Employee benefits can play a crucial role in attracting and retaining top talent. Beyond compensation and bonuses, offering a variety of perks can significantly enhance employee satisfaction and productivity. But what should you include in your employee benefits offerings?   What are employee benefits?   Employee benefits encompass compensation, bonuses and various perks outside an employee's wage. By offering flexible employee benefits, you can improve employee productivity and loyalty while attracting and retaining talented candidates.   Personalized benefits examples   The type of benefits offered can vary by industry. We've compiled some of the most popular options to help you explore possible employee benefits strategies .  1. Social opportunities   Employee perks don't always have to be tied to a benefits package. Sometimes, the best way to engage your employees can be through social opportunities. Group activities can help im...

Understanding leave management  Managing employee leave requests can be daunting for human resources (HR) professionals. From holidays to sick leave, emergencies to parental leave, organizing and handling these requests fairly and accurately is critical to ensuring that team members receive their benefits while keeping the business running smoothly. This process, known as leave management, is a fundamental aspect of HR management.  What is leave management?  Leave management, also referred to as time-off management, involves overseeing and regulating employees' time-off requests through a series of policies, guidelines and rules specific to your organization. Its primary goal is to balance employees' need for time off with the business's operational requirements.  Leave management is a critical aspect of HR management that ensures employees can take necessary time off while minimizing disruption to the business.   By implementing effective leave management pract...

The retention and recruitment tool that’s gaining traction  Talent acquisition is more competitive than ever. HR professionals and recruiters are now looking beyond traditional methods to attract and retain top talent. One strategy that is gaining traction is offering a robust, comprehensive employee benefits plan .   By catering to different cohorts within your workforce, you can transform your benefits package into a powerful talent sourcing tool and help keep your top performers, something 81% of business executives are concerned about, according to Guild .   The importance of employee benefits in talent acquisition  Employee benefits can make or break your talent acquisition strategy. Offering a diverse range of benefits helps attract and retain top-tier talent. Consider enhancing your employee benefits package to:  1. Increase employee retention and reduce turnover costs  High turnover rates can be detrimental to any organization. Not only does t...

Investors flock to thematic investing to stay afloat  In the second quarter, investors saw unexpected volatility and high-performance dispersion across equity sectors and capitalization sizes, despite a strong Q1 for equities. Struggling to combat the back and forth, investors turned to thematic investing for stability amongst the hard-to-predict market — making the second half of 2024 anything but boring.   With the unexpected choppy waters for Q3, you’ll want to read the full Q2 2024 Retirement Market Recap for insights on:   Equity market performance: Narrow market leadership driven by a small number of outperformers and sector-specific trends like artificial intelligence and GLP-1 semaglutide drugs.  Federal Reserve and interest rates: Uncertainty regarding the Fed's future actions and a “higher for longer" narrative are creating uncertainty in bond markets.  Geopolitical tensions: Growing concerns over the NATO alliance and international stability. ...

Understanding risk management in retirement programs  Managing a retirement program is complex, with multiple layers of risk. For organizations and their leadership, understanding and mitigating these risks is crucial to ensuring the long-term success and reliability of these programs.   It often leaves human resource professionals, employers and program administrators questioning, "What is risk management, and how can we excel at it?"  This blog post explores the various aspects of risk management in retirement program administration and provides actionable insights to help organizations better manage these risks.  The importance of risk management  Retirement programs are designed to benefit participants and beneficiaries, but they come with their own set of risks. These risks can be broadly categorized into four main topics:  Fees  Administration  Investments  Cybersecurity  Each of these topics requires meticulous attention and ...