Literature Review On Employee Benefits Assessment Answer

Answer :

Literature Review

Employee benefits

Employee benefits include the various facilities that are provided to the employees at work. According to Nguyen My (2017), money, personal growth along with a balance between work and life have been identified as three of the most influential needs of the employees which help in employee satisfaction and in enhancing the performance of the organization. These include the pieces of training, bonuses, health or medical insurances, paid offs, retirement plans, and others. These benefits play an important role in the motivation of the employees and enhancing their performances. According to Jaworski et al. (2018), training can help in providing the organizations with several benefits along with the facilities and opportunities of growth to the employees but the organizations hardly put sufficient efforts in doing so. It suggests that employee benefits can help in enhancing the performance of the employees, job satisfaction, and guest satisfaction as well as in the reduction of the various business costs. It can also help the organizations in retaining the employees for longer durations and increasing their efficiencies. 

On the other hand, Laundon et al. (2019), states that the perception of employees plays a significant role regarding the benefits provided by the organization. If the perceptions are fair regarding the benefits, the impact of the benefits in the employees is positive and helps in enhancing the organization's performance whereas if the benefits are perceived negatively, the performance will also be affected negatively. Various theories have been introduced that help in understanding the relationship between employee benefits and employee motivation. The expectancy theory focuses on the cognitive model. Employee benefits help in providing job satisfaction and contribute to the overall success of the firms. But the type of benefits that benefits the organization varies for the family and non-family firms. Querbach et al. (2020), has stated that care has a stronger impact on the family firms whereas, in the nonfamily firms, life quality benefits are the most impactful. This is suggestive of the fact that the different benefits have a different impact on the employees depending on the type of firm. Soyoung&Sungchan (2017), suggested that employee motivation can vary based on gender, race, and experience, and age, and these groups are found to be less satisfied by work units of higher performance which was found based on the expectancy theory. Spisakova (2019), claims that the synchronization of the employee perception and the remuneration is one of the biggest challenges that the organizations face in providing benefits to the employees.

Spisakova (2019), stated that employee benefits and remunerations can help the organization in motivating the employees and achieving the short term objectives of the organization. It suggests that the remuneration and benefits to the employees' can be helpful for the organization to enhance their performances and motivating the employees that ultimately aids the organization in achieving their objectives. But in the view of Galanaki (2019), the costs for remuneration and pother processes are high. It can be understood from this that the organizations required to spend a significant amount of capital for the remunerations and benefits provided to the employees but these benefits can help in motivating the employees and enhancing their performances. This can further help the organization to obtain its objectives and compensate for the costs and expenditures spent in the remunerations. It suggests that employee motivation can help in enhancing the employee performance that can help the organizations to achieve their goals. But the cost of the remunerations and benefits can be a burden to the businesses. Proper motivation strategies can help motivate the employees so that the costs of the expenditures can be compensated with. Hence, it can be concluded that employee benefits are helpful if the perceptions of the employees are positive regarding the benefits. The organizations should focus on providing benefits that are perceived as required and positive by the employees that can aid in employee motivation. 

The reinforcement theory is effective in motivating the employees through practices of reinforcement practices. According to Chege, (2016), employees can be motivated with the introduction of benefits but he also stated that the benefits should be introduced one at a time. Furthermore, non-monetary benefits such as appraisals, an employee of the month, recognition are can also be implemented for motivating the employees efficiently. But Cote (2019), argued that the strategies for the motivation of the employees should be different for each group. These strategies include intrinsic and extrinsic rewards, personal as well as organizational needs, and other factors. Reinforcement can help in motivating as well as preventing a certain unwanted behavior among the employees through punishments, and other forms of reinforcement. Guo et al. (2018), claims that mixed effectiveness can be found by reinforcement practices such as punishments, commitment, and monetary incentives. Hence, it can be said that the various theories can help identify strategies for the motivation of the employees and in understanding the effectiveness of employee benefits on employee motivation and job satisfaction. The various strategies impact the employees in various ways and the perception of the employees regarding the benefits is important for motivation. Employee benefits include various steps and can be provided in various ways which include medical plans, refreshments, and paid leaves and vacations. These benefits can be helpful in providing job satisfaction to the employees and in enhancing organizational performance.

