When it comes to benefits that employers offer to their staff and prospective employees, pet insurance may not be the first one that you think of. But it might be a key differentiator as you compete for talent in a thin job market. While health insurance, dental coverage, paid time off and onsite perks such as snacks, coffee, free lunch and ping pong tables are common benefits that attract talent, pet insurance is rising in popularity. By providing it for your employees, you’ll give your company an advantage over your competition.

Today’s job market is extremely competitive for employers that are hiring, and trying to retain, their industries top talent. In fact, the number of vacant jobs in comparison to a falling unemployment rate has rendered the job market to exceed full employment. What does that mean for employers? It means it’s time to consider non-traditional methods when it comes to recruiting talent to apply and work for your company.

What is Pet Insurance?

Much like health insurance, pet insurance is a tool that helps pet owners avoid making difficult decisions when expensive veterinary bills arrive. Pet owners have limited options when unexpected accidents or surgeries are required for their beloved pet if they don’t possess pet insurance. They either have to find the resources to pay for the, at times, very expensive veterinary bills, or make the emotional decision to put their pet down. Pet insurance offers pet owners a third option that is affordable and far less morbid.

Pet insurance provides pet owners with the peace of mind that if something unexpected and expensive happens to their pet, they’ll be able to make a decision that isn’t driven by financial considerations. As you can imagine, that’s one heck of a nice perk to provide to your employees.

There’s a number of other services and procedures that aren’t classified as emergencies that pet owners would love to provide for their furry little friends. Examples, microchipping, spaying, grooming and various other pet-related expenses that can be too pricey for pet owners to afford. However, with pet insurance offsetting a chunk of the cost, pet owners are far more likely to take advantage of those services and enjoy the security that comes with them.

Effect on Employees

More than 68 percent of Americans have a pet. And not only do Americans have pets, they adore them. Think about the recent trend of employers allowing pets at the office, and how much that’s affected businesses in a positive way both in their bottom line and in recruiting and retaining their talent. Research conducted by Forbes found that employers that allow pets in the workplace see benefits all over the board, including:

• Employee morale is up as pets lower the level of stress a person experiences.
• Employee collaboration increases, as having their pets with them at work acts a natural conversation starter amongst employees.
• Exercise is up for employees. Dogs need to be walked, which means your employees are forced to get up and get active during the day. The more active your employees are, the better they’ll focus and healthier they’ll be — which will save you money on insurance premiums.
• Time Flexibility also is improved. When your employees have Fido and Rufus with them at the office, they won’t have to run home to let them out or take them for a walk.

Providing pet insurance to your employees follows the same logic that allowing pets in the office does. Your employees love their pets. Pet insurance allows them to feel that their pets are secure, protected and healthy. With your employees feeling good about the well being of their pets, they’ll free up more bandwidth to think about their daily tasks at work.

Effect on Your Business

The greatest way that providing pet insurance for your employees will affect your business is by vamping up your ability to recruit and retain talent. Especially among the workforce’s largest generational group: millennials. Revisiting the earlier figure that more than 68 percent of Americans own pets, there’s a good chance that most of your employees on staff, and most of the prospective employees you want to work for you company, own a pet.

When you’re considering adding pet insurance to your benefits package, weigh that against some of the other common recruitment perks companies choose to deploy to lure talent. Say, ping pong tables. Are you confident that 68 percent of your prospective candidates will decide to choose your company over another because they’ll be able to play a game of ping pong at work once in awhile? Or that a majority of your employees will stay with your company because they don’t want to lose access to the ping pong table? Chances are they won’t.  However, if you’re able to offer a benefit that will appeal to a majority of your candidate pool the peace of mind that pet insurance carries, they’ll not only want to work for your company, they’ll be less likely to want to leave.

Learn More About Pet Insurance At PetPlace

When it comes to running your business or managing your team, you want your employees to enjoy their work and have buy in towards your overall business goals. You also want to provide an employment brand that attracts your industry’s best talent. By offering competitive benefits packages that include pet insurance, you’ll be doing just that. Pet insurance is one of hundreds of pet-related topics we discuss over at PetPlace. Whether you’re interested in learning about your cat’s behavior or discovering why it is that you dog wags his tail, PetPlace is the resource for you.

The best pet insurance offers coverage that’s broad enough for whatever care your pet needs and with enough options to get the perfect coverage for you and your pet.