Compensation and benefits are crucial to your lifestyle and your satisfaction.
This article looks into the importance of compensation and benefits, providing ways to communicate and know if your compensation offers are enough. Let this guide help you align your benefits package with your personal needs and career goals.
A Look at the State of Work Benefits Today
A Pew Research Center survey on why US workers quit their jobs found that 43 percent of the respondents felt their benefits weren’t competitive.¹ It’s worth noting that in a survey by Mercer, 70 percent of large companies and 53 percent of small organizations plan to provide better employee benefits packages.² Meanwhile, 7 percent of top organizations are planning significant enhancements in their benefits packages.
Are Benefits as Important as Compensation?
Benefits are essential for achieving long-term financial goals and mitigating the economic impact of emergencies. Good health insurance keeps you healthy and out of debt!
Benefits can also help you pursue a better work-life balance and a healthier lifestyle through having enough paid time off, paid holidays, and ample sick leave. Other benefits even help you prepare for the future, like retirement plans and life insurance.
Ultimately, benefits cost the employer money, so it’s best to consider your benefits and other perks and evaluate them as part of your holistic compensation package.
Evaluating Benefits: Questions to Ask to Know What’s Enough
You may be wondering if your compensation and benefits are enough. If this is the case, here are four questions that can help you evaluate what is being offered to you:
1. What are my priorities?
These are the non-negotiable things you need to prepare for your next job application. People often look for work that offers health insurance, and there are good reasons for it. Sickness and injuries can cost you a considerable amount of money, and preventative healthcare can keep you from getting ill in the first place.
2. How does the package compare to those offered by other companies?
Evaluate your options if you have multiple job offers. Examine which employer is offering the best compensation package. Initially, compare it with your current or previous employer and see if there has been an improvement.
Remember to weigh your options and not just focus on the salary compensation. The benefits should have their contribution as well.
3. What will my future look like with this package?
One of the things employees often overlook is the future. Are there any retirement plans? Are there life insurance benefits, and is it competitive? Is there any health insurance that can cover you or your family?
While these things may be in the distant future, preparing for what could happen is best. If your employers offer it, consider these benefits to ensure that you and your family are ready for an unexpected event and are prepared to achieve your long-term goals.
4. What are the eligibility requirements for each benefit?
Each company offers different kinds of benefits programs, and some may have eligibility requirements. It’s best to know these prerequisites so that you can easily access them. For instance, some benefits are only accessible to tenured employees. During your interview, ask detailed questions about eligibility for the promised benefits.
Making the Right Decisions: Negotiating Benefits
Aside from Salary negotiations, there is another discussion you need to address.
1. Should you negotiate your benefits?
Not every employer can negotiate benefits, but many are. Typically, it doesn’t hurt to ask.
2. What Benefits might be negotiable?
Even though an employer is open to negotiating, some items, such as 401(k)s and insurance plans, usually can’t be negotiated. Here are some benefits that you may be able to negotiate:
- Job titles
- Paid time off (PTO)
- Sick leaves
- Parental leaves
- Student loan repayment
- Tuition reimbursements
- Travel allowances
- Relocation assistance
- Stock options
3. When do you negotiate the benefits?
The best time to negotiate benefits is when you receive a written job offer confirmation. Take the time to acknowledge and review the job offer and other documents sent to you before deciding whether you want to negotiate and what you’d like to see in your benefit package.
4. How do you negotiate your benefits?
Once you have decided to negotiate your offer, here are three things to consider when communicating with the employer.
Be transparent and specific about why you want to negotiate
Explaining why you want to negotiate can help the employer see your perspective. If there’s a particular benefit they don’t offer, explain why you need it and how it can positively affect your work. This is because employers want to see their members thrive and be satisfied, as it can help them achieve the business results they want.
Show the employer your value
During the negotiation, communicate your worth to the employer and remind them why they should hire you. Emphasize your successes in your work history and explain to them how working with you can help boost team results. Tell them how you aim to aid the organization with your skills and experience and that your benefits should match the efforts you are about to provide them.
Helping employers see the advantages of working with you can make them more receptive to adjusting to your needs.
Ask for the final offer in writing
Remember that you will need a revised job offer once you and the employer agree to change things in your benefits package.
Take the time to review the new document they sent you to make sure everything you agreed on is included. Send them a signed copy of the document and keep a copy for your records to address any potential misunderstandings in the future.
PEAK PERFORMERS CAN HELP YOU FIND YOUR NEXT BEST OPPORTUNITY
Here are Peak Performers, we value our employees. We provide health insurance, dental benefits, and vision insurance after 60 days. We also offer a 403(b)-retirement savings program and an Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
Get in touch with us today to learn more about how we can help you find better opportunities. If you are outside of Austin, you can also reach us here.
References
1 Parker, Kim and Horowitz, Juliana. “Majority of Workers Who Quit a Job in 2021 Cite Low Pay, No Opportunities for Advancement, Feeling Disrespected.” Pew Research Center, 9 Mar. 2022, www.pewresearch.org/majority-of-workers-who-quit-a-job-in-2021-cite-low-pay-no-opportunities-for-advancement-feeling-disrespected.
2 “Health & Benefit Strategies for 2023.” Mercer, 2023, www.mercer.com/2022-health-benefit-strategies-for-2023-survey-report.