Medical plan

Medical plans are one of the benefits that can help in motivating the employees and provide the employees with the option to reduce the costs for treatments. These include health insurance and other facilities provided to the employees. Goetzel et al. (2020), has argued that health care costs are higher for the people suffering from high risks of diseases such as blood pressure, obesity, depression, and stress, and other diseases compared to the people with lower risks. But Schaetz et al. (2020), believes that an n employer organized program for the awareness of serious health matters can be effective in increasing the awareness regarding a disease. It suggests that organizations play important role in the motivation and awareness of the employees regarding a disease. Medical plans can help the employees to reduce the costs and expenses that are required in the treatment of various diseases. Health insurances can help achieve this purpose. Hence, this step can help in the retention of the employees for long durations and in reducing their stress regarding health and medical expenditures. Swetha & Kumar (n.d) argued that medical benefits do not lead to employee satisfaction as compared to other benefits. It suggests that the other benefits such as the taxes, monetary benefits, and others have a positive influence on the employees and help make the employees motivated towards their work and enhancing the performance of the organization but medical benefits do not influence the employee motivation or job satisfaction. In the view of Mamdani & Minhaj (2016), every type of benefit to the employees helps motivate the employees and enhance their job satisfaction. Medical plans are one of the significant helps to the employees and help in keeping the employees motivated. According to Šofranac&Šofranac (2017), the employees are always self-motivated but the implementation of these benefits can help in the further motivation of the employees and in continuous improvement that can help the organization to grow. It helps to enhance employee satisfaction and providing better services. Kyron et al. (2020), suggested that the employees at stressful occupations must be supported and steps should be taken for the identification of suicidal prevalence and other mental stress and disorders. This can help in preventing the stress and trauma of the employees and also help in preventing suicides. Mental health too should be of concern for the organizations as most of the employees feel mentally pressurized under the workload and work pressure and stress. This can help in understanding that it is of utmost significance to implement medical plans and programs to check and spread awareness regarding various diseases regarding mental as well as physical health that can help the employees to cope with the pressure as well as lead a healthy lifestyle. Medical plans for the employees can help reduce the stress of medical expenses and aid in retaining the employees for long durations.

According to Gruber & McKnight (2016), it is found that people are price-sensitive to enroll in insurance plans of a limited network. The people who enrolled were found to spend less on the medical plans. It suggests that people are likely to spend less on medical and health insurance and hence, it supports the belief that medical plans are less effective in motivating the employees. Hence, medical benefits can be provided to the employees in their after-retirement plans for long employee retention and it is important to provide equal benefits to every employee. Various firms use mobile apps and other options to track employee health. Claxton et al. (2018), have stated that the percentage of employees that are covered under the insurances of a firm has decreased in the years.

Figure 1: Eligibility, take-ups, and coverage rates for workers in firms offering health benefits

Source: (Clarke, 2020)

It is argued by Clarke (2020), that medical and childcare insurances and benefits can help in increasing job satisfaction for the employees and also disagrees with the idea that medical plans decrease job satisfaction. Flexible work schedules along with medical plans are helpful. Hence, it can be believed that employee motivation and job satisfaction depend on the employees' perceptions and needs. Medical plans can be helpful and motivating for some employees whereas it can be demotivating for others. This suggests that the organizations should implement the strategies of employee benefits depending on the need of the employees, their age, economic conditions, and relationship status.

Paid vacation

Paid sick leaves are one of the crucial benefits that need to be provided by an employer of an organization. In the view of DeRigne et al. (2016), workers who do not have any paid leave concerning their illness or other reasons they are quite unlikely to take any leave from their respective job role. However, paid leave is provided by employers around the world. However, Mutamba (2016), criticized the aspects of Human capital theory concerning the leave providence to employees by an employer. Most of the organizations are nowadays willing and concerned about providing paid leave to their valuable employee to ensure the health of employees. Also, various candidates demand paid leaves that should be incorporated by the authorities of a company in the compensation packages. According to Cucaro (2017), employees are the major intangible assets of a company due to which the authorities of the company need to consider its Human capitals crucially and tactically. Although concerning the aspects of Human capital management within an organization various types of critics are present in this world. In the view of Kolomiiets et al. (2017), an organization should focus on managing the Human capital but the management department needs to aware of the determinants of labor economics. The paid off time of employees is different in different companies as most of the organizations provide this employee benefits as per the working year of that personnel. Also, the designation level of employees plays a significant role in regards to achieve the paid off times. However, Guettar et al. (2020) argued that it has become quite critical when employees have the chance to negotiate with the benefits provided by a company as oftentimes it is found that the limit of negotiation goes beyond the timeline of policy end.

Figure 2: Paid vacation per year 

Source: (Bureau of Labour Statistics, 2013)

This factor impact negatively on the organizational functions as well as the system created within the workplace. To recognize the aspects of paid off times or the paid leave an example should be considered by organizations that can help the authorities to make decisions concerning the employee benefits. As per the longevity and level of the company, the higher authorities of a firm offer five weeks of vacation. Although, the employer can change the aforementioned timeline as per the experience and job role of hired employees such as one week of paid vacation. It can be argued that employees should not negotiate about the offerings of paid off time and should consider the job role in regards to the whole compensation packages offered by the company.

