Recruiting the best quality team members for your business can be hard. There’s a lot of competition out there, with increasing numbers of employees growing to understand their worth and demanding more in exchange for their expertise, their hard work and their ability to help your business grow and expand. You’re going to have to get more competitive when advertising roles on the job market, or another company will quickly come and scoop up the best candidates by putting more on the table. When it comes to retaining staff, you’re going to need to make sure you’re offering good perks too. Sure, salary tends to reign supreme when staff choose which company they want to settle into, but perks can sway decision too. Here are just a few perks that you should be offering new recruits and long time staff alike!
Bonus Schemes
Bonus schemes are a great option for staff who are very incentive driven. Letting people know that they can achieve bonuses by working hard and achieving goals for the company can help to not only drive work, but can keep staff satisfied, fulfilled and on board too. The type of bonus you offer will depend on what falls within your budget and what your team enjoy most. It could be cash bonuses added onto their end of month pay, it could be vouchers for days out and experiences, it could be extra annual leave added to their allowance. If you’re unsure what to offer, you can always ask. Anonymous surveys are extremely useful for this, as they provide staff with a platform where they can voice their opinions and wishes without fear of consequence or backlash.
Assistance with Transport Costs
We’re living through a cost of living crisis and a fuel crisis right now, so it’s not surprising that a major perk employees will truly value is assistance with trasnport. Chances are, none of your employees live on the doorstep of your commercial premises, so they’re going to have to get from A to B each day. They may also need to get around from one place to another as part of their job – perhaps driving to meetings or heading to conferences. It’s important that you provide your team with support with their transport wherever you can there. There are so many different ways that you can do this. One is to consider a bike scheme for more local staff. This will allow you to provide a bicycle for those who want to cycle into work. Not only does it provide a good mode of transport, but it can be good for your team’s physical and mental health too. Plus, it’s an environmentally friendly option. Another option for those who don’t drive or are looking to lead a greener lifestyle is providing a public transport card, or arranging a partial reimbursement towards costs incurred by using public transport to get to and from work. This can reduce pressure on staff who want to travel longer distance in able to bring their talent to your company. For staff who drive, you may want to consider providing a company car or a car allowance. This will ensure that they are able to drive independently to do whatever they require for their work. Plus, you may want to look into fuel cards to fund the diesel or petrol. Companies like coastpay.com provide good and straightforward options. Finally, make sure to reimburse parking.
Pension Contributions
We’re living in a society where increasing numbers of people are growing worried about the future. It’s all good and well being paid fairly now, but people have to consider how they’re going to fund their lives when they grow old and are no longer able to work too. Good pension contribution schemes can really sway staff towards your business and keep existing staff on board. Sure, there may be minimal contributions that you have no choice to make, but staff are aware of these too and will know if you are doing the bare minimum. Offer a little more. This is a truly valuable perk that also makes staff feel cared for, as it shows you’re thinking about them even once you’ve benefited from their hard work and they’re no longer generating money for your business.
Health Care
Many people actively seek out a good healthcare plan when seeking a job. Even if you’re based in a country where healthcare is free, staff will appreciate the option of going private should they need help or assistance with their wellbeing. Look into a range of health care packages that you can invest in for your staff and list as a perk of working for your business. You may also want to find policies that cover the staff members’ immediate family, as this will lift a weight from their mind too.
Flexible Work or Remote Work
The pandemic showed many of us that our staff can work from home just as productively. IT also showed many employees that working from home is better suited to them too. Now, many companies are struggling to get staff members on board who are willing to be back in office full time. This means that to secure the best candidates, you may need to offer the perk of flexible work or fully remote work. This allows staff more freedom over their working environment and self management, but also has perks for you too. You don’t have to worry about forking out as much in commercial premises costs! Discuss this with your staff and see if they’re on board with the idea. An alternative is to look into flexible working hours, which makes life a lot easier for those with children and other responsibilities outside of the workplace.
These are just a few employee perks that you might like to look into and implement within your business. Hopefully, some of them will prove particularly useful and will help to put a smile on your employees’ faces!
