It’s not just wages that will decide your job candidate’s choice of employer. What you deliver for benefits or perks will be the biggest influencer in their decision to join or move on.

Getting their ‘buy-in’ depends on how you differentiate your benefits and perks from your competition. Apple does it well, so does Starbucks.

How do they do it? They’ve got good branding!

First things first: employer branding

This is your company’s reputation, both as an employer and with the value that it brings and offers to your employees. Positive branding means great attraction from talented applicants and employees who won’t leave. This is absolutely the secret sauce to the success and growth of any business.

Your brand is what people say it is

If you want to understand your benefits brand, you will need to know your employee’s perception of it. All the good and not so good feedback is needed. Whether they like it or don’t, whether it matches your vision or not, you need to know why and why not.

Depending on what company your run, you can get this information from a survey, or an online comments board. Nothing though beats open live discussions. Hold a few focus group meetings. Let your employees openly discuss their thoughts on your company benefits program. You will quickly discover how close or not so close you are.

The best brands convey their values

Use a strong mission statement to clarify exactly what your company is trying to accomplish for your employees. With a mission statement, you’re giving your benefits program direction and intent. This is what your employees will need to hold you accountable. Making it clear and concise and as a natural extension of the greater company values should be your goal.

It has to come from above

Getting buy-in absolutely has to happen from senior leadership. If you don’t already have this, you will need an evangelist in the C-suite.

The key to branding of your benefits is authenticity. Without executive buy-in, it wont work. Employees want to see and hear their leaders ‘talk the walk’, all on the same page before they will do the same.

Make it perfectly clear to your senior leadership or board, that this will define whether there will be stability or loss in your current talent pool. They will leave if they don’t believe you, plain and simple.

Consistent communication

All successful brands know the key to their continued success is consistency. The more consistent, the more recognizable your employer brand will become. This in turn creates greater engagement amongst your employees.

Consistency in communication means what you say, the tone it is said, the language used, images, logos, color and styling.

If you want their loyalty, ‘get them’

Understand what it is that your employees want. Make sure the plans you offer are communicated properly so your employees see that they are understood, and their concerns are met. Take advantage of new technology that personalizes their benefits experience. This could be through targeted campaigns, and new enrollment tools available.

Live it, breathe it

Employer brands must be lived. Your benefits pro must walk and talk the benefits brand wholeheartedly from start to finish. Their words and actions need to mirror your mission statement. The brand needs to be front and center (of course within reason) at all times as much as possible.

Special events, strategic meetings, employee engagement events are all good examples of open-air discussions of benefits.

Active branding never stops

Keeping a pulse of your employees needs or wishes for benefits is something that can be done over the course of a year. Surprises are less, inclusion is more, and your employees will be thankful knowing your company is actively listening.

In all of this, keep the branding fresh. When it appears that a focus-group is needed, hold one and pivot if changes need to be addressed in the future.

Final Thoughts

Communicating your benefits programs clearly, framed around what’s most important to your employees, with a clear ROI, will boost program participation and buy you employee recognition that you truly do care about them and are offering meaningful programs to support their lives.