Companies tend to spend a lot of money to arrange top resources and hiring the best talent - but will usually overlook the importance of employee satisfaction. This typically results in job stress, high employee turnover, and low profit. Employees are the fuel to any organisation, and when their needs are met, they perform better, whilst remaining engaged. Here at Talented Recruitment Group, we decided to give you ideas for more of a modern benefits & perks package to suit current and future employees!
Now is a great opportunity to revise the benefits and perks that are currently being offered to employees, creating benefits & perks that employees want, and more importantly, need in this brand-new age of work and life.
A good salary isn't the only metric for employees to remain engaged in their roles today. Employees in the workplace are seeking an ideal working environment that can promote learning and development, work-life balance, positive company culture, and an overall great experience. Companies that can offer meaningful benefits and perks to fulfil these needs, tend to experience higher employee retention, productivity, employee satisfaction, better growth and even success.
A company "wins" when their employees are happy and fulfilled in their jobs, therefore, they actively contribute to the company's growth. If an employees' needs are not taken care of, this usually creates a direct impact on their productivity and even a companies' bottom line.
Traditional benefits usually include paid holiday allowance, pension contributions and more. These benefits are essential for employees, and there is no second thought about it. However, employees are now wanting instant gratification. Instant improvements in their working lifestyle so they can have a better work-life balance and a smoother career trajectory - employee perks are usually tied more closely to these choices.
Here at Talented Recruitment Group, we decided to list some of the popular perks that employees are now looking for below.
Perks & Benefits.
Learning Opportunities -
The advantages of learning are extremely evident, if you simply invest in your employee, they will invest in you. But how learning is carried out, the encouragement of learning and the areas of learning that are available will need to be revised to retain and attract employees.
It's important for any employer to understand that it's your responsibility to create an environment that enables your employees to have the option to learn and train, whenever it's convenient for them. Actively encouraging employees to undertake learning, both professionally and personally, by creating a programme and calendar is a great way to do so. This will demonstrate your interest in their learning, whilst ensuring employees invest in their learning and development properly without letting their day-to-day work get in the way of their training.
To maximise engagement with your learning initiatives, you should consider implementing a variety of training options that can appeal to the diverse needs of your employees. They could be anything from structured training courses to mentorship programmes, to at-home e-learning programmes - it's best to give your employees the option to choose their best fit.
Wellness Programmes -
Even prior to the pandemic, burnout, workplace stress and anxiety were on the rise and a cause for concern for employers as it actively contributes to employee disengagement and turnover.
Well-being isn't considered as a new perk, however, where companies fail is understanding that it's not a one-size-fits-all approach. What can cause stress for one individual can be the complete opposite for another employee. Companies will need to create tailored strategies that take into consideration the employees individual needs.
HR software can assist in ensuring the blanket approach to well-being is overcome. POWR by Wrkit comes to mind as they offer well-being strategies and programmes based on an initial survey taken by the employee and they will then tailor the programme accordingly. The added advantage of this software is that you can then monitor engagement and results, which will provide you with insights to feed your wider well-being strategy, whilst promoting wellness programmes in your benefits & perks package.
Additional Holiday -
We can all agree that holiday allowance is extremely important to employees as this is an important part of our work-life balance.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, a lot of companies have been offering unlimited holidays for their staff. However, some found that their employees had been taking less holiday than they would if they had a set number of days, simply because they don't want to be seen as slacking.
If you plan to introduce such a perk, it's important that you make it clear that the holiday is there to be taken. Other companies have introduced a minimum threshold to ensure that their team takes enough leave.
If you'd prefer to offer a set amount of annual leave to your employees, try adding a couple more days into the mix. This will help to keep your employees engaged, retain their loyalty - and even stand out to more potential employees.
Flexible Working -
Whilst most companies have already moved to a hybrid working environment - allowing their employees to have a better work-life balance - a study back in November 2021 found that three out of four jobs advertised in the UK still didn't offer any type of flexible working options.
In the same research, it also revealed that nine in ten people would like a flexible working option in their future roles. Therefore, it's important for an employer to consider this for their current and future staff. By giving your employees the option to decide how and where they work, you'll be boosting your recruitment and long-term loyalty.
The dynamics of work culture has changed massively over the last decade, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic. Like we discussed previously, employees are now much more inclined towards organisations that help them to create a work-life balance, provide career development opportunities, and an overall positive environment.
If you can provide the right employee perks, whilst re-evaluating them occasionally, this can give you an edge over your competitors, which is something worth considering.