Authored by Alyssa Richard, RateHub.caBeing a small business owner with a team of staff, you probably have more human resources-related tasks than you imagined when you first launched. The onboarding and training process can take a lot of time (and paperwork), and payroll is a beast all on its own.As you continue to grow, you’re going to reach a point in your business where you have to decide if you can afford to offer benefits packages to your team members, and the answer isn’t always based on how much money it’s going to cost you. It could become part of your hiring strategy – or even your retention strategy – and in either instance the right package can go a long way.For those of you who are on the cusp of making that decision right now and don’t know where to start, we wanted to share our personal experience with deciding when and what types of benefits to offer new and existing staff.When and why did RateHub.ca first offer benefits packages?We started shopping around for benefits packages in 2013 and the Beneplan package we eventually chose kicked in on April 1, 2014. At the time, we’d been up and running for 4 years and had around 10 people on the team. No one was leaving – we had good employee retention – but we got benefits so we could reward our great employees, as well as recruit new ones. As the team was growing, more and more interviewees were asking if we offered benefits, so it became obvious that that was something we would need to eventually offer – and now we do!What did employees want included in their benefits packages?In our experience – and Beneplan backs this up – every employee has different priorities. One person might spend a few hundred dollars each month on prescription drugs and the person that sits next to them might not need any prescriptions but goes to physiotherapy twice a month. Some people have families and want enough coverage for their spouse and kids, and others are single and may not care if they have benefits at all. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, which is why it’s important for small business owners to find a package that covers a little bit of everything.“As someone with monthly prescription purchases, having prescription coverage makes a big difference to my cash flow. I also am able to coordinate benefits with my partner and use the health spending account with great flexibility.” – Kerri-Lynn McAllister, CMO at RateHub.caHow did you pick the right package for your team?We liked this package because it was really flexible. As we saw, some people spend money on massage or physiotherapy, others spend more on dental and then drug plans are always important – so we chose a package that would make everyone happy. RateHub.ca employees essentially have spending accounts for all of these services, which seems to be serving everyone well.“I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t have to pay a dime for some immunization shots I had to go. Even the pharmacist was surprised and commented on how good my coverage was!” – Kayla Reyes, Digital Marketing Coordinator at RateHub.caWhy did you decide to get benefits through Beneplan?Beneplan offered the most flexible and affordable option for our team – hands down. And it was nice that Beneplan came in and did an information session, so everyone on the team could ask lots of questions and further understand what was included in their package.It was not only easy to get setup with Beneplan, but there’s also not much admin work for our team to do – Beneplan takes care of most of it. When you’re a small business owner, being able to delegate or pass off work like that helps free up time, so your employees can focus on critical tasks and do what needs to be done in order to grow your business. We hire great people so we can take our team and our site to the next level, and being able to offer benefits through Beneplan helps us with that.RateHub.ca is a financial services comparison site that helps Canadians find the best mortgage rates and best credit cards to meet their needs. Their education centres, tools, and calculators were designed to empower users to make smart financial decisions.
Authored by Alyssa Richard, RateHub.caBeing a small business owner with a team of staff, you probably have more human resources-related tasks than you imagined when you first launched. The onboarding and training process can take a lot of time (and paperwork), and payroll is a beast all on its own.As you continue to grow, you’re going to reach a point in your business where you have to decide if you can afford to offer benefits packages to your team members, and the answer isn’t always based on how much money it’s going to cost you. It could become part of your hiring strategy – or even your retention strategy – and in either instance the right package can go a long way.For those of you who are on the cusp of making that decision right now and don’t know where to start, we wanted to share our personal experience with deciding when and what types of benefits to offer new and existing staff.When and why did RateHub.ca first offer benefits packages?We started shopping around for benefits packages in 2013 and the Beneplan package we eventually chose kicked in on April 1, 2014. At the time, we’d been up and running for 4 years and had around 10 people on the team. No one was leaving – we had good employee retention – but we got benefits so we could reward our great employees, as well as recruit new ones. As the team was growing, more and more interviewees were asking if we offered benefits, so it became obvious that that was something we would need to eventually offer – and now we do!What did employees want included in their benefits packages?In our experience – and Beneplan backs this up – every employee has different priorities. One person might spend a few hundred dollars each month on prescription drugs and the person that sits next to them might not need any prescriptions but goes to physiotherapy twice a month. Some people have families and want enough coverage for their spouse and kids, and others are single and may not care if they have benefits at all. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, which is why it’s important for small business owners to find a package that covers a little bit of everything.“As someone with monthly prescription purchases, having prescription coverage makes a big difference to my cash flow. I also am able to coordinate benefits with my partner and use the health spending account with great flexibility.” – Kerri-Lynn McAllister, CMO at RateHub.caHow did you pick the right package for your team?We liked this package because it was really flexible. As we saw, some people spend money on massage or physiotherapy, others spend more on dental and then drug plans are always important – so we chose a package that would make everyone happy. RateHub.ca employees essentially have spending accounts for all of these services, which seems to be serving everyone well.“I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t have to pay a dime for some immunization shots I had to go. Even the pharmacist was surprised and commented on how good my coverage was!” – Kayla Reyes, Digital Marketing Coordinator at RateHub.caWhy did you decide to get benefits through Beneplan?Beneplan offered the most flexible and affordable option for our team – hands down. And it was nice that Beneplan came in and did an information session, so everyone on the team could ask lots of questions and further understand what was included in their package.It was not only easy to get setup with Beneplan, but there’s also not much admin work for our team to do – Beneplan takes care of most of it. When you’re a small business owner, being able to delegate or pass off work like that helps free up time, so your employees can focus on critical tasks and do what needs to be done in order to grow your business. We hire great people so we can take our team and our site to the next level, and being able to offer benefits through Beneplan helps us with that.RateHub.ca is a financial services comparison site that helps Canadians find the best mortgage rates and best credit cards to meet their needs. Their education centres, tools, and calculators were designed to empower users to make smart financial decisions.
