Build Employee Loyalty with Alternative HR Benefits - Essay Example

Build Employee Loyalty with Alternative HR Benefits In any organization and company, giving attention to the management of the human resource can be considered as one of the most essential factor to success. Regardless of the type of business and objectives the company and organization have, aiming for the loyalty through proper management of the people and the workers is one of the most important. The Importance of Employee Loyalty Employee loyalty can be considered as a strong weapon to achieve important goals in business. Based on one of the points of view related to the advantages of employee loyalty, the benefits that can be achieved in prioritizing the employees and the members of the workforce is more essential than the operational and maintenance costs that can be saved in having people work in short terms or in laying employees off, which can be considered as the main trend in the current business world due to the different crisis experienced both in the national and the international community (Reichheld & Teal 96). There are different advantages that can be derived from the maintenance and improvement of employee loyalty. One is the improvement in terms of the quality of work delivered by the employees on the basis of different reasons that can be considered as the management techniques of the company. The employees that are satisfied and motivated in the responsibilities held can be considered to positively contribute to the uplifting of the whole organization (Reichheld & Teal 96). Another is the achievement of the important contribution of the employees in the process of maintaining customer loyalty. It had been considered that the loyalty of the clientele of a particular company can significantly be related to the loyalty of the employees. In addition, the importance that is given to the loyalty of the clients should be the same for the loyalty of the employee to be able to achieve the success that the organization is aiming for (Reichheld & Teal 96). In the trade and business, the loyalty of the employees is promoted on the basis of the need to maintain the trade secrets and techniques of a particular company. This is important specifically due to the fact that the clients along with the different methods within an organization are entrusted to an employee. Due to this reason, employees have the responsibility to keep the trust of the company. This can be considered a duty but the quality of work as well as the dedication of the employees can be related to the loyalty which can be incurred through different methods within the administration and management of the company (Sheikh 1) Due to the benefits that can be incurred from the loyalty of the employees, included in the main aim of organizations is the optimization of the employee loyalty. One of the ways an organization can achieve the employee loyalty is through the benefits that are offered to the employees on the basis of position and the length of service. Human Resource Benefits to Develop Employee Loyalty Through the course the employment history, the trends in human resource management had evolved. From having simple health insurance benefits and retirement options, the human resource benefits had been extended to cover different aspects of the needs of the employees. The trend in terms of the benefits given to the employees can be considered to include a synergy of the different types of needs that can attract and achieve the loyalty of the employees. 1. Financial Benefits There are different types and ways to recognize and give importance to the employees through benefits. One of the most common and most effective benefits is through financial aspect. One example is the implementation of a profit-sharing plan that can give bonuses to the employees in cases wherein the company performed well in terms of the profits. Through the said method, the employees can be motivated aside from the provision of basic salary. Another way is through the payment of over time pays that can make the employees feel importance in the company (Sheikh 4). Reward systems specifically giving monetary values to motivate the employees can also be considered as part of the financial benefits that can be achieved by the employees. Such technique can be observed in companies that focus on sales of different products and merchandises (Champion-Hughes 287; HR Guru; Sheikh 4). Another important financial benefit is the employee credit unions. The said organizations can assist the employees to be able to add to the basic salary and other financial benefits. In addition such groups can be of greater assistance since the leaders are also employees of the company, thus, needs can be objectively targeted (Champion-Hughes 287; HR Guru; Sheikh 4). Another important type of benefit considered as the reason responsible for employee loyalty and retention in work is the retirement plans and benefits. Basically, jobs are sought to be able to give livelihood stability. With the retirement benefits that can give employees ease in their old age, the plans that are offered by the employers can develop or disrupt the loyalty bound to be given by the employees. For that matter, the retirement benefits offered by the company are needed to be well planned and established. In addition, the offered plan should provide for the needs of the person based on the economic requirements during the time of the retirement. The said type of benefit can be related to pension systems and supplemental retirement plans (Champion-Hughes 287; Galinsky, Bond & Kim 4; HR Guru). Financial benefits can be considered as practical benefits to be implemented by the human resource management to achieve the loyalty of the employees. This is in spite of the possible criticisms that financial motivation for working can be short-lived and can have repercussions in the work ethics of the employees. It is important to consider that financial benefits are the basic ways to properly compensate the employees, although benefits are not limited to financial types. 