onboarding– When you hire your new employees you desire to get them all up to speed on the goals and operations of your business. This can be another time-consuming process that a PEO can help you with by formalizing the process through pre-made employee handbooks, training, benefits, customized support, and access to efficient technology. Compliance– HR law can be confusing and cumbersome to a business, especially if you run an operation that crosses state lines. Keeping up with all the countless new HR and payroll laws, regulations, and rules that apply to your business can be as costly as the fines for violation can be huge. This is where PEO’s can give you a big advantage over an in-house team. You’ll have access to a legion of trusted advisors whose sole job is to keep up to date on any changes to the law to keep you safe and on track. Growing your business doesn’t have to be the most difficult thing in the world. You can make it a little easier by partnering with the right people that have your back for the most cumbersome parts of the business. Partnering with a PEO can ensure that you don’t burn out, you reach your business goals, and your business grows strong for a bright future. Are you struggling with managing your human resource needs? Pinnacle offers several transactional and strategic HR services to help your business. Contact us today at (210) 344-2088 to find the right solution for you, so you can focus on what matters—growing your business!

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The Benefits Employees Want

The job marketplace can be an incredibly competitive space as companies duke it out to offer better benefits to attract top-tier talent. It seems as if businesses these days must continue to go back and forth one-upping each other in a pursuit to retain their current talent and attract new talent away from their competitors.  Which benefits are most valued by employees? According to a survey by Glassdoor, 80% of employees would choose additional benefits over a pay raise. Glassdoor’s survey would indicate that the benefits that you offer to your employees can make or break your recruitment strategy. What benefits employees want out of their jobs is a useful issue in your recruitment strategy and what benefits you offer to your employees. We’ll be looking at what the wants and needs of employees are currently and begin to think about how those could change over the next decade. How Have Employees’ Wants Changed Over Time Employee benefits and compensation were unheard of until the early 20th century and were introduced as a way for employers to begin meeting the needs of their workforce. The definition of what qualifies as great benefits shifts between generations of workers, but according to an SHRM survey that looked at benefits trends from 1996 to 2016, the number of benefits offerings have increased over the past 20 years, but the coverage of core benefits like health care, retirement planning, and employee assistance programs has changed very little since 1996. Even so, today’s packages that are offered to employees are more robust and diversified than their predecessors. Employers now are offering new types of benefits to attract a new generation of workers, such as tuition reimbursement, work-from-home options, additional vacation days, more parental leave, and a slew of other benefits. While the core benefits of retirement, healthcare, and employee assistance programs haven’t changed, these new types of benefits are meant to cater to a younger generation of workers that prioritize a work-life balance. What Benefits are Employees Looking for in Their Job? So what benefits are potential employees looking for when looking for a job? A study conducted by Fractl surveyed 2,000 employees across various industries to understand this question. They gave the participants of the survey seventeen benefits and asked them how heavily they would weigh each benefit when deciding between a high-paying job and a lower-paying job with more benefits. The results of the study found some obvious answers, but some surprising results could be offered to employees at a cheap cost to employers. The top five answers that were reported were: Better health, dental, and vision insurance– 88% of respondents saying some or heavy consideration More flexible hours– 88% of respondents saying some or heavy consideration More vacation time– 80% of respondents saying some or heavy consideration Work-from-home options– 80% of respondents saying some or heavy consideration Unlimited Vacation– 68% of respondents saying some or heavy consideration Health insurance sits at the top but is also the most expensive benefit to offer with an average cost of $6,435 per employee. The next most-valued benefits are the ones that offer flexibility and improve work-life balance. These benefits are important to employees and can give a competitive edge to lower-paying jobs. Parents especially enjoy the freedom of being able to spend more time with their children, increasing their productivity. Flexible hours and work-from-home options are excellent choices that are affordable for companies wanting to offer appealing benefits but can’t afford the cost of expensive benefits packages. More vacation time and unlimited vacation was also a popular benefit that employees stated they wanted. At first glance, an unlimited vacation plan may seem like it would be subject to abuse by employees, but U.S. workers are notorious for not using vacation days. An article from CNBC states that U.S. workers forfeit more than 200 million vacation days annually, totaling more than $66.4 billion in lost benefits each year. Non-Traditional Benefits You may have noticed that there are a few other perks lower on that list that employees considered. Some of these are what you could classify as non-traditional benefits, or benefits that go beyond the traditional health care, PTO, and retirement packages that companies normally offer. Work from home options and unlimited vacation time would fall under this category too, but there is a slew of other options that businesses can also offer that can benefit potential employees such as: Tuition reimbursement Catered lunches Free Day-Care Services Free Snacks and Coffee Pet Benefits On-Site Gym Of course, you don’t have to offer all of these benefits to stay competitive in the employee marketplace but offering a different combination of traditional and non-traditional benefits can make working at your businesses much more attractive for potential employees. When developing your benefits package, you should first think about the kind of workforce you want as not all benefits and perks will attract all employees. Need help deciding what benefits are best for your business? Pinnacle takes the guesswork out of choosing benefits with our experts who are trained to find a solution tailored to your business’s needs. Contact us to find out how our transactional HR services can simplify the administration work that goes into managing benefits so you can focus on what matters—growing your business!

