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it's an exciting and challenging time to
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be an HR professional and building a
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competitive benefits plan is more
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important than ever with a possible
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recession looming and inflation at
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historic highs belts are tightening and
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organizations around the country at the
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same time the labor market still favors
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job Seekers which means candidates often
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have the leverage to turn down offers
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that don't meet their needs so in this
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episode of HR party of one we'll take a
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look at how to build a recession
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resistant benefits plan that's still
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competitive we'll cover how you should
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approach your benefits plans strategies
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for meeting your employees needs while
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sticking to your budget and ideas for
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low-cost perks that can help you stand
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out to potential future team members by
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the end you'll have everything you need
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to design a benefits plan flexible
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enough to navigate a changing economy
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without sacrificing the well-being of
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your employees
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we'll discuss keeping the big picture in
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mind
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choosing plans that give employees
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options and perks that will show
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employees they are valued let's get
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started keeping the big picture in mind
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when designing your organization's
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benefits offerings it's easy to get
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caught in the weeds of individual
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benefits their exact costs how many
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employees will use them in all the
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various rules and regulations
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while all that is important it's also
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crucial to not lose track of the big
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picture
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a zoomed out perspective can help you
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set guidelines and parameters that will
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make it easier to select individual
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options later
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first establish your organization's
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priorities all your decisions should be
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guided by your company mission statement
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if you don't have one yet we've created
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an episode on how to write a mission
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statement and set goals for your
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organization I'll put a link in the
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description
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your mission statement can help you
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prioritize based on what's best for the
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overall goals of your organization for
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example if your company wants to improve
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access to a service for underrepresented
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demographics it makes sense to
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prioritize benefits that promote
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diversity equity and inclusion in your
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Workforce establishing priorities can
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also help you balance your bottom line
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with your employees best interests
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for any benefit you're considering you
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have to weigh the pros and cons both
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immediate and long term what will the
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benefit cost you now how will it affect
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turnover rates what will high turnover
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cost you over the next five to ten years
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how will attracting top talent help you
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move the needle on your goals and what
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can you realistically afford when
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revenue is down there are a lot of
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questions to consider here and no easy
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answers but the big picture perspective
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will help you strike this balance a big
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picture view will also allow you to see
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your benefits plan from the perspective
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of total compensation while job Seekers
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are looking for competitive salaries
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they're also considering the whole
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package and how it will impact their
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lifestyle and retirement plans so you
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should think this way too consider
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developing a transparent pay structure
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include salary range and job
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descriptions and communicate what it
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takes to get a raise in each department
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of your organization pay transparency
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helps you keep compensation fair and
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Equitable and can help avoid pay
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compression in which huge salary bumps
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for new hires can throw off the balance
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between entry level and more Advanced
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roles plus think about the benefits you
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can afford if you avoid giving a few new
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employees inflated salaries just because
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the market is tight right now finally
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transparent pay can include variable
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compensation based on reaching team
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goals while it's not fun to get a lower
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paycheck in a difficult quarter
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employees will prefer that option to
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more aggressive money-saving measures
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like layoffs or furloughs we've got a
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whole episode of HR party of one on how
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to use Target compensation to make your
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pay structure more transparent and
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Equitable I'll link to it in the
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description
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choose plans that give employees options
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once you've got a good sense of your
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overall strategy it's time to start
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considering individual benefits and
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that's when things get tricky if
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inflation is high employee expectations
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are even higher and it's up to the
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employer to sort through plans benefits
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and perks all of which come at a cost
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and none of which get cheaper if a
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recession strikes that's why we
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recommend your organization develop a
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defined contribution plan with this kind
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of package employers determine a set
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number of dollars that they'll
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contribute to each employee's benefits
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and the employee decides which options
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to spend that money on at Bernie portal
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we offer over a dozen different benefits
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for our team members who can essentially
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go shopping for their favorites with our
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defined contribution amount this way is
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much easier than trying to guess which
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few benefits are more important to the
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greatest number of your employees
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offering more benefits to choose from
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may sound more expensive but it actually
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saves both your organization and your
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employees money for example if pet
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insurance is part of everyone's plan
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then everyone's plan costs more but if
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you offer it as an option employees can
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opt into then only the team members with
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pets that want to insure them will pick
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it up every employee benefits from every
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option they're paying for and no dollars
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spent on benefits goes to waste the
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biggest challenge to a defined
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contribution plan is the paperwork if
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you offer a lot of benefits and every
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employee's plan is a little different it
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can take a lot of administrative work to
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keep it all straight but an all-in-one
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hris like burning portal can automate
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most of the process making it easy to
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track all the details of each employee's
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benefits elections with minimal manual
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data entry
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consider perks to show employees they
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are valued
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with an eye cheer organization's goals a
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transparent compensation structure and a
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defined contribution plan you're well on
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your way to a benefits program that can
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withstand the economic hit of a possible
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recession but in addition to pinching
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pennies organization should also dig
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into retention efforts
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since employees are looking for
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positions where they are valued and
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appreciated consider these four perks to
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show your team members that you care
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about their well-being and personal
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success first consider parking or
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commuter benefits unless your
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organization is fully remote your
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employees are commuting at least some of
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the time and it's important for
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organizations to recognize and offset
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the costs of those commutes especially
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if your office is in a busy downtown
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area or many of your team members spend
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a long time getting to and from work
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parking and commuter benefits can come
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in a form of a stipend a pre-tax benefit
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or both at Bernie portal all our team
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members get a flat stipend added to
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their paychecks automatically if their
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parking or commuter costs aren't covered
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by the stipend they can choose to deduct
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pre-tax funds from their gross pay to
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reimburse themselves for the remainder
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second look into student loan assistance
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not every organization can afford to
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help out with these payments but it's
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still worth considering student debt can
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sometimes be crippling especially for
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Millennials and gen Z workers and even a
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modest contribution can make a big
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difference in your employees quality of
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life
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the third perk is paid parental leave
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the United States is one of only a
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handful of countries in the world that
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does not mandate any paid leave for New
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parents so the more time you can offer
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the more competitive you'll be paid
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parental leave is a long-term tactic
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while it can sometimes be costly in the
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front end in Lost productivity the
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return on investment is huge as you'll
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be able to attract and retain top
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candidates who are unwilling to settle
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for roles that don't support their
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families
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finally there are a number of budget
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benefits you can consider that will give
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you a lot of bang for your buck
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employees will appreciate several free
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or low-cost gestures to improve their
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mental health and work-life balance for
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example loosening up your dress code
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costs zero dollars but it can help team
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members feel comfortable and included at
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work gift cards company lunches and
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extra PTO can also ease financial and
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work stress without breaking the bank in
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helping employees avoid overwhelm and
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burnout will make them more engaged and
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invested in the success of your
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organization a valuable asset when times
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are tough and that's it in this episode
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we've covered everything you need to
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know about building a benefits plan that
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can withstand a recession whether or not
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your organization is facing recession
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right now developing flexible relevant
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benefits will help keep your
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organization strong your team members
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engaged and your financial future is
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secure no matter what the future holds
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as always remember that your role is as
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strategic as you make it
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[Music]
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well that's all the time we have for
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this episode don't forget to subscribe
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