In our previous blog we gave you an introduction to Infrastructure and we’re back again to get into the details of benefits and their role in the infrastructure building process. Benefits are forms of compensation separate from wages that employers provide in addition to salaries. Having competitive compensation and benefits packages are essential for maintaining quality employees and reducing turnover.
You may be wondering where to start when thinking about benefits and compensation. Like most parts of the infrastructure building process the first place to start is by identifying what the needs of your organization are. Here is where you would define what roles are essential to keeping things running. Most family foundations and charities typically have CEOs or Presidents, CFOs, director(s), a series of program officers, and administrative support. Depending on the size and needs of your organization you may need to create niche roles dedicated to specific areas of business. After you define what positions your organization needs to thrive you need to research what your industry peers are paying. Through conducting this research, you will be able to get a clearer understanding of what you can expect to pay in salaries and benefits.
Now that you have established what base salaries you will offer for each of these positions, the next step is figuring out what benefits you would like to give your employees. Most organizations provide basic medical benefits. Other forms of benefits such as dental, vision, and retirement plans vary between organizations. High Deductible Medical Plans with HSAs (Health Savings Accounts) are growing in popularity because of their significantly lower monthly premiums.
Deciding on what benefits to give your employees may feel daunting but there is light at the end of the benefits and compensation tunnel. Once you decide on the core pieces of compensation, you can move on to decide what other perks your employees will receive while working with your organization. Do you want to give employees remote working options? Do you want to sponsor wellness benefits such as gym memberships and access to mindfulness classes? How about reimbursement for Wi-Fi, cell phones, and any other tools your employees may use daily to keep business running smoothly? The list of potential employee perks is endless, and you get to decide how you will care for your employees outside of compensation.
Compensation and benefits can work for the betterment of your business. Offering employee benefits helps to attract and retain quality employees that will care about your organization just as much as you do!