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DNet—News Feature

Take advantage of DNet’s News feature to share important news, events, trainings, websites, documents, forms, or images with your employees. News bulletins will be posted on your employees’ DNet Dashboard.  When you use DNet’s News feature you will be able to do all of the following: Select the date range for which the news posting will be shown on your employees’ dashboard Select to post the news on all or certain employees’ dashboard Select to post the news on only Client level accounts Add hyperlinks for employees to access specific websites Add attachments to your new posting, such as: a. Images b. Documents c. Forms To access this feature, simply select the following options on your main menu: Company > Tools > News. The possibilities for this feature are endless!

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Ideas for Recruiting Team Members

Use Social Media Effectively to Recruit Share Your Company Culture on Social Media  Many job seekers are looking for a unique experience in their career.  They value the environment, or the company culture, as much as the work itself.  Many potential applicants want a company that has personality and fits their own values and style. That’s why owners and recruiters need to pay attention to the image their companies present on social media as a major part of their recruitment strategy.  Your social media approach could include Facebook, Instagram, Videos, Blogs, Podcasts, etc.  Post fun, useful, inspiring content that will be interesting to people outside of your company. Team outings and celebrations are good content.  However, put your individual Team Members into the content on a regular basis.  Sometimes, the current employees can be in the spotlight.  The difference is that while an employee can appear in your video, making the video about him/her as an individual makes them the star of that segment. Potential applicants want to see who works for you and what they are like, in terms of their personality and values.  Job hunters are interested in the employees’ personal interests and hobbies, too.  Maybe a little about their back story and why they love working on your Team.  Sometimes a common interest will inspire a candidate to contact you! Videos and Photos Don’t worry too much about the quality of the videos and photos.  An overproduced video can work against you.  It should seem real and natural.  Ask employees to record these videos on their smartphones and send them to you. Don’t do too much editing or over-analyze the content.  The team member’s appearance, attitude and enthusiasm are usually more important than a well-rehearsed speech. Many companies are making a recruitment video.  The video could contain employee testimonials, footage of company activities, and a message from the owner. You could hire a professional videographer, but actually, many software tools are now available to make a video yourself.  Some guides are available on LinkedIn and other sites. Use your Creativity Some companies have had success by doing the unexpected.  For example, one recruiting video had employee interviews where they explained what they hated about their jobs.  At the end, the twist was that none of these employees worked for the company.  They were all employed elsewhere. There are ways to target niche markets, such as military veterans or recruiting people with disabilities.  One recent trend is targeting people, especially women, who are returning to the workforce after several years away.  The video could highlight the training and development programs available to help the person get up to speed and productive quickly under a mentorship program. Sometimes, the best new employees are former employees. Do you have a process in place that makes it easy for them to rejoin your workforce?  Former team members have the advantage of knowing your organization and culture. In turn, you have access to their information and performance history.  Sometimes a different mix of personalities on your team will lead to a successful return of an ex-employee.  Hiring a known person can simplify the hiring process and training process.  A person’s circumstances can change over time, and a previously unsuccessful employee could succeed on their second try. Organize a Virtual Event A virtual event is another new way to attract job seekers and potential candidates. These events could be done on Zoom or Facebook Live, a GoToMeeting, or as a webinar with guest speakers.  In this way, you can reach mildly interested candidates without pressure.  Participants are free to come and go as they please, so that each candidate’s communication style can be accommodated.   