Package deal
1 Mar, 2006 By: Stephanie Ricca Landscape ManagementYour benefits plan can attract top-notch employees without costing too much time or money. Here are some shortcuts to figuring it out.
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So you're interested in changing jobs and you answer an ad for a full-time management position. You get the job and on the first day in orientation the human resources manager talks at length about your new medical and dental benefits, plus the option you'll have in a year to join the company-matched 401(k) retirement plan.
Nope, you're not in a bank or an insurance office. You're at a mid-sized landscape company.
More and more small to mid-size companies are getting into the benefits act, offering medical and retirement packages as a way to attract and take care of valuable employees.
 Health insurance legislative update |
"The more we can offer, the better people we get," says Bruce Allentuck, president of Allentuck Landscaping in Clarksburg, MD, of his company's employee benefits package. It's a popular strategy too, given the competition landscape companies face not only in gaining customers but also in attracting good employees who stick around.
Allentuck has about 45 employees at two branches in Maryland and Delaware. Eligibility for benefits at his company is based on length of employment. After three months, all employees get health insurance, personal leave, profit sharing and holiday pay. After six months they can opt in to the company-matched 401(k) retirement savings plan.
Wonder how your company's benefits package compares to your competition's? The majority of participants in a recent Landscape Management online survey say they consider their benefits package good.
 Investment terms |
"Benefits keep good employees with us," 51% responded.
Still, 37% of respondents agree that they would like to provide more benefits, but the expense is a factor, and they're not sure where to find better deals. (For complete survey results, turn to of this issue.)
Three companies shared the details of their benefits packages with LM, offering insight into the pros and cons of the benefits process.
Education counts
When Bruce Allentuck started his company he knew that offering personal leave and vacation time was a no-brainer. Then, as his original staff matured and he added more people, those needs led him to adding medical benefits and a retirement plan.
Right now 10 of his employees take health insurance and eight participate in the 401(k). "That's smaller than I'd like to see," Allentuck says. "It's mostly the older guys."
It's the same way at Michael Hatcher & Associates in Memphis. Of the 60 full-time employees there, 11 take medical benefits, nine take dental and 14 contribute to the company-matched 401(k).
"Our participation isn't that large, so we have to stick with the one plan," says Hatcher office manager Rose Willis, who manages benefits at the company. "We'd like to offer three or four more plans for families." Right now, the medical benefits are for individuals only.
However, Willis points out, participation in the plans seems to grow as the company does. "As we get more employees in management positions we get more people joining," she says, adding that the company competes with other companies that might offer higher pay but no company benefits.
The three companies we interviewed does as much as they can to educate their employees about their benefits.
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