There’s a funny story from my time at 1871 -- not like Dave Chappelle funny, but like human resources / small business funny, if you feel me.

When we would offer jobs to potential employees, I often was the one to call and offer them the jobs. It was great - people love getting jobs. I would call, welcome the person to the team, talk to them about the offer we were giving them, the benefits, etc.

At 1871, we offered a handful of benefits, including student loan repayment services through 1871 member company and Holistic partner company, Peanut Butter. I recall calling one potential employee and telling them about the job offer, and him being extremely excited about the student loan services. “You guys offer that? That’s amazing!”

A couple of weeks later, when he arrived, we gave him the paperwork he needed to fill out, and I showed him where to go to sign up for the student loan services. (We, like many companies, didn’t have an employee portal; fortunately a new and exciting technology company called Holistic has come along to save the day on that front, but I digress.)

Anyway, I showed him where to sign up for the services, and he says, “I don’t have student loans.” I was like, “What? Two weeks ago you were so excited.”

“Yeah, I just thought it was awesome that I was working for a company that offered student loan benefits.”

The point is, benefits are important, true, but beyond the abstract, it is extremely important to understand the role and value that your benefits have.

That is why we are so excited to launch a powerful new feature at Holistic this week, the Holistic Benefits Analysis, which is a comprehensive benefits program analysis for companies. Benefits are one of the primary ways that companies are able to compete for talent these days, and they are increasingly important. Research shows that in an era of limited salaries, benefits are one of the few ways the companies are able to distinguish themselves from competitors in the race for that talent.

Our benefits analysis has three focuses. First, we benchmark the quality of your benefits program. We help you understand how much you are paying, what is working (and what isn’t), what requires more attention, and how your benefits plan stacks up when compared to other organizations.

Second, we are looking to help you make decisions about your benefits. What new benefits should you consider? What are tweaks that you need to make to your existing benefits that will help you get more out of your program? Where are the communications issues with your employees that you need to address? Where are the areas where benefits are basically being ignored? How much value are you really getting out of the programs?

Third, we help you chart a path forward. How does your benefits portfolio fit in with your company in the future? What sort of data can you derive to help understand if benefits are having their desired effect on employees? How can you evolve and change your model so you get the most bang for your buck? Where are the areas for potential cost savings?

We provide data about exactly how much your benefits are costing you, and an analysis of how much value you’re getting for the money that you spend. We will make sure that your benefits match the needs of your employees going forward, while still being directly in line with your corporate values.

Benefits are too important to guess about. It is essential that you have the information and the data that you need to make good decisions. It is also essential that you pay an extreme amount of attention to your benefits program, because it is one of the few areas where you can truly distinguish your company from competitors in the race for talent. This is the place of differentiation, if you choose to make it one.

To sign up for a benefits analysis, fill out the form below, or contact us at info@holistic.com.

To view our write up of exactly what is involved with our benefits analysis, open the PDF file below.