Employee benefits might seem like a one-time job, a tick on a list that once completed can be left alone, but sadly in an ever-changing world of work and digital revolution on the horizon, there simply isn’t space for that mindset anymore.
Recruitment marketing has never been so crucial, what with social media, employee reviews and forums allowing potential talent access to more information than ever before to base their decisions on.
In a sense, you’ll end up getting the applicants your company deserves. If your company has a strong reputation on and offline, talent will actively search you out and find you. If it doesn’t, the quality of applicants is likely to decrease.
The war for talent has never been so brutal, either, making it all the more important to pursue recruitment marketing and provide your employees with a positive experience. Matt Alder, HR technologist, notes that ‘receiving a decent employee experience is becoming even more important, from recruitment, on boarding to learning and development.’
Benefits are a great way to attract candidates to your open positions. Of course, your company needs to have a strong reputation at its core before embarking on any costly benefits schemes, but the return on investment could be incredible, if done right.
It can be hard, though, to find realistic benefits to offer to your employees due to the potential costs. That’s why we’ve put together a short list of statistically proven benefits that will improve your benefits package without access to a large budget.
1. Company catering. Setting up a catering plan with local restaurants can boost employee satisfaction and engagement, through allowing them easier access to the foods they want during work hours.
2. Relaxed dress code. Statistics from early 2017 show that 61% of employees are more productive when the dress code is relaxed. This should be reason enough to drop the formal gear, and will help you attract candidates who prefer a more relaxed atmosphere.
3. Remote working. Having the option to work from home can decrease stress levels by up to 82 percent, while increasing morale and overall employee satisfaction. Hard to argue against those stats!
4. Extra time off for parents. A TUC investigation found that two in five young parents who asked for flexible work arrangements were being penalised with fewer hours or worse shifts. With this issue currently in the public light, allowing extra time off for parents could place your company in a favourable light for potential candidates, while at the same time helping to retain your current staff members.
5. Flexible shifts. 70% of workers feel that offering flexible working makes a job more attractive to them. You could therefore be missing out on a huge portion of talent by not offering flexible working to employees, and advertising it as such.
6. Bringing pets to work. New research in Scotland has revealed that two-fifths of employees feel that introducing dog-friendly work environments would boost morale, while 15% say dogs in the office would make them feel that their company cares about their happiness.
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