10+ Affordable Employee Benefits for Small Businesses

Recruiting battles often leave small organizations feeling like they showed up to a sword fight with only a pillow to swing. And since hiring top talent can make or break a small organization’s ability to succeed, winning the recruiting battle is vital. One of the largest factors candidates consider when accepting a job offer is total compensation, of which employee benefits should be a large part.

In this guide, we’ll not only explore effective employee benefits for small businesses but also the pros of utilizing Dimensions of Wellness. These factors cover areas such as physical, emotional, financial and community health, and important pieces to the puzzle when trying to ensure true satisfaction—in both life and the workplace.

Never heard of the Dimensions before? Well, we’re all about learning something new. Below are some ideas for small business employee benefits to help you create valuable benefits packages that maintain employee satisfaction across the board.

3 Ways to Support Social and Emotional Health

A small business that provides health benefits, in any form, helps employees stay socially and emotionally well. They are the companies that help them maintain relationships and feel supported and cared for.

And, because they have a smaller group to support, small businesses have a unique ability to provide social and emotional health benefits. Let’s take a look at how you can put these into action.

Create a Healthy Company Culture

Having a supportive and defined company culture and environment is a huge selling point—especially for employees who are looking to leave a toxic situation. Employee stress can often escalate within such an environment, and understanding what might trigger your employees is fundamental to a positive outlook in the office.

The first step is for small companies to define their ideal culture, and then to implement and maintain it (which is easier with a smaller workforce).

Think about the ways you can easily implement shared values and inclusivity – and how to make it feel real. Employees want to feel like they’re more than just a cog in a corporate machine, and the perks you offer should reflect this.

Foster Great Relationships

You’ve likely heard the idiom: “Employees quit bosses, not jobs.”

Well, many studies prove that it’s true. In fact, Sewells found that bad bosses (or supervisors) are the Number 1 reason why employees tend to quit their job – which accounts for 75% of people.

However, it’s not just higher-ups that can be the problem. Employees often leave jobs because they don’t have positive relationships with co-workers.

In this context, small companies have the power to encourage close, supportive relationships among all employees. Take time to invest in team-building exercises, and maintain those personal and intentional connections to those who work under you.

Offer Flexibility

Part of social and emotional health is the ability to maintain meaningful relationships outside of the office.

While employees of larger companies may be required to work heavy hours on a regular basis, smaller companies can set themselves apart by sticking to fewer hours and a more flexible schedule.

Flexibility in taking time off, work hours, and location is a valuable (and essentially free) small business employee benefit that companies can invest in to further trust and satisfaction.

4 Benefits That Support Financial Health

A recent study by Capital One found that 77% of Americans are stressed about finances, with 42% saying this affects their ability to concentrate at work. While it’s definitely inappropriate to require them to discuss finances with you, a small business can provide employee benefits that help with finances.

Consider Offering 401(k)

In Capital One’s study, they found that 68% of people worry about having enough money to retire on. With this in mind, whether you just give employees the option or match their input, providing a 401(k) is a great asset to include in a small business benefits package.

It helps all employees (founders and CEOs, too) prepare for retirement. Plus, in the U.S., small businesses with under 100 employees who provide a 401(k) will receive a tax benefit.

Provide Financial Education Resources

One of our favorite financial benefits that we’ve had since being a small business is our Financial Peace University (FPU) benefit. The FPU class teaches employees how to get out of debt and build wealth. Plus, when employees complete the class, they receive a $100 cash bonus.

We’re all about empowering and educating our employees throughout their journey with us. This, in turn, creates a happier, more confident environment for people to thrive in.

Connect Employees With Financial Advisors

If you decide to provide a 401(k), it’s a good idea to check with the investment firm you pay to administer those accounts. They likely have financial advisors on-hand, and those financial advisors should be willing to consult with employees.

At BambooHR, we also bring our financial advisors in a couple of times a year for ‘lunch and learns’ with employees. Tackling finances can be quite daunting for a lot of people, so it’s great to create a relaxed environment where they can ask questions and gain confidence.