According to Andersen et al. (2020), multiple existing pieces of studies already revealed the aspects of paid sick leave and their impact on the performance level of employees. Andersen et al. (2020), also argued that PSL mandates positively impact on the outcome of labours’ activities. Although, Callison &Pesko (2020), contradicted about the consent of the author. In the point of view of Callison & Pesko (2020), any sort of evidence is not present that can reveal the truth about the positive impact of PSL mandates. Employees within a company likely to take more leaves when that company offer paid off times concerning every aspect such as family obligations, childcare issue, parental or maternal leaves. The labour union of a country needs to devise its legislative structure in order to implement some laws concerning the employees paid off times. This legislation needs to be strictly applied within a company to anticipate the negative aspects of paid vacation. Standardization of the paid vacation needs to be also implemented within the workplace to typically engage employees during some events. However, the higher authorities of a company need to aware of the conception of employees regarding paid vacations as everyone does not take positive advantages from the compensation planning of the company. Apart from the special holidays, some vacation should also be given by the authorities of a company to ensure that the authorities are concerned about the wellbeing of employees. After returning from a paid vacation or leave an employee can deliver the utmost performance that will be fruitful for the business growth of the respective company. Henceforth it can be argued that paid vacation offering is quite mandatory to showcase the approach of the organization regarding the benefits of employees but the authorities should also prepare to anticipate the negative aspects of paid vacations. With the help of providing paid vacation to employees, the authorities of the organization can ensure excellent and loyal bonding with its employees. That can directly impact the productivity rate of the company as an employee's full potential in working can be captured by the authorities of the organization. 

Refreshments 

In the view of Mitsakis (2017), constant transforming business environment challenges and forces the organization to rethink the HRM policies to improve the aspects of employee wellbeing. The companies nowadays need to be proactive or strategic correspondingly to the strategic objectives of the companies. By focusing on the employee's well-being an organization can seek the utmost advantages of its employee's higher productivity with the help of which the company can easily meet with the business goals. The prior studies were already accomplished in the static business environment but now the scenario has changed that demand for a dynamic business environment. Concerning this aspect, an organization should provide refreshments to its employees to provide the feeling of belongingness to them. In the view of Mitsakis (2017), the HR department nowadays has become quite a water body that needs to be hydrated frequently to manage a good relationship with their co-workers.

Figure 3: HRD Australia 

Source: (HCMAG, 2020)

In regards to this, HR professionals should provide refreshments to the employees to enrich the special skills of employees by sharing the ethical and moral values to the most significant intangible asset of the company. Proper food and refreshments can help the HRM of a company to manage an excellent relationship as well as to ensure that the employees are motivated and inspired regarding their respective job roles. Khanna (2018), argued that an organization should develop three levels of employee wellbeing in which sanitary conditions, availability of trained women, and availability of refreshments need to be incorporated within the levels. As per the findings of the author, 65.4% of employees stated that they are satisfied in their job role as the company provides them with milk and other refreshments. The providence of refreshments is one of the crucial determinants in regards to the employee's benefits by giving which an organization can enrich its brand image and value. By giving refreshments to employees an organization can tactically increase the satisfaction level of employees that positively impact the business growth of that company. However, Spisakova (2019), criticized the aspects of employee benefits as the author stated that an organization should not focus on the temporary financial rewards and motivational aspects. Henceforth, it can be argued that an organization needs to ensure the establishment of permanent employee benefits-oriented factors to seek the optimum level of performance.

With the rise in demand for innovative and advanced products, companies have to increase their production rate due to which the pressure of customers' demand increases significantly. In regards to this scenario, an organization should offer coffee and refreshments to its employees to feel the employees happy during their job. Although, according to Wrede (2018), a contradiction is also present concerning the employer's point of view. The fact is 15minutes of working time is lost when an employee takes a coffee break to revamp his or her capability in working. Although employers have to encourage their employees to take coffee breaks to reduce the working pressure. In the view of Foy et al. (2019), workplace stress increases the high health-related issues, interpersonal conflicts and contradictions, poor morale, and less productivity rate. Henceforth, taking some break-in working time or stepping some steps away from the desk can help employees to relax their brain. In the view of Wrede (2018), Caffeine is one of the crucial products that an organization should incorporate in the refreshments' list as caffeine increases the hormone levels that positively impact the energy, mood, and cognitive strength of an individual. However, Uddin et al. (2017), contradicted the positive aspects of caffeine as per the viewpoint of the authors' high consumption of caffeine can lead to depression, anxiety, psychological aspects, and others. According to Lee & Li (2020), for implementing the aspects of employee wellbeing and offerings of refreshments an organization should establish and manage good communication with its employees.  By managing effective communication with employees an organization can seek the concern of employees with the help of which an organization can develop some strategies that lead them to showcase ethical and moral aspects to its employees. Within the workplace, an organization should take multiple measures in order to develop legislative actions for robust employees' welfare-related aspects. The higher authorities of an organization need to provide food and beverages to its employees for increasing the moral values of employees to a greater extent. Alongside this, the authorities of the company need to ensure the quality of refreshments as it can impact negatively the health of employees. Interior drinks and waters can harm the hydration level of employees due to which the organization can face severe challenges regarding the drop-in production rate.  Therefore, lastly, it can be asserted that an organization should include the offerings of refreshments to its employees to enrich the working capacity of employees as well as showcase their approach towards the welfare of employees.