Driving Corporate Performance with Employee Benefits
In today's economy, companies of all sizes are facing a number
of challenges that require urgent action. Health care costs are
rising, pension obligations are growing and top talent is
becoming increasingly difficult to recruit in the rebounding job
market. Among the most significant business trends, competitive
pressure on American workers is increasing at a rapid pace as
offshore business process outsourcing (BPO) becomes more
effective in performing traditional American jobs at much lower
costs. The fundamental challenge for human resources managers is
to re-invent employee benefit programs to deliver higher
performance at a lower cost.
The process of re-inventing employee benefit programs begins by
developing a portfolio of employee benefits that maximizes total
economic value for employees, while minimizing employer
investment. In other words, there are a number of very
attractive and financially rewarding benefits that employers
could provide their employees. One of the most effective, yet
highly underutilized, benefits is the employee discount program.
Few employers offer their employees an employee discount
program, even though it's economic value to employees is very
significant, while it's cost is very low. These programs are
either developed and maintained by internal human resources
staff, or outsourced to managed employee discount programs (such
as http://www.EmployeeHelper.com). Based on case studies
conducted by EmployeeHelper.com, companies that have deployed
managed employee discount programs with a wide variety of
negotiated discounts, the net effect for employees can be equal
to a compensation increase of over 5%.
Considering the fact that employee discount programs are
basically free for employees and their employees, the use of
this program is expected to grow significantly across the
marketplace. In an economy where competitive advantage is
becoming increasingly tied to human capital, enhancements to
employee benefits represent a growth opportunity for all
business.