One of the most difficult schisms between workers in the United States exists among private and public sector workers. In addition to the fact that most people mistakenly believe public workers to be given better benefits, there is also the issue of influence. The existence of unions in many public sector industries often makes private workers believe they have no ability to choose what services they have access to.
For example, the idea of collective bargaining holds that unionized employees can meet, elect representatives and vote on the healthcare and retirement benefits they're given. This is a major selling point for public sector employers and leads quite a few workers to think that if they don't work for a government agency, they won't have any say in their benefits.
One way to help your workers feel better about the benefits they receive (which are often superior to those in the public sector) is to seek the aid of an employee benefit adviser. This kind of professional can help to create a detailed and cost-effective plan for properly compensating staff members. On top of giving them excellent services and access to superior care, an employee benefit consultant provides quite a bit of guidance and instruction on how best to use these services.
The advantages of such a scenario are twofold. First, it convinces existing workers they're valuable company assets and shouldn't look for work elsewhere. Secondly, doing so helps qualified candidates pursue private sector positions when they might otherwise choose to work in government or local agencies. Frequently consult and poll personnel to give them some measure of agency when it comes to picking particular benefits. Just because workers can't get together and form unions doesn't mean they shouldn't be able to provide input in the benefit selection process.