Hi! I’m Stephanie Breedlove, Co-Founder of Care.com HomePay, Author and Angel Investor.
I absolutely adore taking an idea and giving it life in the form a business, then leading it to its full potential. Nothing is more fun. (Seriously!) I’d love for every woman who wants to start her own business to say the same thing, so here I am, mentoring millennial entrepreneurs. When I’m not working, I like to recharge and head outdoors to hike, bike, or stand up paddle board!
Is that list of business news and trending articles you’ve tagged still unread? I get it. Allow me to help. Take a couple minutes to read my summary of articles serving the most pertinent, actionable business topics. Or, take 10 minutes to read the full article, and put another brick on the foundation of your growing career.
Who it’s for:
All levels of an organization. It takes an entire organization to bring about change.
Why it’s important:
A company’s ability to scale, grow profitability and create sustained long-term value is vital to economic growth. The more companies that can do this successfully, the better. Research is confirming over and over again that your people may just be the key to maximizing business potential. This article shines a spotlight on the fact that benefits to attract and retain talent aren’t niceties, they are necessities to growing the bottom line. In short, they are smart business. This was my experience, and I am a true believer!
The number one concern of women-led businesses over $1 million in annual revenue is talent recruitment and retention, according to the recent EY WPO Business Outlook. More than 37% of companies said that attracting and retaining talent was a top challenge.
The solution may be counterintuitive, but companies that provide better employee benefits have a better bottom line. When you do not need to replace as many workers, hire recruiters, and train people regularly, you improve profitability.
Many founders already know the importance, and the report shares that female led million-dollar-plus businesses are likely to offer:
- 79% bonuses
- 75% health insurance
- 61% maternity leave
- 60% flex time
- 55% 401k
A perfect example of how providing better benefits pays off is LetterLogic. Sherry Stewart Deutschmann was a vice president of sales for a patient billing company, and she spent most of her time apologizing to customers. Deutschmann suggested that to improve service delivery, they needed to improve employee morale. When she was ignored, she started LetterLogic.
Deutschmann paid fairly. LetterLogic provided great benefits: 100% of health insurance, including dental. The company also provided 10% of profits to employees, split evenly regardless of title or tenure.
The strategy worked. For 11 years straight, LetterLogic was on the Inc. 5000.
The data strongly support the idea that organizations that focus on the engagement of their employees deliver stronger performance. “Think about your brand as an employer as critically and strategically as you think about your brand to your customers,” says Lisa Schiffman, EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women Global Lead. “By Being thoughtful about this, you can align benefits and rewards to the population of people you’re trying to attract and retain.”
According to Glassdoor, it’s also valuable to match benefits to the desires of different generations. If you’re workforce is largely Baby Boomers, or Millennials, or Gen Xers, here’s some insight for formulating the right benefits package:
- Baby Boomers value salary level, health insurance, and a retirement plan.
- Millennials value benefits choices, paid time off, ability to work remotely, control over their schedules, and flexibility.
- Gen Xers value salary level, 401k with matching benefits, job security, advancement within the company, and work-life balance.
Top Take-Away: The world would be a better place if all companies valued employees like Deutschmann and other women-led companies do. Plus, valuing employees boosts the bottom line. How can you improve your business by increasing the value you place on talent?
More How Tos, plus proof of ROI from strong benefits:
The Problem with Measuring the ROI of Benefits
7 Ways Employee Retention Benefits Your Company
Which Benefits Have the Best Effect on Employee Retention and Recruiting?