Some candidates might attend anonymously while others might be more interactive.  You can also appeal to applicants who might be from out-of-town and looking to move to your area.  Employees of competitors might attend to learn about the inner working of your business, but also you might impress them enough to recruit them! Pay for Candidate Referrals  Use the talent and personal network of your current staff to recruit new teammates.  Often, a productive employee will find other individuals with similar work motivation and goals, and personalities that mesh well with their own.  This extends the company culture into the future.  Sometimes, the best way to reach top talent is to offer cash rewards to those who can refer them.  When you think of the cost of being under-staffed, it is probably thousands of dollars per employee in terms of the impact on your overall bottom line.  Or why not offer to pay the referring employee a large cash bonus, perhaps $500-$1000 for a new hire?  To make sure the new hire assimilates into the company, you could pay the bonus after the new hire has successfully completed 90 days and has reached a level of competency. Create a Recruiting Version of a Business Card As you meet people in your daily travels, hand them a business card.  The card should briefly say what your business is, and one or two great things about it.  On the back of the card could be a note to encourage job seekers to contact you.  Because of our rapid growth, positions are currently available.  Business cards are inexpensive, and you can give them out anywhere you go, such as restaurants, stores, service providers, offices, etc.  You never know where a job candidate will come from!  Even if the person isn’t interested, they might give the card to someone who is.  Whenever you experience a quality service employee, in any profession, hand them a card.  In a way, you are complimenting that person on their great service but also are asking them to help you identify candidates for your business.  Good people tend to know other good people, right? Join a Networking Group or Host a Group Networking meetings are a good way to meet people and spread the word that your business is growing and looking for talented job seekers.  To

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Giving Effective Employee Feedback (Part 2)

This article has points 5 through 8 5. Don’t take the “sandwich approach” Helping someone improve should always be the goal of feedback but sandwiching corrective feedback between two pieces of positive feedback won’t soften the blow. This method creates confusion for the receiver, undermines your feedback, and can decrease levels of trust. Although it may feel more uncomfortable for the giver, being upfront and transparent with corrective feedback sets the foundation for an authentic conversation. Focus on delivering feedback tactfully instead of beating around the bush. 6. Make the conversation a two-way street Lecturing someone on how they should improve is about as effective as talking to a brick wall. Don’t forget the important element of respect when discussing vulnerable topics, and certainly don’t talk at someone when it’s far more effective to open up the conversation and talk with them. Let the receiver respond to your feedback and allow them to ask follow-up questions. Once the issue is clear, then you two can work together to land on a solution or course of action. 7. Focus on performance, not personality Focus on an employee’s behaviors (what they do) rather than on their personality traits (what they’re like). Consider these two examples from “The Secret to Giving Constructive Criticism” and think about what type of feedback you would like to receive.       Example 1: “Your arrogance is causing a problem.” Example 2: “When you interrupt me in front of a client it causes a problem.” The better approach to feedback is in example 2 because it’s focused on the person’s behavior, whereas example 1 takes a jab at the person’s character, which won’t be conducive to improvement. 8. Keep the conversation going by following up Evaluation is tough, and it takes a lot of thought and energy to do it properly. Instead of treating feedback conversations as a one-and-done, follow up with your direct report and show appreciation when you see improvement along the way. This will show them that you care about their success, and it can motivate them to keep up the great work. Employee feedback is a necessary part of growth and development. These tips can help managers and leaders deliver it more effectively, which will lead to more collaborative, communicative, and higher-performing teams.

