This prediction has sprung to life over the last few years, particularly as employers look to entice potential employees in a job market that is increasingly to their advantage.

Results from the recent Employee Benefit Research Institute's 2015 Health and Voluntary Workplace Benefits Survey confirms that employees value voluntary benefits and feel that it is important for their employers to offer them choices in the benefit plans offered.

Read: 4 predictions about nontraditional workplace benefits

Crafting a successful comprehensive benefits package that works for your company requires strategic thinking.

Before asking your benefits broker to add just any voluntary benefits package, make sure that the voluntary benefits selected are tailored to your employee population, fit your company culture, and meet your company's needs for the return on investment.  

When it comes to voluntary benefits, there's never a "one size fits all."

What are voluntary benefits? Why do they matter?

Voluntary benefits supplement traditional benefit packages to meet outstanding security, health, wealth, and personal needs.

Some voluntary benefits, such as dental, vision, life insurance, and retirement plans have been around a long time and are generally expected by employees today.

Other voluntary benefits, such as pet insurance, identity theft protection, and financial counseling, are on the rise. 

With five generations of employees in the workplace, the value of certain benefits varies depending on the stage of life they're in.

Providing a broader array of non-traditional convenience or concierge services that help employees juggle work/life issues or provide financial counseling/protection to cover gaps in health and financial policies could appeal to those life cycle needs and may enhance employee engagement and satisfaction.

So why are voluntary benefits good for business?  

Most significantly, they support employee well-being and satisfaction, which helps attract, engage and retain talent, key considerations for employers today.

They are also cost-effective in that employees have access to vendors that offer services at reduced costs due to group underwriting.

Voluntary benefits are also generally easier to administer, since employees can often conveniently purchase benefits through a payroll deduction and access the benefits directly with the vendor.

For the employer, providing these non-traditional benefits may be a less expensive alternative to rising health care and other traditional benefit costs.

Thinking strategically

Consider your overall financial goals and talent management strategy before deciding to offer voluntary benefits to your employees.

Take care to understand the demographics of your current and future workforce to determine which voluntary benefits plan may meet their needs and preferences and survey your existing employees to test your assumptions.

Are your older employees truly valuing traditional benefits, retirement plans, and the voluntary benefit financial protection plans?

Do your younger employees really prefer less comprehensive (and cheaper) health insurance offerings and more nontraditional benefits, such as concierge and time-saving products?

In selecting a voluntary benefits plan, contemplate the kind of workforce you want to cultivate.

Before signing your company up for an onsite massage therapist, pet insurance, or egg-freezing services, think about whether this will attract the right candidates or help your employees perform their jobs better. Be intentional about the choices you make.

When seeking out the best voluntary benefits plan for your workforce, make sure to do your research–whether it's setting aside time to get advice about voluntary benefits offerings with your broker, scanning the employment landscape for new benefits trends, or simply researching your competitors.

Once you do decide to go with a specific voluntary benefit, carefully vet each vendor by checking the vendor's references and asking your broker about their reputation in the benefits industry.  

Introducing a trendy new benefit that doesn't deliver on the promise will frustrate employees and have the opposite of the intended effect of providing extra value to your employees.

Doing that extra research will legitimize your voluntary benefits package, and in turn, maintain employee trust.

Just because you implement the ideal voluntary benefits products, don't assume that all employees will take advantage of them.

Benefits products can be complicated, and if employees don't feel comfortable navigating them on their own, chances are that they'll never get on board.

To prevent this, it is essential to work with your broker and voluntary benefits vendors to provide training and clear communications materials so your employees know the benefit features, how to access them and where to go for more information and assistance.

Furthermore, seeking employee feedback on a regular basis, either informally or through benefits surveys, will ensure that what is being offered is actually being valued and used. Educating your employees is the best way to make sure that the time and resources you've put into building an excellent voluntary benefits package doesn't go to waste.

As voluntary benefits packages become important for companies to attract and retain employees, it is critical to consider your workforce demographics and do your research.

More importantly, this process helps you know what benefits will be truly valuable to your current and potential employees. With this, you will achieve the financia–and human–return on your investment and enhance your overall talent management strategy.