Are you struggling to attract and retain talent? It might be time to focus on your company benefits and perks package. With the power of choice shifting from employer to employee, a lacklustre perks offering might be the last straw for a worker who spies greener grass elsewhere.
Standing out from the crowd isn’t always easy. We know just how important it is to align company values with your culture – including the benefits you offer loyal employees.
Employees Are Expecting More
Since the pandemic, the best talent is willing to shop around for the best company culture. Stock options and a big compensation package are no longer enough to ensure loyalty and employee satisfaction. That’s why recognition and engagement should be receiving maximum investment.
As experts in employee recognition, we’re here to help you create a distinctive offering for your team. From creating daily habits of recognition to incentivising through large bonuses, perks and benefits must be working for everyone.
Are they cost-effective? Do they motivate your team? Are distributed through equal opportunity?
In this article, we break down the basics of employee benefits packages. Then we’ll explain how to utilise them to improve engagement.
What is a Benefits Package?
A benefits package is a bolt-on offering presented to new hires in addition to their salary. Benefits include flexible working hours, free gym memberships and healthcare coverage. A competitive benefits package helps companies differentiate themselves in a tough market while incentivising employees to reach for success.
Benefits and perks are an essential part of your employee value proposition (EVP). An EVP is a unique set of offerings you provide for your employees in return for the skills, experience and qualities they bring to the position.
The last thing a busy HR leader needs is wasting time and money on initiatives no one wants. Instead, pay attention to your business sector. Current trends and cultural differences will also contribute to your company’s unique perks and benefits package.
Your efforts will be rewarded. With the right package, you’ll soon see the impact on your employee turnover, as well as increased employee motivation and engagement.
What is the Difference Between Perks and Benefits?
Put simply, benefits are things that employees need, like healthcare and flexible hours. On the other hand, perks are often novel and luxurious. Perks include fancy dinners, club memberships and a monthly coffee budget.
If you are still struggling to understand the difference, use this metaphor: Imagine a nutritious breakfast vs an afternoon treat. Each has value, but one is more essential to overall health and well-being. In an ideal world, HR should offer employees a blend of both.
Company Benefits Are Changing
A company car is no longer every employee’s priority. Today’s workforce is more diversified, with many working parents choosing to work flexibly from home, forgoing the typical perks of the white-collar class.
As Forbes reports, not only are benefits closely tied to a job’s perceived value, but those benefits tend to centre around flexibility and well-being initiatives. Their research found that this trend extended across generations, with Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X and Baby Boomers all putting flexibility at the top of the list.
It’s not just flexibility in their working patterns that employees value. Evidence suggests that flexibility in benefits and reward packages is popular. A recent report by MetLife UK found that 74% of employees claimed they would work harder if they knew their needs were supported. 73% said they’d do the same if they knew their well-being was prioritised.
Perhaps most interestingly, 50% of the workers questioned said they’d be prepared to accept a reduction in pay in return for more tailored perks. This just goes to show that a comprehensive benefits package is worth its weight in gold.
Personalisation is Key
Did you know that 27% of employers attribute missed talent acquisition opportunities to their inability to raise salaries? 43% pinpoint failure to offer accessible and comprehensive benefits packages as the critical contributing factor.
That’s according to the latest research by leading employee benefits technology provider Zest. As our trusted partner, Zest helps deliver personalised benefits packages by communicating your benefits offering. They show the value of the full package – beyond salary.
Businesses Can Win Top Talent From Competitors By:
- Prioritising packages that can be individually tailored. If a benefit meets the needs of employees on a personal level, it will be successful.
- Implementing a carefully considered recognition and rewards programme as a cost-effective way to keep up with the competition
- Adopting a holistic benefits strategy paired with flexible working practices
The standard one-size-fits-all approach to employee benefits is over. To offer personalised employee benefits packages that aid talent attraction and retention, it’s important to regularly evaluate the needs of employees and analyse engagement.
Want to show your people how much they mean to you? Book a demo with Zest and find out how they can help with a personalised portal jam-packed with the benefits they want.
Even better, combine benefits with recognition to transform your company culture from the bottom up. Our partnership with Zest puts the power of reward and recognition into action.
The Best Company Benefits in 2024
1. Flexible Working Hours
Flexibility is at the top of the agenda for many employees. It was already a growing trend when the pandemic hit and now, having seen how feasible remote and hybrid working is for many businesses, it looks like it’s here to stay.
That’s not to say that flexibility is limited to offering remote working options. Flexible working is a way of ensuring you are offering the best possible experience for your employees, depending on the working patterns they prefer.
Some employees may relish the opportunity to work from home. Others may want to be in the office but find that flexitime or compressed hours best allow them to manage their work-life balance. On the other hand, the option of a 4-day week or the ability to job share could be just the kind of offering that makes a real difference.