In addition, personal consultations on how to manage finances with experts can help employees in their own lives. This can further incentivise a long-term commitment with your company.

Explore Tax-Free Benefits

As a small business, there are some tax benefits you can offer your employees. For example, a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) allows your employees to have more power in the way they spend their paychecks. With an FSA, they can withhold money from their pay, which can help cover a variety of expenses, all tax-free.

A Health Savings Account (HSA) works in a similar way – though employees must use their tax-free savings on medical expenses – such as prescriptions.

2 Popular Ways to Support Physical Health

Health plans are expensive, and most small businesses (under 50 employees in the U.S.) don’t have to provide them to employees. However, they can provide:

Look for Healthcare Reimbursement Plans and Accounts

In the U.S., there are specific rules for these accounts, but small businesses that aren’t mandated to provide health insurance can reimburse for healthcare expenses.

This can be an especially attractive small business health benefit for employees who are covered by a partner or parent’s plan. It can also soften the blow of having to pay out-of-pocket for employees who aren’t.

Give a Gym Reimbursement

Small businesses can offer to reimburse employees up to a certain amount for their gym fees. Helpfully, this can be as affordable as you need it to be. When looking at building a benefit plan for your small business, this can be a worthwhile investment.

In fact, studies have found that employees who get regular exercise are more productive, especially during work hours.

2 Ways to Support Community Health

Small businesses can rally support from the community by (unsurprisingly) giving support back to the community. We just love the idea of small business employee benefits benefitting more than just the internal company.

Also, giving back is something Millennials (aka the generation that will likely make up a majority of your workforce) care deeply about—more than any other generation, studies have found.

However, with Generation Z now jumping head-first into full-time work, everything’s slowly changing. So, it might be a good idea to get to grips with your employees personally and how they like to give back.

Here’s how to get your workforce – and not just the 90s babies – engaged in the community.

Lead Team Volunteering

Providing services and support together is a great team-building activity. There are plenty of options from walking dogs to blood drives and even litter picking.

Once a year, our team fundraises together and then works as a team with Feed My Starving Children to pack meals to send to hungry children throughout the world. The options are endless!

Provide a Paid Day of Service

Some small businesses can’t afford to build large portions of time out of the office into their benefits packages.

So, to meet in the middle, giving employees a paid day off once per year for volunteering is also a great way to encourage flexibility. This allows each employee to give back to a cause that’s meaningful to them.

2 Cost-Effective Ways to Support Career Health

Everyone has goals and ambitions. Small businesses can provide opportunities for people to reach their goals by crafting personalized employee benefits. Of course, it’s difficult to personalize perks to every one of your employees, especially when it comes to looking towards the future.

With this in mind, you may want to conduct some market research beforehand to see what benefits other companies are offering. In the meantime, here are some effective career benefits you can integrate into your employee packages.

Be Intentional About Succession Planning

Growing small businesses can offer talented employees growth opportunities that fit the organization’s developing needs. For example, if an office manager wants to develop further, they might grow into the role of HR or marketing manager as those needs increase.

What small businesses can uniquely offer is the ability to work closely with all employees to figure out what they want to achieve. From there, you can create a succession plan and dedicate time to help them achieve their goals internally.

Advertising goals and succession planning in your benefits package is an attractive benefit for those who are looking to work for your small business – and for those who already do!

Provide Regular Training and Development

Even small businesses that aren’t planning to expand can offer employees training and development they won’t be able to get at a larger organization. Often, a small workforce means greater exposure to a variety of tasks, allowing employees to develop a more holistic skillset.

For instance, a small business might hire an inexperienced web developer to create and maintain its website and invest time and training in them personally to see them succeed. While at a larger organization, they might be stuck fixing coding errors.

While that developer may move on eventually, the experience they gained by single-handedly creating and maintaining a website is a benefit they will always thank you for.

In this sense, a good company reputation among current, former and future employees is an incredibly valuable benefit for the business as a whole.