If you ask business owners and human resources professionals about the effect benefits packages can have on a company, they'll tell you the quality of those packages affects the company's reputation.

That's according to a survey from the Healthcare Trends Institute, which finds in the fourth annual Benefits Benchmark Survey that the majority of employers and HR executives look upon health benefits offerings as recruiting and retention tools.

The survey, which provides employers insights into how their peers are adopting new health care benefits options, says the majority of respondents also say improving employee morale and satisfaction (68 percent) and improving employee health (67) are key considerations.