2. Non-Financial Benefits Aside from the financial benefits, the attention and rewards systems being implemented by the human resource group can be through non-financial methods. These techniques can be incorporated to the financial methods to achieve better results regarding the goal towards employee loyalty. In a study of the integrated benefits given to employees, a number of non-financial methods can be considered most effective. One is through the implementation of paid time off such as vacations and other types of leave of absences such as sick leave (Champion-Hughes 287; Sheikh 4). With regards to the female members of the workforce, the maternity leave can be considered as one of the most important benefit that can be achieved. In a survey undertaken 16.57 percent of the sample population gives priority to the said benefit in terms of seeking and staying in jobs (Sastry & Pandey 55). Educational assistance and training benefits can be considered as another important provision that is important to the employees of different companies. This can be related to the need of every employee to grow professionally. In addition, through the said type of benefit, the company can also grow (Champion-Hughes 287; Sheikh 4). The said method can then be considered to work on both ways. One is through the improvement of the employee thus improving performance. Another is through the improvement of the whole company by achieving profits through improved performance of the employees. It is important to consider though that such benefit continuously needs monitoring to be able to maintain the loyalty of the employee. Another type of benefit is flexibility in different aspects of work. This type of benefit can be considered important specifically since the present structure of the society forces the people to live a complicated and swift lifestyle with a high level of responsibility in different aspects namely personal and family life and the maintenance of household. There different types of flexibility. In terms of the work schedule, the flexibility of the time and place of work can be enticing to employees due to the fact that other responsibilities can be attended to without having to ask for leave. This is possible through flextime which is based on schedule, telecommuting which the accomplishment of work regardless of the place and the implementation of compressed workweeks which maximized the optimum working capability of an employee (Galinsky, Bond & Kim 12). The presented benefits can be considered to be related directly to the performance of the employees. On the other hand due to the continuously modernizing manner of working and employment, limitations that used to hinder people from pursuing careers and having jobs became ways to be able to entice, attract and keep employees satisfied and loyal. These are included in the innovative benefits that are offered by certain companies and continuously becoming trends. 3. Other Innovative Benefits Basically, the majority of the innovative benefits target the personal roles of the employees such as being parents and relatives to provide for their family. There are situations that can hinder the talented and able workers to work. To be able to optimize the talents of such workers, the said issues are targeted by different forms of alternative benefits currently being implemented by employers. For employees that are needed to provide for the education of family members, educational assistance and tuition reimbursement benefits are provided. Certain guidelines are given in the implementation of such benefits. There are cases wherein the education assistance can be given as a subsidy for the educational aspect of the family of the employees. Another is through educational loans and bonuses that can be given during the period wherein enrollment is undertaken. For larger companies, full tuition benefit can be offered specifically when a company owns and funds educational systems (Champion-Hughes 290; Reichheld & Teal 91). For parents with children that are still young, one of the current trends for companies is to have a day care center for the children provided for such cases. For that matter, parents specifically the mothers can still professionally improve and grow while continuously perform the duty to children. Such features can be considered important in motivating and achieving the loyalty of the employees since the children are cared for and monitored by professionals while at the same time they can continuously earn for the family to provide for other needs (Champion-Hughes 290; Galinsky, Bond & Kim 12; Reichheld & Teal 91). Aside from the provision of benefits that can improve the capability of the employees to provide for the needs of their family, there are unconventional methods applied to be able to enhance the well-being of the employees to be able to improve their performance