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Giving Effective Employee Feedback (Part 1)

Employee feedback is an incredibly powerful tool. It has the ability to grow and develop the people of your organization, improve the levels of trust and communication, and strengthen bonds between employees and managers. But unfortunately, feedback is often ignored or omitted entirely in an effort to avoid discomfort. Here are eight tips to help managers and leaders give employee feedback that’s frequent, effective, and will help to get you the outcome you need. 1. Avoid giving unsolicited advice Only a third of people believe that the feedback they receive is helpful. That’s because more often than not, it’s unsolicited, which can create an immense amount of stress for the person receiving it. If your direct report doesn’t ask for feedback directly, make a point to ask them if, when and how they’d like to receive it. By doing this, you can give the control to your employee and increase the likelihood that they will act on the feedback you share. Empower your people to control the feedback agenda by helping them feel confident and comfortable enough to ask for it 2. Be specific Employee feedback should be solutions oriented, crystal clear, and to the point. If your intention is to offer corrective feedback, general comments, like “Your work needs to be improved” or “I wasn’t very impressed with those reports. You have to do better than that” can leave your employee confused and in the dark as to what aspect of their work needs to be corrected. Be specific on what you’d like your employee to do and offer guidance on how they can apply the feedback. For example, “I noticed you were late on your last two deadlines. I’d like to work with you on your time management to ensure you’re not committing to too much and completing each of your tasks in a timely manner.” Pro tip: Don’t get stuck on corrective feedback. Remember to also share positive feedback with your employees so they know the things they should continue doing. 3. Come with a deep level of empathy Delivering feedback that exposes a wide gap in self-knowledge demands an extra measure of sensitivity. Like ripping off a scab, the sting of discovering such a profound gap often elicits strong emotions that can easily be confused as defensiveness. If you’re someone who bores the brunt of your colleague’s difficult behavior, be sure you can set those frustrations aside in favor of the empathy you’ll need for this conversation. Before you even approach your colleague, be prepared to give them the space they’ll need to feel shocked upon receiving your feedback. Remember not to interpret it as intensified resistance to your message, 4.  Don’t wait for Traditional Review Period Employee feedback immediately following an event has the greatest impact on performance. Additionally, engagement peaks when employees receive feedback on a regular weekly basis. If issues are left unaddressed, they may multiply by a domino effect. So, by the time the quarterly performance review comes around, you’ll be confronted with a host of issues that could have been avoided if mentioned earlier. Another flaw in saving feedback for the performance review process is that problems will be forgotten and the time for offering valuable feedback will have passed. Daily or weekly feedback will help you avoid the recency bias (which overemphasizes recent work and occurs too infrequently to align with the employee’s workflow) and can make tracking and analyzing a colleague’s work much easier for all parties involved. See Article Part 2 for points 5 through 8. Remember that Pinnacle’s HR team is available for assistance at (210) 344-2088.

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401(k) Plan is Available

Why Offer 401(k)? It is a great way to attract and retain quality team members.  The longer a team member stays with you, the more money they build up for retirement! 401(k) payroll deductions are done “pre-tax”, which means the employee does not have to pay taxes on that portion of each paycheck. Any matching contributions from the business owner are a tax deductible expense for the business. Pinnacle already has a master plan document in place which makes it easier to initiate a plan for our clients.  The business owner can select from many options, such as matching amounts (if any), safe harbor options, vesting options, and investment choices.  The plan is administered by Empower, one of the nation’s top 401(k) providers.  See retiresmart.com for more information.  Empower acquired MassMutual is early 2021. Business owners should contact your Pinnacle account rep to receive a 401(k) brochure and Installation Kit.  Team Members cannot enroll in 401(k) until the owner does a client set up.  Our 401(k) representative in the office is Lu Gutierrez at (210) 344-2088.

