Which Benefits Do Others Offer?

April 13, 2006

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If you want to offer benefits in order to compete with other employers in your area for the best employees, you need to know what you're up against. Find out what other employers are offering in the way of benefits packages.

How do you find this information? Use your networking contacts — do an informal survey. Call other businesses and explain that you're trying to get a feel for which benefits to offer and ask them about their benefits packages. Ask your friends and relatives who are employed locally about their benefits. You should be able to get a fair amount of information this way.

When you do your survey, ask which benefits are most popular and get the most usage. This can give you a good idea of which benefits your employees will value most.

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When you're doing your survey, ask for the names of the particular insurance companies and agents that provide the benefits. Ask the people you're surveying if they recommend those agents and companies. This will give you a head start on whom to contact once you've made some initial decisions about what to offer.

In doing your research, don't target other small businesses only. Remember — when it comes to attracting good employees, you have to compete with all other local employers, regardless of size. Call some of the larger employers in the area, too. Call the human resources or personnel department, explain that you're doing some research about local benefits, and ask them to send you some information about their benefits package. Generally, they will try to help you out.