You run your own company and so things like winning and servicing customers, keeping finances in check, and meeting tax obligations is all in a day’s work. And then there’s attracting and keeping the type of people you want working for you.
Competing for employeesSmall companies need great talent to grow in the early days but competing with immediate rivals or larger more established businesses is tough. Against rivals, what do you offer that’s different to tempt people away from the role they’re already in? In contrast to larger employers, you don’t necessarily have the trendiest office, a team packed full of expensive talent that staff can collaborate and learn from and you’re more scrutinised; how are the finances, can the business weather a storm and so on. Many a great hire has had a change of heart at the eleventh hour for reasons like this beyond your control. And keeping hard-won and expensive talent in the business requires more than a convincing vision from the founder.
You can argue it goes with the territory when growing a company, but it’s not until you’re faced with missing out on a brilliant hire or indeed lose one of your hard-won team to a rival, that it really comes into focus. If you’re attracting hires from larger more established businesses, they’re accustomed to the benefits they bring; smart offices, defined career progression, free lunches, free parking, and in many cases salary sacrifice benefits and discounts. What about your existing staff? They know what the market offers, what they would get if they joined a rival and so there’s a risk, not to mention the extra effort and hard work that happy, engaged workers give back. What about you? Was one of the shocks you had to face when setting up on your own, the inability to access the benefits you took for granted as part of a large corporate? Did, for example, private medical insurance for yourself and all your dependants suddenly become cost prohibitive?
Meeting benefit expectationsSalary sacrifice benefits such as childcare vouchers, cycle to work and private medical insurance are now commonplace so staff either expect them or don’t want to give them up. With the proliferation of employee discounts that bring instant savings on big name brands, the employee benefits package has evolved from a nice to have, to a must-have, especially with millennial workers used to consuming on the go.
This is what you’re up against and it may be familiar already. The good news is, employee benefits schemes once the preserve of big business and deep pockets are now affordable for any company large or small. Access to an intuitive, online platform with a huge range of benefits is now within financial reach, with schemes starting at a few pounds per employee per month. Giving up your job in a corporate to start out on your own, or to join a smaller business, no longer means you have to give up access to all the perks.
The latest benefits platforms let you browse and select the benefits you wish to offer, configure and brand your portal, and then launch the scheme in no time. You’re closer to your employees, and know what interests them most, and so you can tailor your scheme and give them a range of low-cost benefits they actually want. You can also give them access to the buying power of larger organisations, whether it’s high street discounts, supermarket offers, gym memberships, family friendly days out or holidays in the sun.
Beyond benefits, you can add complementary services including internal communications and reward and recognition all on the single platform. Giving you more scope to introduce low-cost engagement initiatives such as peer to peer reward and recognition. Simple reward systems like this make it easy for colleagues to recognise each other’s hard work and achievements, through online apps. You can easily link recognition and provide top performers with rewards from the platform.
Being smaller than the big guys and offering more than your nearest competitor is what makes you different. So why not attract potential hires more easily and keep the hard working staff you’ve invested in with benefits and discounts they haven’t expected to receive, until now….Why not see a quick demo? Get in touch at freedemo@youatwork.co.uk or call 0800 031 4315.Low-cost benefits that everyone talks about
Check out these extra benefits that staff love:
- Flexible working
- Holiday trading
- Work from home days
- Local dry cleaning service
- Onsite haircuts
- Onsite Indian head massages
- Street food and BBQ days
- Did you know?
Over 80% of employees would choose additional benefits over a pay rise?
