Is your small business offering the perks employees want?

Studies show that most American workers consider health insurance, paid vacation time and a retirement savings plan to be ‘must-have’ employee benefits. Here are some other sought-after perks that you might not realize employees are looking for today.

According to Gallup’s recent State of the American Workplace report, workers are increasingly seeking out flexible work arrangements and switching jobs to get them. According to the report, more than one-third of workers surveyed said they would change jobs for the ability to work at home or another remote location full-time. About 37 percent of workers said they would leave their current job for one that allows them to work remotely on a part-time basis. More than 50 percent of workers said they would switch jobs to gain flex-time — being able to shift their work schedule from the traditional 8-to-5 schedule with one hour for lunch — to help them better meet family demands.

In addition to flexibility, employees also are keenly interested in financial rewards beyond their salaries. Pensions may be disappearing, but 51 percent of those surveyed said they would leave a job without a pension for one that offered one. About 40 percent said they would switch for a job with profit sharing and 54 percent said cash bonuses were a priority. For more information about the Gallup workplace report, go to this link.