Insurance agencies that stress “soft” benefits have the upper hand in recruiting workers in today’s competitive job market.
Employees are increasingly seeking out “soft” benefits in addition to traditional “hard” benefits from their employers. While employees still greatly value salaries, commissions, bonuses and even stock options, they also like time off, telecommuting and training.
Experts agree that including soft benefits in compensation packages can have a huge impact on employee satisfaction when they are tailored to meet the desires of the agency workforce. Yet too many agencies either don’t extend soft benefits or, if they do, they undersell them when recruiting.
Satisfaction comes with the total compensation package, not just salary, according to Sharon Emek, president and CEO of Work at Home Vintage Experts (WAHVE), a national staffing firm that places “vintage” insurance professionals who work from home for agencies and brokerages.
The best compensation packages are based on a variety of elements, Emek said. “Salary is crucial and employees obviously should be paid for the job they do. But I also think it’s about the benefits that you supply.”
Those benefits can be hard benefits such as a solid 401(k) with a good company match. Or they can be soft benefits such as workplace flexibility. Remote working, or telecommuting, has become so important in recent years that people will give up a hard benefit for the flexibility in work-life balance, according to the WAHVE executive.
“If they can work from home two days a week and be with their family and children that is totally worth (not getting) an increase in their salary if they can improve the quality of their life,” Emek said.
The value of soft benefits might even surpass the value of those provided by more traditional hard benefits to some employees.
Salary Survey
Insurance Journal’s 2017 Agency Salary Survey confirms that soft benefits and other employee incentives do make a difference in employee satisfaction.
Satisfaction scores are higher in every category when agencies offer benefits, whether they are hard benefits like profit sharing, group health or 401(k) plans, or softer benefits such as educational courses, club memberships or trips.
Employees will always value salary but they also want to be rewarded for their hard work in other creative ways, Newgard said.
Soft benefits can be anything that may not cost an employer much financially but can make a positive difference for employees. The soft benefits offered are often unique to each organization but they range from unlimited vacation days to flex time, remote working to four-day work weeks, cellphone reimbursement to exercise facilities on site, or redesigned workspaces for an open and healthier environment. They can even include opportunities for charitable work. Free food or coffee in the breakroom works as well.
Soft benefits are about creating a working environment that is pleasant and comfortable for employees, said John H. Clark Jr., senior vice president, benefits practice leader for Assurex Global. The value of providing such benefits in today’s independent agency cannot be overlooked, he said.
“It’s huge and especially important with the millennial generation,” Clark said.