What do Employees want from Employers?

Gone are the days of employees being ‘grateful to have a job’! 

I recall, many years ago, my parents throwing their hands in the air in disbelief when I complained that the law firm I worked for had decided to take our drinks cabinet away!  Admittedly, a drinks cabinet in a law firm probably wasn’t the brightest of ideas but, to be fair, at the end of an extremely long working week, the promise of a Friday afternoon G&T was often all that kept us going!

So, what has changed?  Why are Employers using perks and schemes to keep staff turnover low, morale high and entice the best talent to their workforce? 

Well, we believe it comes down to a number of things, including a candidate short market and for those of you who read Simpson Dean’s monthly blogs, you’ll know that we mention the word ‘recession’ quite a lot, but there is a good reason for this!

Recessions force a great many people out of work and employers find themselves in the enviable position of being able to have their pick of a large number of highly skilled candidates.  However, in non-recession times, there are many more people in full or part-time employment, which has the knock-on effect of there being fewer and fewer great candidates on the market for employers to choose from.

This is where passive candidates come in……..those people who are not actively seeking a new job, but who could be enticed into a move given the right incentive.

What could these incentives look like and are they something your business might consider offering? 

We can all agree that it would be fantastic to be able to offer such things as free holidays or lunchtime massages, yoga classes, pet friendly offices, games rooms, ‘power nap’ pods and, wait for it, UNLIMITED HOLIDAY ENTITLEMENT, but these sort of perks aren’t generally an option for most companies….unless you’re Netflix or Virgin of course!

So how can you ensure you provide the kind of benefits your employees want?

You may be surprised to learn that benefits such as flexible and/or Remote Working schemes for a good work/life balance, training and development, clear career progression, generous holiday entitlement and Health/Life Insurance are often looked upon far more favourably with employees than a salary increase and gym membership!

You may consider looking at your workforce demographic to work out what might appeal to employees.  For example, if your business has a high number of millennials, they’re generally more interested in the fun stuff, so they may find things like discounts on theatre and cinema tickets a really good incentive, or perhaps discount vouchers at local restaurants.  Alternatively, employees who are working parents may be more interested in flexible working schemes, help with childcare or generous holiday entitlement to enable them to spend more time with the family.

Just remember that, whatever your business is able to offer, it’s often the small things that make for a happy and motivated workforce…..so, with a bit of effort and understanding on your part as the employer, it is possible to get the best out of your employees without breaking the bank!

Here are some useful links to look at if you’d like to consider offering your staff a little more:

https://www.perkbox.co.uk/goldcard/deals

https://www.stafftreats.com/

https://www.enjoybenefits.co.uk/

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