Employee Benefits - Top Perks to Offer Your Staff

Good employers are always sensitive to their workers. But, this is never more important than during an economic crisis. Hiring is an expensive process, and most SMEs literally can’t afford to lose their employees, particularly with the current talent shortage.

Helena Young - Startups.co.uk

In this article we'll take a look at some of the ways that you can benefit your employer brand to attract staff and keep your employees more satisfied in order to improve retenation rates.?

There have been a variety of surveys conducted over the last couple of years to find out what employees value most. Strong salaries and bonuses are sure to feature, however, there are trends that show wellbeing and work-life balance are becoming a bigger consideration.?

Read on to the end to hear about what some companies are doing to set themselves apart from the rest.?

Flexible Working

• Hours - offering the flexibility to employees to start earlier, finish later or take longer lunch breaks can be a great help when it comes to the kid's school run, avoiding the rush-hour, fitting in a gym session or squeeze in a doctor's visit without having to take annual leave.?
• Location - hybrid, work from home and remote working (work from anywhere) are more available than ever before and are often highly sought after.?
• 4 Day Week - trialled by a growing number of companies - depending on your industry sector, product and service - this may be something you could potentially offer.?
• Workweek Compression - some companies offer the chance to work 5 days in 4, or 10 days in 9 to suit the preferences of their staff.

Switching to a fully remote company with flexible work options has been very popular with our employees. The feedback we have been receiving is that our employees enjoy a more healthy work-life balance, have reduced levels of stress, and have a higher level of job satisfaction. Since going fully remote, our employee retention rates have increased from 87% to 96%.

Shawn Plummer - CEO - The Annuity Expert

Extra Holiday Allowance?

• Unlimited Paid Annual Leave - empower your employees to take time off when it's needed and show them you have a high level of trust. It can increase engagement with your staff and result in better employee wellbeing.
• Volunteering Days - some employers will offer a number of days to their employees to engage in volunteer work for a charity of their choice.?
• Duvet Days - you may want to offer your employees the chance to call in their annual leave at short notice - maybe they want to enjoy a lie in or they've had a surprise invite to an event they don't want to miss out on.?
• Enhanced Maternity / Paternity - more and more employers are offering extended periods of leave when employees are starting a family, including offering the option to the father to take more leave.?

Taking longer holidays help workers to really disconnect. The health benefits of taking holidays are becoming more well-documented and better understood.

Susan Stick - SVP - Evernote

Bonuses

A staple of the benefits package - companies have been offering these types of incetives for a long time now. Here are a few popular options.?

• Performance - this could be based on either the company's performance, the individual's performance or a combination.?
• Sign-on - in competitive industries, this can be a tactic in order to attract talent and draw them away from the competition. Often referred to as a 'golden handshake' it is more typical in certain industry sectors than others.?
• Referral - you can incentivise your staff financially to introduce new members of staff or new customers to the business.?
• Profit-share - similar to performance bonuses, your employees can share in the financial success of the organisation.?

Pension Contributions

• Higher % - with retirement ages going up, employees are looking for a benefits package that will provide for them later in life. Pension schemes are now mandatory and the minimum contibution isn't going to help you stand out.?

Health & Wellbeing

• Group Health Insurance Policy - you can make this available to all of your employees or a benefit that is offered to once an individual reaches a certain level in the organisation. You can pay for it or make the scheme voluntary and employees pay a subsidised premium. There are varying levels of cover available.?

There will be tax implications - health insurance premiums are an allowable business expense but they are treated as a benefit in kind. So whilst you can deduct them from your corporation tax return, you will need to pay Natinoal Insurance contributions on the premiums.?

• Mental Health Support - there are a number of options here, often through online platforms with video consultations or in-person sessions. These can be part of a wider Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).
• Gym Membership - employers can offer subsidised access to local gym facilities. Sometimes there are also gym facilities on-site that you can offer access to - more commonplace in managed office space.?
• Cycle to Work - you can lease a bike to your employees, which they effectively 'hire' thorugh salary sacrifice, reducing the cost of ownership by between 26-40%.

Health and wellbeing initiatives are a great way to show that the employer is invested in their workers' physical and mental health. Supporting employees' health and wellbeing can lead to increased productivity, reduced absenteeism, and greater job satisfaction. All of these can help to create a healthy and positive work environment and demonstrate that the company values its employees' well-being, not just their output.

Aurelie Biehler - CEO - Memoria

Learning & Development?

• Certifications - you can fund your employees to complete certifications that may be of interest to them. They are also likely to benefit your business, with more qualified staff to deliver to your customers. This is very popular in IT Services companies, whereby their status as a 'Microsoft Gold Partner' will often be contingent on a proportion of their staff being certified.?
• Personal Development Time - you can dedicate time each week or month to your staff spending time on self-improvement. This can be work related or for personal hobbies & interests.?

Everyone wants to upskill and stay at the top of their game, and we also want our employees to stay on par with the demands of emerging technology. Our career progression perk has been well-received and I’ve noticed employees feeling more confident about their prowess. They’re also more motivated to contribute to the growth of the company. It’s a win-win situation for both.

Casey Jones - Founder & Director - CJ&Co

Insurance

• Income Protection -? this provides a monthly income to employees on sick leave. It won't cover their total salary but typically pays around 80% of their regular income so they can pay their living expenses.?
• Critical Illness Cover - this provides additional funds to employees diagnosed with a serious illness and unable to work. It typically pays a lump sum rather than a regular income.
• Death in Service - should the worst happen, there is a choice of payment options to ensure the family of your employee is looked after.?

Companies Offering Something a Little Different...

Virtual GP Service - Tesco have offered all of its 300,000 frontline staff, managers and their immediate family members access to unlimited appointments with a GP, 7 days a week.?

Term Time Only Working - Amazon have offered the flexibility to parents and grandparents in its warehouse facilities to choose to only work during the school term.?

Bird Viewing Area - a business park in Portsmouth have invested in the ecology of the area by installing insect habitats and boxes to create a calming and peaceful space for their staff members to relax in.?

Period Policy - introduced by Channel 4, staff will have access to multiple benefits including flexible working, free products and medical support.?

Staff Nursery - Sky have offered a 10% discount on childcare to try and make it more accessible to benefit working parents.?

Do you want to know more about the variety of employee benefits that you can offer? Get in touch with one of our team today and they can help craft the benefits package that is best for you to attract top talent to your business.?