More so than ever before HR teams are constantly facing the challenge of how to best keep their employees engaged, motivated and dedicated, whilst making sure all spendings and costs are justifiable and the ROI is noticeable, especially when it affects the bottom line. While the vast majority of work forces are still working from home, there’s such a strong need to make sure teams feel valued and looked after, and employee benefits are a great motivator in doing so.
There are so many factors which are intertwined and need considering when it comes to employee engagement, recruiting top caliber candidates who are right for the role, retaining and ensuring that your current employees are engaged and ultimately making you an employer of choice, which will help you stand out from the competition in the industry.
There are so many different ways in which businesses can fulfill all of the above needs and requirements, and employee benefits are indeed an essential tool which has the potential to provide endless opportunities. There are so many different types of benefits which companies can tailor and offer, so flexibility is key, it’s not about a one size fits all solution. Often, remuneration packages and bonuses can only go so far, therefore organisations should widen their offering by considering a combination of various employee benefits and perks, something which will of course, align with their values.
Mandatory Employee Benefits
Let’s start with the more traditional employee benefits which employers are obligated to give to all their full time employees, whether they’ve been working a day or a year. These benefits include a Pension scheme where the company contributes, Statutory Maternity Pay, Sick Pay as well as an Annual Leave allowance.
Economic Employee Benefits
Economic employee benefits are classified as savings or a package which will ultimately save employee money as well as allow them to have a greater disposable income at the end of the month. There are many formats in which these benefits can be offered: an employee discount platform where all savings are categorized and housed together is the most effective and efficient. The options are endless with these platforms as they often have thousands of everyday savings, from discounted high street retailers, reduced price cinema tickets, travel and financial package options, discounted supermarket e-vouchers, cheaper mobile tariffs, most which can be redeemed both online and in store. Due to the vastness of offers, there is always something to suit every employee’s needs and likes.
These benefits demonstrate to your team your care goes beyond just their role, and it extends to considering their financial well-being outside of the workplace. These platforms are a low-cost per employee investment, yet the outcome they yield is far greater than the initial sum.
Social Employee Benefits
This category of employee benefits is often viewed as more intangible and thus, it may be slightly harder to get approval on as the ROI isn’t as obvious. Time to think out the box. There are so many social benefits which will engage your team, so why not align your company with a charity and set up charity days where your employees can get their hands stuck into and volunteer? Or create a social fun committee and give them a dedicated budget for team events and activities.
There’s a big focus on well-being and wellness employee benefits which could also fall into this social category. Here’s there scope for so much to be done: weekly fitness classes at the office or via Zoom, offer a boot camp in a nearby park or have a space where the team can enjoy some time out and listen to some mindful podcasts / meditation apps.
Flexi-time Employee Benefits
Employees really value the idea of flexible working and flexi-time. It doesn’t always have to be strict 9 am-6 pm. Offer a flexible working schedule for your employees as an employee benefit and watch productivity levels soar. Your team will feel more engaged as they can focus on a better work-life balance and won’t be so worried about having that constant clock-checking mentality, counting down the minutes. Let them work at more optimum hours, if this suits the businesses operations, so they can miss the rush hour traffic or help with their personal schedules and school runs.
What benefits are you offering your employees? These employee benefits are flexible and can be offered as a mix and match solution to best suit the organisational needs and values. Remember, the investment will be worth it when you have a workforce that loves coming to work, are engaged and most importantly have a healthy work-life balance.
If you’d like to find out more about how Xexec can help tailor employee benefits for your team, download our employee benefits e-Book.