Family Friendly Benefits

A challenge for organizations is to provide a work-life balance that keeps employees satisfied in their jobs, keeps them committed to the organization and helps attract and retain employees.  There are many different discretionary benefit options including paid absences, insurance, and retirement benefits. In the article listed below, one example of discretionary benefits is called family-friendly benefits (FFBs).

These benefits help employees balance work life and family life and include things like child care, elder care, fitness facilities, flexible work schedules dependent care, flexible spending, family leave, and telecommuting.

When designing a discretionary benefits plan, the organization should take into consideration what the competition offers, employee demographics, cost of the benefit and the value of the benefit to the employee.   

The most important aspect of implementing a discretionary benefits plan is communication. By communicating with employees at an early stage in the program development process, the organization can create buy-in.  The first step in developing the program is identifying whether or not the program is feasible to implement.  What are the potential costs?  How does it impact our resources? How will this affect employee attitudes/perceptions?  Do we have the IT resources required to support the system?  How will the administration of the new benefits plan differ from the existing plan? If the feasibility study indicates that the program will work, the initial plan information can be communicated to employees. 

The next step is planning the program and identifying and documenting the details.  This should include a structured communication plan that creates awareness and identifies a launch date.

During the actual implementation phase, employees enroll in the plan.  Once the plan is live, payroll and/or benefit corrections can be made.

Lastly, the plan must be administered and maintained on an ongoing basis.  It may be administered internally or by a 3^rd party.  The plan should be monitored and based on employee feedback, updated to add new benefits or remove unwanted benefits in order to keep the program desirable.

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