For industries all over Canada, the market is only getting more competitive. COVID-19 has presented a slew of new difficulties and hurdles for Canadian businesses. Companies must now pull out the stops in order to distinguish themselves from their competition in several aspects, most notably with their employee benefits. Because the focus on building a productive, positive, and prosperous workforce is crucial for a company’s continued growth, your business ought to seek to provide your employees with modern and progressive employee benefits that react with the changing times.

A company’s employee benefits plan is a huge deciding factor for retaining and attracting talent, and BP Consulting knows it best. We work hard to help our clients create an employee benefits plan that works perfectly for their brand and workforce. As Canada’s leading paperless benefits and pensions firm, we want to share our list of 3 important components you need to include in your employee benefits plan to make it a truly progressive one. 

A Progressive Plan

Let’s begin by first discussing what we mean by a “progressive” employee benefits plan. There are a number of mandatory benefits that Canadian companies need to provide their employees- such as healthcare and dental plans. These much-seen, mandatory benefits are indispensable perks for many employees, yet the new normal after the pandemic sees the dynamics of employee benefits shifting to consider benefit plans that also let employees perform at their best and live to the fullest while observing the restrictions of COVID-19. Here is our list of 3 important parts to a progressive benefits plan:

The 3 Important Components

1. A Goal Of Wellness

This refers to physical and personal wellness. Now, more than ever, the strain of having to support a career along with your own personal goals and future plans and maintaining personal relationships is pressing hard on many employees. Having a set of benefits that increases an employee’s ability to maintain a good balance of mental and physical health is worth its weight in gold these days. Target benefits that can provide an avenue for your team to get in shape and stay sharp, such as hosting virtual fitness initiatives, or providing mental health resources. A workforce with a good wellness program tends to up the ante in the office, and produce better results while increasing your rate of employee retention.

2. The Monetary Mission

‍Apart from keeping a good head on their shoulders, the pandemic has placed a premium on wealth-building. These days, it is much harder for some employees to save their money. Giving them the resources they need to grow their finances during this hard time will give employees the peace of mind they need to trust in your company’s mission, direction, and purpose. Consider providing employees with benefits that help them build their wealth, such as financial literacy and money management programs. Some examples of this are online seminars with wealth experts, or distributing wealth-building resources to the team. You can also consider implementing professional recognitions, gifts, and rewards to show your employees how much you appreciate the effort they take to work well during this pandemic.

3. Outside The Box Perks

If you really want the right to slap a “progressive” label on your employee benefits plan, one needs to think outside the box for benefits that are increasingly popular in the professional landscape. Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, working from home was not common for the majority of people, but with the mandatory Stay At Home Order at the beginning of the pandemic, companies had to adapt to keep their company running and allow employees to work from home. Flexi-times are also now a popular benefit among many employees, as it gives them more control over their day-to-day schedule and allows them to take more time to focus on important things outside of work.

Conclusion

A company’s employee benefits is a good indicator of how much a company prioritizes the growth and satisfaction of its workforce. Hence, it can be said that companies that aren’t adapting to the global pandemic by way of their benefits packages aren’t doing a good job of watching out for their employees or business. Use our list of 3 important parts of a progressive employee benefits plan to inform how you create your own, and watch as your business’ productivity and employee satisfaction thrives, despite the current pandemic.

Progressive has been one of BP Consulting’s definitive characteristics (we are the first PAPERLESS benefits and pensions firm in Canada after all), and it is a characteristic we want to provide for all our client’s benefit companies in Canada. For companies interested in adapting with the times and creating a more progressive employee benefits plan for their team, get in touch with our expert consultants at BP Consulting.