Get the best and keep the rest.
If you want the highest quality professionals in the industry who are targeted to do the very most for your organisation, then there is something that cannot be overlooked.
No excuses.
It’s your benefits.
Without a generous benefits package on offer, you will struggle to attract the top industry professionals to join your organisation.
And…
There’s the serious problem of retaining your quality talent (in a world where 41% of employees globally are considering leaving their jobs this year).
To make matters worse, the cost to replace just one employee is far worse than one simple cost, which we will touch on shortly.
Today’s job market is fast-paced and competitive.
You already know this fact.
Attracting and retaining the best talent, meeting current employee expectations, the rising cost of living, and an increased focus on employee well-being have created a job market minefield to navigate.
Your benefits package is the crucial asset you need when manoeuvring this competitive landscape, with employees increasingly likely to drop out of their current role in favour of a position that offers them better benefits.
In a 2021 study by Willis Towers Watson, they found that 75% of employees regard their benefits package as an important factor in deciding to stay with their current employer.
Salary is still a massive factor, if not, the greatest priority for most jobseekers when considering a job offer.
But that doesn’t undermine the importance of benefits, which are just as easily the difference in a candidate’s decision to join you (or another employer).
According to Glassdoor, 4 in 5 employees would prefer new or additional benefits to a pay rise.
Think of Salary and Benefits as brothers.
They walk hand in hand together and their bond is strong.
Underestimating this relationship is costly.
The luxury of choice
It comes down to this…
The very best candidates can afford to be selective.
A survey by CareerBuilder found that 32% of workers will switch jobs for better benefits, increasing to 56% among workers aged 18-34.
ON TOP OF THIS
They can afford to window shop and pick the very best offers because they are in demand.
You may have in mind the very best of your own workforce, and there’s one thing on the rise that keeps them with you on the long haul.
An attractive benefits package can do wonders in attraction and retention within your organisation.
Is your benefits package competitive enough?
Today we have a new generation of employees with modern expectations of the benefits on offer.
Employers are expected now more than ever to provide that added security for their workforce and their families.
And indeed, it’s time to switch it up…
According to Eden Health, 75% of employees stressed not only the importance of employee benefits, but expressed a desire for more variety.
What’s more (and particularly interesting) is that 1 in 5 workers who don’t feel empowered in their current circumstances are extremely or very likely to switch employers.
Some of this need for variety likely stems from the changing times and any trend shifts that are caused by world events. The covid-19 pandemic made people stop and realise what was really important to them.
It made people aware of the glaring work-life balance that was missing in their lives.
They realised they enjoyed the flexibility of working from home.
And as people struggled their mental health was severely affected, especially whilst trying to maintain work during high-stress periods.
Most importantly it highlighted a need that wasn’t being met even prior to the pandemic.
So, what benefits should I be offering?
Traditionally the most common benefits offered are:
- Paid time off
- Health insurance
- Retirement saving plans
- Life and disability insurance
- Bonuses and other profit-sharing plans
- Professional development opportunities
These benefits are powerful statements to show you really value your employees. However, it is key in this competitive market to be creative and study the trends on what employees need from their specific workplace/industry to be their best.
Employers are expected now more than ever to care for their employees’ physical and mental health such as being more flexible in working arrangements, i.e. transportation, remote work and the amount of holiday entitlement etc.
Top talent favours employers that value their mental health, allow access to remote work, provide great communication channels, and fulfil desires for the perfect work-life balance.
The quality and generosity of your benefits package are essential to hiring and retaining the best global talent in 2023.
Growing benefits trends you need to be aware of:
The aim is to be creative and specific.
Really think about the needs that your employees are going to need specifically based on their role and the level of demand placed upon them, as well as their personal life circumstances.
What do they value most?
You could offer a gym membership or pet insurance for example.
In the following examples, you will see how viewing your employee as an individual is so important in how benefits can affect a candidate’s decision on a job offer or stopping a current employee from jumping ship.
Growing trends indicate that employees are starting to prioritise benefits such as:
Remote Work and general flexibility
During the pandemic, we saw millions working from home.
There is a substantial portion of the workforce that still prefers to keep some of these arrangements due to the inherent flexibility on offer.
This is especially true if they work in a demanding role.
Buffer conducted a survey that revealed 98% of workers would like to work remotely some of the time for the rest of their careers.
This is a dramatic shift!
Your employees should be able to choose when to work from home, increasing their work-life balance and allowing them to work when it may be essential for them to remain home.
The best part is the lenience you lend to flexibility, showing you care about your employee’s needs and their individual circumstances.
Mental health support
The last few years have shown us the importance of mental health support for employees.
With increasing awareness of mental health in society and the catastrophic impact of covid-19 on mental health, employers considering benefits in this area will be looked on favourably amongst a stressed, tired, and more anxious population of workers.
The World Health Organization reports that depression and anxiety cost the global economy an estimated $1 trillion per year in lost productivity.
A happy, stable, and reassured employee is a more productive one.
Providing ease to this valuable lifeline builds great trust between you and your employee, making the difference in setting your offer apart from the rest.
Financial wellness programs
Financial difficulties are abundant in today’s global economy, and it is one of the great threats leading to employee stress and lost productivity.
It’s no wonder that PwC found that 59% of employees find financial or money matters cause them the most stress in their lives.
It’s time to think of any ways you can assist in an employee’s financial circumstances.
You could offer debt repayment support, a higher quality retirement package (401K), student loan repayment support, or even a tax-free health savings account (HSA).
Again, think creatively.
Monitor what those currently in your employment need assistance with.
Then you can strategically tailor benefits to the job role and each individual.
Investing in an employee’s financial wellness means you are providing security for them and those they care for.
This gives your employee the platform to be the best they can be and help get you the results your business needs.
The BIG kicker here is that the employee you have invested in is all the more likely to stay with you!
That’s why Prudential recognised that 89% of employees who participated in a financial wellness program said that it positively affected their decision to stay with their employer.
So that leads us to our next point….
Is this all a worthy investment?
High Turnover Rates Burn Through Your Budget!
Without a quality benefits package, you will struggle to get great talent AND risk losing your best workers as they browse the value on offer from other employers.
Harvard Business Review found that employees who are offered a strong benefits package are more likely to stay with their employer, leading to lower turnover rates.
And high turnover is costly. You must stay competitive in the job market to please your employees, as you are compared to other employers.
Securing great talent and retaining them is essential for strong business growth. With high turnover, you’re effectively pouring lighter fluid over your business finances and setting it ablaze.
Replacing a high-level employee costs 400% more than their annual salary! That’s £400,000 burnt for a single employee on £100,000 a year.
Turnover bleeds into other parts of the company processes, leading to lost productivity, missed deadlines, missed profitable opportunities, and increased stress.
This, paired with the difficulty in attracting top-notch candidates, is a recipe for disaster and is worsened by the time it takes alone to secure positions that can take several months to fill.
That’s multiple rounds of interviews, extensive background checks, reference processes, and any skills assessments.
The budget keeps getting hit.
Staying competitive in your benefits offerings is essential to showing your value and reducing any lost costs due to any turnovers.
If you are assessing your benefits package it would be wise to first assess the cost of your bad hires. (That’s someone who leaves your business during their first year of employment)
This is the first step in amending your hiring strategy and we promise you won’t forget the figures.
Our bad hire calculator is quick and easy to use.
All you need are their annual salary, months employed and the average recruiter fee and hey presto, our industry research-based algorithms work out the true cost to you.
