A key challenge facing many businesses is how to attract and recruit highly skilled workers. Business owners face this challenge even during economic downturns. In fact, the United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported in its December 13, 2011 “Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey” that there were approximately 3.3 million job openings at the end of October.

More About Employee Benefits and Rewards Programs

One search through major job boards like Career Builder, Indeed and Monster and it’s clear that there are available jobs. Finding the right talent to fill these open jobs is what business owners, their management teams and human resource professionals continue to try to figure out. Another challenge employers face is how to keep top talent, once hired, from walking out the door. Employee benefits and rewards programs that meet the demands and wants of the workforce can help employers like you to attract quality job candidates. These programs can also help you to retain your best workers.

Types of employee benefits and rewards programs are:

• Mentoring Programs – Pairing new or less seasoned employees up with more seasoned employees allows workers to expand their learning and gain firsthand insight into what it takes to reach the next level in their career. If you open mentoring programs to employees with good performance history and encourage mentors to meet regularly with mentees, you can improve employee engagement, commitment and morale.
• Job Sharing Programs – These programs allow employees to acquire new work abilities without having to exit the firm and get hired at another company. Workers can also learn about internal job opportunities and gain skills that can help them get promoted when they participate in job sharing programs.
• Employee Assistance Programs – Through Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) members of your workforce can receive free counseling, guidance and advice around personal related legal (e.g. divorce) issues. These programs can cut down on the amount of time employees are away from work handling personal business.
• Fitness Centers and Programs – An onsite gym or fitness center helps employees to enjoy more work-life balance. Employees can exercise during their lunch break; they can also exercise before or after work. Fitness centers and programs also encourage healthy lifestyles, a factor causing employees to take fewer medical leave and personal days. Your company might also secure lower health insurance premiums if you offer employees an onsite fitness center and/or fitness program.
• Daycare Centers – As with fitness centers, onsite daycare centers provide employees with opportunities to improve their work-life balance. Workers, including top executives, with young children may especially appreciate this benefit.

Employee benefits and rewards programs make it easier for employees to create work-life balance. Some of these programs are non-monetary, while others require you to set aside a certain portion of your business profits to maintain. However, when you consider what it cost (e.g. resume sourcing, recruiting, training) to hire and train new employees, the expense may be worth it.

Rhonda Campbell, an East Coast journalist, is the owner of Off The Shelf radio and publisher of Long Walk Up and Love Pour Over Me.