Employee Support and Job Benefits are key to attracting employees

27 Sep How to Attract Employees in the Current Hiring Crunch

Posted at 13:42h in Counseling, EAP by Ryan Dame

The global pandemic forced many businesses to shut their doors; thus, causing many employees to lose their jobs.

But the lockdowns are over and businesses are opening up again, but where has the workforce gone? Why is it so difficult to find adequate help?

Workers have come to realize that they want and need better employee support and job benefits from their employers.

In a world where employees are negotiating for higher rates and better benefits, here’s a surefire way to attract employees in the current hiring crunch.

Offer an Employee Assistance Program or EAP.

What is an Employee Assistance Program (EAP)?

An employee assistance program (EAP) is a benefit program that offers employees support with personal problems or work-related problems that may impact their job performance, health, mental and emotional well-being.

Simply put, an EAP offers employees professional and confidential assistance to help them with their personal, family, and work issues. Most often, these services come as a job benefit with little to no charge to the employee.

Care Plus Solutions’ high-touch EAPs yield improvements in employee engagement and productivity, reductions in absenteeism and presenteeism, and cost savings for our client companies. This is confirmed by the results that are measured with the industry standard, evidence-based outcome tools we employ.

Survey says…

A new survey by Salesforce showed that 53.3 percent of small and medium-sized businesses said staffing issues have been a drag on revenues.

We know that it’s expensive to have a high turnover rate. It’s been proven that companies that offer an EAP and show that employee support is high on their priority list have fewer turnovers, thus saving the company money.

At Care Plus Solutions, our award-winning Employee Assistance Programs are comprehensive, yet flexible enough for each employer’s specific needs.

What Kind of Benefits Are Offered?

Here are just three of the main types of benefits offered through our EAP.

Short-Term Counseling
One of the most significant job benefits of an employee assistance program is having readily available, confidential support from qualified professionals for personal, family, and work-related issues. Counseling services can include assessments, remote short-term help, or referrals.

Financial Concerns
Several issues can cause stress or mental strain. Finances are often one of the top three stressors for employees. The global pandemic certainly didn’t help people’s anxiety regarding finances.

EAPs provide financial experts to give employees support with complicated issues such as budgeting, controlling debt, teaching children to manage money, investing for college, and preparing for retirement.

Legal Assistance
This benefit provides employees and their eligible family members with no-cost legal advice for a wide variety of legal issues. After a phone consultation, if it is determined that the employee needs to hire a lawyer, the EAP will be able to recommend a qualified attorney specializing in the needed area.

Additional job benefits to show employee support

In addition to the EAP, other job benefits that can give you an edge in finding and hiring the right candidates are:

Childcare benefits
Financial planning resources
Fitness or healthy lifestyle incentives
Flexible and remote working options
Health insurance (including dental and vision)
Home office improvement incentives for remote workers
Identity theft protection
Life insurance
Long-term disability
Paid time off (PTO) such as sick days and vacation days
Professional development
Retirement benefits or accounts
Short-term disability
Sign-on bonuses
Student loan repayment benefits

Don’t worry! These are just options to show employee support. You can pick and choose what works best for your company’s culture. Nevertheless, keep in mind that employees that receive a competitive rate of pay with good benefits will be happier. Less-stressed employees tend to work harder and be more productive.

In the end, it’s worth it to your company to provide employee support and excellent job benefits.