---
title: Understanding employee needs
description: Help your client understand their employees' needs
---

<https://blog.equitable.ca/playbook>

# [Understanding employee needs](https://blog.equitable.ca/playbook/understanding-employee-needs)

 Written by [Emily Caister](https://blog.equitable.ca/playbook/author/emily-caister) | Jun 20, 2018 8:44:31 PM

The next step is to understand and identify their employee needs. What are they and how will they change over time? A team made up of single twenty-somethings will have different priorities than married 40-year-olds with kids.

There are some simple steps you can take to determine what type of benefits might be the best fit.

- Find out what benefits other employers in their sector are offering. Industry-specific benchmark data is available from a few sources, including [The Conference Board of Canada](http://www.conferenceboard.ca/e-library/abstract.aspx?did=7364) and [BenchMarket](http://www.benchmarket.ca/).
- Suggest they survey their employees to determine their needs, preferences and expectations. This can be done informally, through conversations or they can create a survey using a free tool like Survey Monkey to collect and analyze responses.
- Ask them to think about the demographics of their team to determine the options that will best meet their needs. As we mentioned above, single twenty-somethings have different needs than someone married with children, so it is important to choose a benefits plan accordingly.

 Once you’ve done this, you’ll be well on your way to finding the best benefits plan for your client’s small business.

[View full post](https://blog.equitable.ca/playbook/understanding-employee-needs)

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