in their assigned responsibilities and jobs. Examples of such benefits are memberships in facilities that are either established for the employees or provided by a third party to give attention to the workers of the company namely fitness centers, health clubs and spas. In addition, team building and recreational activities are undertaken in luxury retreats to be able to rejuvenate the working atmosphere and build up and strengthen work relationship. These benefits can be considered as recognition of the importance of the employees that have other responsibilities aside from that in the workplace. Through such benefits they can feel that the employers give and pay attention to their needs as humans and as responsible individuals with personal lives. This can be considered as the main development of the human resource management in the current period. Compared to the earlier period in the organizational and employment history wherein working is generally centered on the goals of the company and members of the workforce are treated as the properties of the company, more attention and importance are given to the employees due to the knowledge established that optimization in the performance of the people as well as loyalty given to the company can be achieved through the benefits given to achieve and maintain their trust. Analysis of the Effects of Provision of Benefits The benefits are provided to be able to achieve loyalty from employees. This can be accomplished through the effects and advantages of implementing the said variety of benefits. One of the main effects is the increased engagement and dedication in the position that the employee holds. Another is the improvement in the level of satisfaction with the job. Through the provision of the said benefits, employees are projected to stay and have a good working relationship with the employer. In general, the benefits that are given to the employees are bound to improve the working relationship and atmosphere in the workplace that can also contribute in the improvement of the other aspects of an employee’s life. In the human resource management, the said benefits offered to the employees can be considered as effective ways to achieve employee loyalty along with the standard factors and methods that can be considered to promote the said concept. One of the most important methods is the application of good leadership and attitude of the human resource group towards the employees. It is important to consider that the manner by which the employees are treated can be considered as one of the most important reason for the achievement of the loyalty of the employees. In addition, the communication between the management and the employees can be considered as the primary step toward the achievement of understanding between the two groups. This process can also enable the human resource group to determine the needs of the employees and ultimately achieve the full commitment and dedication. Also, the differences and possible problems that can arise can instantly be resolved and prioritized (Sheikh 4). The provision of benefits for the employees can be effective specifically if certain strategies are applied. One is the personalization of the benefits which can be achieved by establishing benefit guidelines that are flexible to the needs of the individual. Another is the provision of a wide variety of benefits that are cost-efficient to be able to provide for the needs of the employees in different aspects and at the same time taking into account the capability of the company to provide for such benefits. Lastly, such provisions of benefits are needed to be explained clearly and be communicated properly to the employees to be able to objectively present the trust and importance that company wants to project to the employees and the performance expected from them in return (HR Guru) Conclusion In the study undertaken, the main objective is to present the ways and methods of building and establishment of the employee trust through the benefits that are provided by the employer companies. Through the development of the human resource management concept and techniques, new ways that can improve the loyalty of the employees are being discovered and applied. Included in the said benefits are the cost-effective personalized provisions that are aimed to give importance to the needs of the employees in different aspects. Although the said benefits do not encapsulate and define the requirements to the achievement of employee loyalty, giving importance and knowing the needs of the employees is an important contribution to the said goal. In addition, one way or another the benefits specifically if they are unconventional yet really needed can inevitably motivate and improve the performance of the employees. Works Cited Champion-Hughes, Ruth. “Totally Integrated Employee Benefits.” Public Personnel Management 30.3 (Fall 2001): 287-304. Galinsky, Ellen, James T. Bond and Stacy S. Kim. 2008 National Study of Employers. Families and Work Institute, 2008. HR Guru. 2008. How to Improve Employee Loyalty. 2009 February 22 Reichheld, Frederick F. and Thomas Teal. The Loyalty Effect: The Hidden Force Behind Growth, Profits, and Lasting Value. Harvard Business Press, 1996. Sastry, Nalini and Subrata Pandey. Women Employees and Human Resource Management. Orient Blackswan, 2000. Sheikh, Talhiya. Trade Secrets and Employee Loyalty. 2009. World Intellectual Property Organization. 2009 February 22 Read More