Why Benefits Matter in Hiring and Retaining Employees

Pet insurance is one of many new benefits businesses are now offering. Photo: tan4ikk – stock.adobe.com

In today’s competitive labor market, growers need more ways than ever to attract and retain employees. As a result, the types of benefits companies offer continue to evolve.

But how can this translate to floriculture, an industry where the job requirements vary widely depending on the type of company? To find out, we reached out to Todd Downing, Managing Partner at BEST Human Capital and Advisory Group, and Dana Valley, Head of Human Resources North America at Dümmen Orange. Downing moderated a panel at Cultivate’24 on improving employee engagement, and Valley was one of the panelists (you can learn more insights from the panel at https://is.gd/omq5rr).

Pet Insurance, Flex Schedules, and More

According to Downing, the newer benefits that the horticulture industry has been offering over recent years are dependent on where a company is located, the demographics of its employees, and the cultural values of the overall employee base in its community. Some of note include:

• Childcare benefits (could be onsite childcare)
• Flexible scheduling (great for working parents)
• Pet insurance
• Education/professional training and certification (direct benefits have increased, or companies are increasing their overall learning and development budget)
• Commuter benefits (especially when gas prices skyrocket)
• Mental health services
• Unlimited or mandatory paid time off (good luck finding an employee who will start at less than two weeks anymore)
• Additional paid time off to volunteer in their community
• Gym/wellness membership, reimbursement, or discounts that are proven to then reduce health care costs over the long run

“While these benefits are typically standard, we still have too many companies in the industry not providing things like matching 401(k) or Roth IRA (or a metric-driven profit share program in lieu of these), maternity and paternity leave, or life/disability/vision/dental insurance,” Downing says. “We even have some companies still not providing health care — they should at least provide a health care stipend.”

Valley says Dümmen Orange offers a full spectrum of health and welfare benefits, including medical with health savings account elements, dental, vision, company-paid basic life and long-term disability, critical illness, hospital indemnity, legal and identity theft protection, and pet insurance.

“Due to the demands on their schedules, we also offer our sales teams unlimited PTO,” she says.

Ask Your Team What They Want

Valley says when the time came to determine company benefits plan changes, she conducted a benefits satisfaction survey.

“When we began to explore different options for medical benefits, we also conducted focus groups to test interest in different plans,” Valley says. “These focus groups also helped with creating the communication materials for new benefit offerings.”

While the new plans won’t take effect until January 2025, Valley says the feedback she’s received from employees about the HR team hearing concerns and acting upon them has been very positive.

How can you decide on the right approach to take at your company? Downing says it starts with asking your employees.

“There are data-driven resources to find out exactly what kind of support employees are looking for with employee surveys or focus groups. If you have a manageable employee base, you also can’t beat a one-on-one conversation,” Downing says. “Employees are much more open to telling employers what they need. Listening directly to the employ-ee’s pain points, concerns, and needs
will guide what benefits you need, but the real difference comes when employers take action in aligning these benefits properly.”

Words of Advice

Valley says it’s incredibly important to listen to concerns and complaints and be transparent about what your company can or cannot do.

“It’s also imperative to involve employees in the process, particularly ones who have had difficulty with the current offerings,” she says. “I can’t emphasize enough the need to pull employees into conversations.”

If your company has not reviewed your entire benefits plan in the past two to three years, now is the time to conduct a thorough review, Downing says. This might also help you understand if you are paying for benefits your team does not use, and define potential new benefits.

Downing’ concise checklist for benefits success includes:

• “Make sure the benefits you offer are ones that your employees will actually use and appreciate. There’s no point in offering a benefit that no one will take advantage of.”
• “Make sure the benefits you offer are affordable for your business. Offering too many expensive benefits can strain your budget and make it difficult to offer other perks or salary increases.”
• “Be sure to communicate the details of your employee benefits package to your team. They should know what benefits are available to them and how to take advantage of them.”
• “Know the law. Make sure you’re offering all benefits that are legally required in your state for the size of business
  you operate.”