4 Ways Employee Benefits Can Improve Your Team's Productivity

Businesses are constantly looking for ways to get the most productivity out of their employees. If staff members aren't being as productive as they can be, a business isn't operating to its potential.

One of the ways in which productivity can be improved is by offering a competitive employee benefits program to your staff. According to the Better Benefits Survey from Care.com, 62 percent of employees would leave their current job for one with better benefits. If you're not offering great benefits to your employees, then chances are your team members aren't working to their full capacity. In fact, they may even be actively looking for jobs elsewhere.

Here are four ways that offering better benefits to your employees can improve your team's performance:

1. Higher Morale

A study from PGI found that when offered benefits like the ability to work from home, 80 percent of workers reported having higher levels of morale. If you understand and meet the needs and demands of your team, you'll find that employees will take their jobs more seriously.

Even small gestures, like providing free snacks and drinks, can go a long way in boosting staff morale. If your team doesn't feel appreciated, what incentive do they have to keep working for you?

2. Increased Motivation

In a 2016 survey from Vodafone, 61 percent of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) reported that implementing flexible working options helped them to increase profits. Eighty-three percent also said they had seen an improvement in overall productivity.

Offering employees flexible work options can be a great way to increase motivation. If you give your team members flex time, you give them more control of their lives. This means they will be able to better manage work-life balance, which will make them happier at work. This translates into higher levels of motivation to work harder and meet higher targets.

3. Healthier Employees

Offering health care benefits to your employees can definitely increase productivity. Not only will your employees be grateful that something so important is being covered by their employer, but they'll also take fewer sick days.

A survey from XpertHR found that the average employee takes 6.5 days off per year due to sickness. Overall, these sick days cost employers about $22.5 billion a year. By offering health care options to your staff, you have a chance of lowering this average and saving yourself some money. Employees who have access to health care will seek out the care they need when they fall ill, which usually means they'll need to take fewer sick days.

4. More Job Satisfaction

Knowing that you're being looked after can really have a positive effect on your work ethic. Employee benefits can be a great way of showing your people just how much you care about them. In return, they'll show their appreciation by giving you their best.

According to the 2016 SHRM Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement report, 66 percent of employees say that respectful treatment of all staff is the top contributor to job satisfaction. When employees feel like their employers have their best interests in mind, they'll often work hard to achieve success.

When you create a positive work environment and make sure that your employees feel appreciated, you'll see just how much of an impact happiness can have on workplace performance.

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Paul J. Meyer, author and speaker, once said that productivity is never an accident. It's essential that team leaders and business owners commit to finding the best ways to get the most out of their teams. If you don't, your employees will lose motivation and interest in working for you. At that point, the chances of them doing a good job will be dramatically reduced.

Offering the right employee benefits might just be the key to unlocking your team's productivity. Give people great rewards for working at your company and you'll be giving your own company the best reward you possibly could: a happier, healthier, more engaged, and more productive workforce.

Sophia Chapman is the marketing executive for Portfolio CBR.