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Using Electronic Onboarding in DNet

Are you tired of having to deal with too much paperwork each time you have a new hire? If so, then you should definitely consider switching over to electronic onboarding with DNet at Pinnacle. DNet’s electronic onboarding feature is a 2-portion process, first portion is completed by the new hire and the second portion is completed by the Employer. Once both portions are completed, the new hires get automatically transferred to our Payroll system, where your Payroll Coordinator will be able to process payroll with the new hire included. This onboarding feature helps both Employers and their new hires to have a fast and smooth onboarding process from the comfort of their homes. Electronic Onboarding Benefits Below is a list of all the benefits you will gain by switching over to DNet’s electronic onboarding feature: You and your new hires won’t need to deal with lots of paperwork since the complete onboarding process will be online. All onboarding documents are saved automatically into DNet, where both you and your new hires will be able to access them at any time. You and your new hire will be able to work on the onboarding process from the comfort of your home and on your own time. New hires will no longer need to provide a voided check since they will be able to apply for direct deposit during their onboarding process directly in DNet. New hires get to create their own login credentials during the onboarding process, and they will be able to use these same credentials to login to their Employee Portal in DNet after their onboarding is completed. In the Employee Portal they will be able to access all of their paystubs, W-2s, and they will be able to update any personal information and/or direct deposit. You and you new hires will be able to electronically sign all necessary onboarding documents. You will be able to easily track all of your new hires’ electronic onboarding progress by using DNet’s Process Monitor, which shows the status of all onboardings. You will be able to easily see which new hires haven’t started their onboarding process, which are in progress, and which have completed their onboarding. DNet will keep both you and your new hires informed by sending automatic email notifications. DNet sends the following email notifications to both you and your new hires: – Onboarding Invitation Email – Onboarding Completion Reminder Email – Onboarding Completion Email You and your new hires will be able to reach out to Pinnacle’s IT Department for IT Support or any type of guidance during the onboarding process. Electronic Onboarding Customizations DNet’s electronic onboarding feature offers many customizations so that we can set up your Company’s onboarding profile to fit your needs. Below is the list of all of the customizations it offers. Custom Tasks We can customize the tasks the new hires need to complete during the onboarding process and the order of the tasks. Custom Email Notifications We can customize the content of the automatic emails that are sent out to both you and the new hires. A lot of our Clients have taken advantage of this particular customization so that one of these emails includes additional instructions and link to training videos new hires must watch. Custom Onboarding Documents We can upload to your company’s onboarding profile any additional onboarding document you usually have your new hires fill out and/or sign. This way, everything is online, and all documents are automatically stored in DNet. Custom Onboarding Profiles We can create more than one onboarding profile for your company if needed. We usually create more than one onboarding profile for Clients that need for their new hires to go through a specific onboarding process based on their job position. For example, if you need for your Store Managers to fill out and/or sign a different set of documents than a Stylist would when onboarding, then we will create an onboarding profile specifically for onboarding Store Managers and a second onboarding profile for onboarding Stylists. Pinnacle offers online demos of Electronic Onboarding to Clients to show you all of the benefits this feature offers and also to gather all of the information needed to create and customize your company’s onboarding profile(s). In this online demo Pinnacle will show you how the electronic onboarding process works from beginning to end, for both the employee and client onboarding portions. Pinnacle can also offer online training to your team if you’re interested in including Store Managers in the electronic onboarding process for them to complete the Employer portion of the onboarding. Pinnacle will also provide you with an Employee Onboarding Guide, which will include step-by-step instructions on how your new hires can complete their portion of the onboarding process, and a Client Onboarding Guide, which includes step-by-step instructions on how you and/or your Store Managers can complete the Client portion of the onboarding. If you’re interested, reach out to Pinnacle and schedule an online demo. Get ready to save time and paperwork in your hiring process!

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LifeMart Discount Program is Free!

