Building an employee benefits program

In today's dynamic job market, attracting and retaining top talent requires more than just a competitive salary. Not convinced? What if we told you that the quality of benefits packages can be a deciding factor for the vast majority of employees considering job offers?

We surveyed over 300 employees across eight industries in 2024, and 91 percent told us that benefits were important or very important in their decision to accept a new job. Just over 21 percent of employees would even take a pay cut for a job with better benefits, and about 47 percent said they would consider it. 

Let that sink in–more than one in five of your employees would jump ship if they got an offer with benefits that better met their needs, even if it meant getting paid less.

A thoughtfully designed employee benefits program is essential in order to recruit and motivate your team, especially when our research also found that only 49 percent of employees are satisfied with their current benefits offering. 

This blog will walk you through the key steps to building an effective benefits program. With key insights from ZayZoon’s own Senior VP of People and Culture, Agata Zasada, we’ll go over how to offer benefits that align with your company's values and meet the diverse needs of your employees.

1. Determine high-impact employee benefits and perks

When designing an employee benefits program, focus on impact. Agata Zasada, ZayZoon’s Senior VP of People and Culture, highlights that a successful program should meet the needs of at least 80 percent of your workforce. 

This, of course, starts by understanding the needs of your employees through surveys or other means of feedback. Understanding what employees value is crucial. Zasada advocates for direct conversations with employees to gather insights that surveys might miss. This approach helps design benefits that genuinely address employees' needs.

A high degree of relevance ensures that benefits contribute meaningfully to employees' well-being, making them feel heard and valued. The best benefits even lead to greater engagement and retention, positively impacting your business’s bottom line. 

For example, Country Fair, a convenience store chain with over 1000 employees across its 70 locations, identified financial stress as a significant challenge for their workforce. To help decrease employees’ financial stress, Country Fair implemented ZayZoon’s earned wage access (EWA) for their workforce. By alleviating the burden of emergency expenses between paychecks and providing on-demand pay for their employees, Country Fair saw a 22 percent reduction in employee turnover. 

Don’t offer benefits just to offer them–identify the benefits that would significantly impact your workforce and bottom line. 

2. Look for simple, low-lift employee benefits 

Zasada stresses that the best benefits require minimal internal administration and are easy for employees to use independently. “Benefits are quite a personal thing,” says Zasada. “To keep people engaged, we want them to like what they’re getting … but also be easy to use.”

For example, ZayZoon’s earned wage access solution is self-serve, allowing employees to access their earned wages before payday without assistance from their employers. This approach respects employees' autonomy and privacy, empowers them to get paid promptly, all while reducing the administrative burden employers may experience when managing pay advances.

In addition to earned wage access, explore other self-service benefits such as flexible spending accounts, wellness and engagement programs, and educational stipends. Each of these options also provides employees the freedom to choose what best meets their individual needs without cumbersome admin work.

Implementing technology plays a crucial role in finding low-lift employee benefits. Leverage digital platforms and apps to create a seamless experience, ensuring that employees have easy access to their benefits anytime and anywhere.

3. Align benefits with company values

Aligning benefits with company culture strengthens their impact. At ZayZoon, trust is a core value, as discussed by CEO Darcy Tuer. Zasada found that 60-70% of employees identified trust as ZayZoon’s most important company value. 

This insight influenced the design of benefits like our flexible time off policy and no-meeting Wednesdays, empowering employees to manage their schedules and focus on impactful work their own way.

“We need to trust that employees want to do good work, have an impact, and grow,” says Zasada. Treating employees as capable adults and providing them with the tools to succeed fosters a culture of empowerment and mutual respect.

4. Focus on benefits that can be easily adopted and measured 

Balancing performance and well-being is key. Zasada describes the balance between a happy culture and high performance as essential for sustained success. “A really happy culture in an underperforming business is a charity; an unhappy culture in a high-performing business is a dictatorship. When you balance those two, performance and happiness evolve together,” she explains.

However, in order to track the impact that employee benefits may have on company performance, the benefits need to be easily adopted by employees and easily measurable by employers. Any HR professional knows that benefit adoption can be a thorn in your side because many employees don’t understand how to use the benefits (or even know they exist). 

Clear communication is essential to ensure employees understand and use their benefits. The best benefits consider the pain-point of adoption and provide straightforward, accessible information that empowers employees and employers. For example, ZayZoon’s employer connect feature is a one-stop shop that helps employers unlock insights like utilization metrics and easily drives adoption by arming employers with promotional materials.

5. Regularly review and adapt benefits to evolve with employees’ needs 

Employee needs and industry trends change over time. Regularly reviewing your benefits program ensures it remains relevant and competitive. Solicit ongoing feedback from employees to identify areas for improvement and explore new benefits that align with their evolving needs.

Be sure to determine some metrics to track employee engagement. Being able to connect your benefits offering to levels of engagement in the workplace helps make the financial case for more benefits that impact motivation and retention.

Wondering which benefits and perks are the most in-demand right now? Check out our report on top voluntary benefits that make a difference for employees, ranging from hybrid/remote flexibility to pet insurance. 

Unlock employee engagement and drive team success

Building an effective employee benefits program is about more than offering perks–it’s about unlocking employee engagement and driving team success. By focusing on high-impact benefits that are easy to use and aligned with your company culture, companies can create a workplace where employees thrive and performance flourishes.

Ready to explore a no-cost financial wellness benefit that will make a difference for your employees? Book a demo to chat with a representative from our team about ZayZoon.