Let\u2019s say you have 250 employees and your annual turnover rate is 15%. That means about 38 people are leaving each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Based on data from the 2024 Work Institute Retention Report<\/a>, the average cost to replace just one employee is $18,000 (for recruiting, onboarding, lost productivity, and training). Now multiply that by 38 people, and you\u2019re looking at almost $700,000 per year walking out the door in turnover-related costs alone. Keep in mind the $18K figure is an average, and that turnover costs rise dramatically for senior roles, and drop slightly for entry-level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But, what could you do with an extra $700,000 each year? Invest in professional development programs<\/a>, give raises or anniversary bonuses<\/a>, upgrade software and systems, but instead, it\u2019s going to replace people you could\u2019ve retained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, how can a company engage employees? How can we decrease our turnover rate<\/a>? If these perks aim to support and empower employees and make them happy, then we must be honest about the programs we\u2019ve developed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes, all it takes is a minor communication update, and other times it takes an overhaul to bring a perk program into modern times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Either way, below are seven ideas to get employees engaged and increase your employee perk participation rates:<\/p>\n\n\n\n When battling low utilization rates for your perks, it’s best to go straight to the source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking at the most recent eNPS surveys or creating a perks-specific survey<\/a> to send to your team will surface your employees’ thoughts, needs, and preferences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Companies like HubSpot, Adobe, and Salesforce are known to leverage eNPS surveys<\/a> to understand the needs of their employees of their individual employees, and distill them into trends to enhance their perk and benefits experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you’re putting a survey together, consider asking questions like the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Depending on your company culture, you may want to finesse these questions a bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don’t be surprised if you need to overhaul your existing perks program since offering perks everyone wants is more difficult than ever. Employees’ expectations for perk offerings have increased, as have the variations and preferences of employees’ wants and needs. Everyone is different, and this is perfectly illustrated by the five generations currently at work today, who are also at different life stages, and live in different locations (some remote, some in satellite offices). If you have to make some major changes, that’s okay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Company culture and rituals aren\u2019t the only things that change as a company grows in size and age. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The perks a company offers its employees when it is new and small vary dramatically from those it provides at each stage of the scale-up process. As organization’s size in its early days allows an intimacy that isn\u2019t possible when the number of employees increases from the hundreds to thousands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s why HR professionals and the business to complete an audit of all perks periodically. Getting lost in the \u201cit\u2019s what we\u2019ve always done\u201d cycle, but being honest and objective will pay off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As part of the audit, HR should review whether a perk is outdated for one or both of the following reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Consider whether each one of these perks is still adding value to the lives of your employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let’s looks at an example in practice, using a somewhat common employee perk and ritual – Bagel Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bagel Friday can be a fantastic initiative that employees love, and one that helps tell your company story. Maybe your founders met over bagels the first time they met. But if nobody is eating them, and people are taking stale bagels home to their families, then it\u2019s worth it for your company to revisit them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, doing the math can also help put the perk into perspective, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It doesn\u2019t seem like a significant investment initially, but if you do the math, you can see just how much the organization is investing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 200 employees with 52 weeks a year at $25\/18 bagels with cream cheese<\/p>\n\n\n\n That comes out to $278\/week or $14,450 a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keep in mind this number does not account for your team’s increased growth. It also doesn\u2019t acknowledge the effort it takes for an HR team member to increase or adjust the order regularly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How many \u201cBagel Fridays\u201d do you have floating around your organization that need to be revisited?<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to MetLife\u2019s 2023 U.S. Employee Benefit Trends Study<\/a>, 76% of workers who understand their benefits are happy, and 82% say understanding how to use their benefits gives them a greater sense of overall stability. However, in contrast, only 47% and 52%, respectively, of those who don’t understand their benefits report similar feelings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Employees are aware that there is likely more being offered to them than they realize. Sometimes, all you need to do to increase employee participation rates is communicate your perks and benefits<\/a> to your employees. Confusion around what\u2019s available and when can be a big reason for not seeing the expected turnout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Put on your marketing hat and try to identify ways that could help you get the word out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Depending on the size of your team, locations (distributed vs. all in-house), and the complexity of your program, your efforts may change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Below, we\u2019ve compiled a few ways you may want to communicate your company\u2019s benefits to increase adoption:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whatever you do, make sure they\u2019re written out in one place for all to see. Strong communication lays the foundation for trust and keeps things running seamlessly, long before any sparks have a chance to fly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it: Our lives are already mostly online. I have three email addresses, five social media accounts, six software subscriptions that I pay for regularly, and upwards of ten bank accounts, each with a unique login.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While we\u2019ve come to expect this experience as consumers, that doesn\u2019t mean we want it for our lives as employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
1. Survey your employees.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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2. Remove or decrease outdated and under-utilized offerings.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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3. Communicate your current offerings better or differently<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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4. Decrease the number of systems employees need to use to take advantage of perks.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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