Ensure that your policies are fair and transparent. While tailoring benefits to meet employee needs is essential, it’s also important to Find out more about how you can integrate adaptability into your processes with our guide to flexible working.
Transform your culture with Mo
- Improve employee engagement scores
- Reduce employee churn
- Build a collaborative culture
2. Competitive Parental Leave
A recent study by REC Parenting found that a mere 14% of working parents feel supported by their employee benefits package. The survey also found that only 20% of working parents receive specific parenting support in their benefits package.
With so few parents feeling as though their employer is looking out for them during a life-changing period, this is a clear area where you could gain an edge.
The UK is lagging behind the rest of Europe when it comes to paternity leave. The Guardian reported that almost a third of fathers took no paternity leave after the birth of their child, yet only 18% think leave should be two weeks or less. This suggests that companies are failing to offer comprehensive support and encouragement to new fathers and families. Why not firm up some policies that make your staff feel free to enjoy those precious first months?
The same goes for introducing more competitive packages for new mothers. As well as flexibility for all parents, allowing them to accommodate childcare demands alongside a thriving professional life.
3. Paid Time Off (PTO)
We all need time to rest, unwind and recharge. However, staff can be reluctant to use all of the paid leave allotted to them. Paid time off is an important habit to model, so we encourage senior management to take time away.
We recommend offering employees a generous leave package as part of a company culture that encourages them to switch off when away from their desks.
Make it very clear that holidays are an essential part of their duties. After all, consistent leave and sufficient downtime are important parts of forestalling employee burnout and stress. Think of it this way: take PTO or take sick leave. It’s one or the other.
4. Reward Schemes
Rewards are an important way to boost motivation and confidence. Creating a reward management system not only offers a structure for improvement and attainment but adds some incentives too. What those incentives look like depends on your company. Mo makes it easy to figure out what truly motivates your people.
The two most important things to remember are to make sure that the rewards you offer match expectations. Don’t promise one thing and deliver another. And to be confident that you have a way of tracking progress and goal attainment. Our rewards and recognition software integrates reminders to ensure you never miss an important milestone.
5. Well-being Support
With so many employees citing that well-being support is high on their agenda, it makes sense to prioritise related benefits. These can range from providing free gym memberships to offering ‘well-being hours’, a flexible period for employees to go and grab a coffee, take a walk or schedule something fun during their week.
Some companies may be able to offer access to treatment via private health insurance. Others may be able to contribute to subsidised classes, counselling, or wellness initiatives, like a cycle-to-work scheme. Another potential offering is subscriptions to well-being apps designed to help boost emotional well-being.
That said, one of the most powerful and most straightforward wellbeing benefits is to include paid time off for mental health issues as well as physical illness compassionate leave for needed, and a human-first approach when it comes to discussing any health or wellbeing issues.
Flexibility is the name of the game when it comes to working patterns. Make sure you offer a wide enough range of perks and benefits to appeal to as many people as possible and work with your team to find out what kind of packages they value most.
How Mo Leverages Perks For Top Companies
With Mo’s employee recognition platform, you can utilise social recognition to celebrate the people who go above and beyond. Employees are looking for different perks and benefits to the ones they might’ve prioritised in previous years. That means it’s time to update your policies and thinking too.
If you’d like more support on setting up an effective reward and recognition scheme, book a demo with our experts.
Enable Peer-to-peer Rewards
Empower your people to recognise one another with peer-to-peer rewards and create a culture where colleagues appreciate each other. With Mo’s platform, employees can easily give each other shout-outs.
We offer cash rewards that can be translated into hundreds of options, from Amazon gift cards to vouchers for your employee’s favourite restaurant.
Streamline Company Awards with Nominations
All you need to do is set up your awards criteria and go – get creative! How about ‘most inspirational’ or ‘most entertaining’? Do you run employee service awards? Mo makes it super easy.
Employees submit their nominees and write a message about why they’re nominating them. Mo will work out the winners, and nominees will be able to read all the kind messages others have written.
Interested in finding out how Mo can help you stay on top of rewards, employee anniversaries and communication? Be sure to get in touch or book a demo.
Company Benefits: Key Takeaways
- Employee expectations have shifted towards comprehensive benefits packages, with perks and benefits playing a crucial role in attracting and retaining talent.
- Benefits packages include essential offerings like flexible working hours and healthcare coverage, while perks encompass novel and luxurious incentives such as reward schemes and well-being support.
- Companies need to adapt their benefits packages to align with changing workforce priorities, such as flexibility, parental support, paid time off, reward schemes, and well-being initiatives, to stay competitive in the job market and foster employee engagement and satisfaction.