As our country continues to see the pandemic have an impact, we know you are spending more time at home and are experiencing school closures as well. In keeping with our mission of delivering value and saving members time, we want to share discounts we’ve arranged for you to help make your time at home easier, such as: Food & home delivery Home office equipment and accessories Tutoring services Costco and Sam’s Club discounts Download and streaming services for entertainment, education and fitness Health & wellness products & services Online training and educational resources To find these resources visit LifeMart and click on the COVID-19 resource link in the menu – we will be continually updating as we find new resources to serve your needs. Plus, we’ve created a collection of tips and resources to help you and your family navigate the challenges of COVID-19 including articles, webinars and more. Start Saving! As a Pinnacle employee your LifeMart access is free. Go to discountmember.lifecare.com and use registration code: PINNACLEDISCOUNT to start saving today!

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Advantages of Voluntary Benefits

As benefits costs continue to rise and bottom lines begin to tighten, no one can blame employers for looking for cheaper ways to enhance their employee benefits. This is where voluntary benefits have become a lifeline for employers looking to offer attractive benefits options to their employees without added cost to the company. Many businesses have sought to offer voluntary benefits to offset the increasing costs of benefits offerings, but a common short falling of most businesses is their failure to convey how these benefits add value to their current compensation packages. That’s why for this article we wanted to dig into what voluntary benefits are, what are the benefits of adopting them for your business, and how you can convey to your employees how those benefits can benefit them. Voluntary Benefits Voluntary Benefits are products–such as life, disability, critical illness, and accident insurance, as well as sometimes legal services, and financial counseling–offered through an employer but paid for partially or solely by workers through payroll deferral. What makes these benefits attractive to the employee, is that they can offer individual employees group rates that they would otherwise be unlikely to obtain on their own. The Benefit of Voluntary Benefits Because of their cost efficiency, and customizability, voluntary benefits are becoming a central component of many companies’ overall benefits strategies, as they can be a cost-effective way of offering attractive benefits for a fraction of the cost of more comprehensive traditional benefits (dental, health, retirement, etc.). Voluntary benefits can deliver advantages such as choice, convenience, and affordability for both the employer and employee. Employees get the freedom of choice to customize their benefits package to fit their lifestyle, and the employer gets the benefit of only paying for the benefits offerings that get utilized by their team. How to Choose the Right Voluntary Benefits Choosing the right voluntary benefits for your business all starts with your employees. There are a whole array of voluntary benefits that can be offered, however a well-tailored choice of benefits can be more effective for your business. By asking your employees about their needs you can tailor your benefits offerings to enhance your core benefits package. Understanding your employees’ demographics can also help you choose what benefits to offer as well. For example, it doesn’t make much sense for a company with a consistently high turnover rate to offer many voluntary benefits, as opposed to a business with a longer-tenured workforce. Knowing your employees allows you to make the right decisions and offer the best benefits for them. Another way to choose the right voluntary benefits is to better understand your core benefits package and what coverage holes exist. Voluntary benefits can help fill in coverage gaps and allow employees to fill in perceived gaps in their coverage. For example, older employees may be more inclined to opt-in for critical illness coverage, while younger families might prefer accident or injury policies that cover their children. It isn’t that unusual for voluntary benefits to be a neglected part of the overall benefits program, particularly during the open enrollment period, when businesses are focused on helping their employees understand their benefits offerings. However, offering attractive voluntary benefits in conjunction with a good set of traditional benefits can elevate a company’s benefits package for just a fraction of the cost. Being sure to select voluntary benefits that provide value to the employee is another key factor in ensuring that voluntary benefits are a success in your benefits package. It isn’t enough to just offer voluntary benefits, you must make an intelligent decision to listen to your employees to understand what benefits provide the most value for them. Need help deciding what benefits are best for your business? Pinnacle takes the guesswork out of choosing benefits with our experts who are trained to find a solution tailored to your business’s needs. Contact us to find out how our services can simplify the administration work that goes into managing benefits so you can focus on what matters—growing your business! 

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