Employee Benefits: How to Attract and Retain People Without Impacting your Business Finances
Concept Personnel has been sourcing the best candidates for the best jobs in the digital, creative and marketing sector for almost 20 years. In today’s skills short market candidates often have several offers on the table within a short space of time. Having a decent benefits package can really help your job to stand out from the crowd and make your job offer the one that the candidate can’t resist.
According to a recent survey by Glassdoor, around 60% of people say that benefits and perks are one of their top considerations when deciding on a job. Including these benefits in your job ads will encourage job seekers to apply.
Here are a few low-cost ideas to help you peak an applicants’ interest:
Flexible Working.We all need a healthy work-life balance and companies that actively encourage this are fast becoming the most attractive places to work. Allowing employees flexibility to choose their hours and work from home is without doubt the one benefit that our candidates regard the most desirable. If you’ve hired the right personality, a candidate who is passionate about their work and always goes the extra mile to exceed your clients’ expectations, you can surely rely on that person to be 100% committed to their job.
Enhanced Holidays / Unlimited Holidays. It’s easy to look at what your competitors are doing and add on an extra day’s holiday to enhance your policy over theirs. Add a couple of duvet days or give people their birthday off. But in the digital and tech sector, Unlimited Paid Holiday is becoming increasingly popular as companies realise the benefit of allowing their employees the flexibility to manage their own time and autonomy in their job role. An unlimited holiday policy is the most effective way to show your employees you trust them, and that stress, burnout and chronic fatigue are not essential requirements for a productive working life.
Employee Discount Schemes.Perkbox, perkpal, perksatwork etc have a digital app based platform where your employees can access shopping discounts, cinema tickets, free coffees, gym discounts, health and wellbeing discounts, virtual GP services, and more and it only costs around £10 to £15 per person per month! You can use these platforms to give extra recognition rewards too. Perkbox brags that their customers have experienced up to a 57% uplift in staff retention levels after 24 months of using their platform.
Learning Opportunities / Conference Tickets.The recruits you need are those who love to learn and share knowledge amongst the team. Consider an online learning platform where candidates can learn about a new coding language or an additional skill. Or allocate an annual budget for conference tickets and events. Investing in education is a highly desirable benefit for the candidate whilst your business reaps the rewards too.
Healthcare Insurance. Is your company a member of the MK Chamber of Commerce? If so your employees get access to AXA PPP Healthcare’s Health at Hand service. This gives them a 24/7 confidential telephone helpline, providing health information and support from a team of nurses, counsellors, midwives and pharmacists. They can also talk to a counsellor about how they’re feeling or ask a midwife about pregnancy. All in with the cost of your chamber membership.
There are many other things you can do to enhance your company culture such as free food and drinks, bring your dog to work days, team building events, summer bbqs, team sports, cycle to work schemes, adding a break out room with games tables. The list could go on.
When surveys and statistics tell you that 90% of millennials say they would prefer benefits over a pay rise, you realise the importance of including benefits in your offer. So don’t be left behind when it comes to hiring the talent you need to get ahead in today’s market.
For more information on recruitment, contact Jo Carter at Concept Personnel on Jo@conceptpersonnel.com or visit https://www.conceptpersonnel.co.uk
