7 Great Benefits You Can Offer Employees at Your Dental Practice

Offering a competitive package of employee benefits is one of the top ways for dentists to seek to build a successful practice. Turnover can negatively affect your business. But employees who are engaged in their job role and committed to you as an employer may be less likely to leave your practice for other opportunities.ⁱ A carefully-constructed employee benefits plan may help bring in engaged and committed new employees,ⁱⁱ who can bring positive results for your practice ⁱⁱⁱ Moreover, certain benefits can enhance employee commitment.^iv

Here are seven benefits dental practices are using to help create engaged and committed employees:

1. Health Insurance and Supplemental Insurance (Dental and Vision)

According to a 2016 study, health insurance is one of the most sought-after employee benefits.^v As a business owner, you may decide to offer this benefit to try to attract and retain quality employees.

Employees also look for companies that offer supplemental insurance policies for glasses and dental procedures or policies that include coverage for alternative treatments, such as massage therapy and acupuncture.

Some employers and health insurance policies even cover the cost of a gym membership.

2. Life Insurance

It may be helpful to offer life insurance to your employees. Life insurance is generally not as costly for employers as some of the other benefits.

Life insurance premium rates vary based on several factors, including the age and health of the insured. You may decide to offer a set amount of free group-term life insurance, then allow employees to pay for additional coverage.

3. Short- and Long-Term Disability

Short- and long-term disability insurance may help protect your staff from financial hardship caused by illnesses and accidents that happen outside the place of work. When the employer offers both, they may work in tandem to provide coverage.

Coverage for short-term disability — anywhere from three months to a year, after a brief elimination period — may be more expensive than long-term disability insurance, which covers catastrophic events. You should review the options with a licensed insurance agent who can provide you quotes.

4. Paid Leave

In a 2018 poll, nearly 60 percent of working adults ranked paid family leave in their top-5 most desired benefits—from a list of 15 non-insurance and retirement benefits.^vi.

There are different types of paid leave — sick days, personal time, bereavement, and vacation are the most common — and it's your choice whether to pool some of these together or create distinct categories. You also get to decide whether your staff can let their paid leave accumulate over time.

5. 401(k) Option & Match

In a 2016 survey, most HR professionals indicated that retirement savings and plans (e.g., 401(k) plans) were one of the most important benefits to a majority of their company’s employees.^vii After an employee has met certain eligibility requirements, they are afforded the opportunity to defer a portion of their salary, on a tax-favorable basis, toward requirement savings. Oftentimes, a matching contribution, up to a certain percentage, may be offered by the employer to encourage employees to save for retirement. A 401(k) may be an excellent way to show that you care about your employees’ future.

6. Profit-Sharing

A profit-sharing plan may be included as part of the practice’s overall employee retirement plan and is a good way to show that you appreciate the hard work of your employees. A profit-sharing plan is an additional contribution earmarked for the employee’s retirement. A profit-sharing contribution may offer employees a sense of purpose and allows them to feel connected to the outcome of the practice, which in turn can boost productivity. In addition, owners of the practice may benefit in the form of the ability to increase their own retirement plan contributions.

7. Flex Time

You likely can't offer your assistants, receptionist and hygienists the ability to work remotely all the time. What you can do instead, though, is build some flexibility into their schedules.

Allowing your employees to have more flexible schedules also benefits you since it may cut down on the times when you need to respond to a late employee or approve requests for time off, as long as they continue to work within the flexible schedule.

Protect Yourself and Your Practice with Treloar & Heisel

Making sure your staff receives a great benefits package is one way to build a staff of contented employees, which can help protect the stability of your practice as you pursue business success.

At Treloar & Heisel, we provide another important type of protection for your business, comprehensive insurance coverage. We offer business loan protection, life insurance for buy-sell agreements, professional liability malpractice insurance, and a host of other services, including 401k and retirement plan services.

You can learn more about seeking to grow your practice by downloading our eBook on ways to help increase your dental practice’s patient list today.

Treloar & Heisel, Treloar & Heisel Wealth Management, and Treloar & Heisel Property and Casualty are all divisions of Treloar & Heisel, LLC.

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Insurance products offered separately through Treloar & Heisel and Treloar & Heisel Property and Casualty.

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^{i. Vance, Robert J. Employee Engagement and Commitment: A Guide to Understanding, Measuring and Increasing Engagement in your Organization. Alexandria, VA: SHRM Foundation, 2006, 2. https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/trends-and-forecasting/special-reports-and-expert-views/documents/employee-engagement-commitment.pdf (accessed June 10, 2020).}

^{ii. Id. at 14.}

^{iii. Id. at 2.}

^{v. Fractl, Employee Benefits Study: The Cost and Value of Employee Perks, http://www.frac.tl/employee-benefits-study/ (accessed June 10, 2020); see also Jones, Kerry, The Most Desirable Employee Benefits, Harvard Business Review, February 15, 2017, https://hbr.org/2017/02/the-most-desirable-employee-benefits#:~:text=Health%20insurance%20is%20the%20most,and%20improve%20work%2Dlife%20balance (accessed June 10, 2020).}

^{vii. Miller, Stephen, Employers Alter Benefits to Attract, Retain Employees, SHRM Finds, SHRM, November 30, 2016, https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/benefits/pages/alter-benefits-attract-retain.aspx?_ga=2.80948115.58237766.1592399450-1218314744.1532091980 (accessed June 17, 2020).}