21st June 2022 9 MIN READ •Talos Engage •Employee Value Proposition
Employee benefits have always been an integral part of HR strategy. With rising competition in an increasingly talent-short job market, it has never been more crucial to ensure your workplace benefits meet your colleagues’ expectations.
Here, we explore how companies can get creative with the different types of employee benefits to attract and retain more of the best talent.
What are employee benefits?
Employee benefits are incentives or rewards that are given to staff members either on joining an organisation or upon passing their onboarding. There are many types of benefits for employees, from discounts to subsidised gym memberships to employee discount schemes and salary sacrifice.
Typically, benefits packages are assembled by HR departments and can be positioned to help you attract the talent you need as part of your recruitment process. Providing the right benefits for employees is also key to the ongoing motivation, productivity, engagement and retention of employees.
Why are employee benefits important?
Provide your people with the benefits they value, and they’ll stick around; it’s as simple as that. In fact, a recent survey revealed that 75% of employees would stay with their current employer if they provided a good workplace benefits package.
By regularly surveying your people, you can grasp what benefits your people are using and which ones could do with replacing.
Remember to keep reviewing your benefits for employees and keep up to date with the best workplace benefits on the market, as what was once popular last year may not be as important to your people today.
Top employee benefits in the UK
The wants and needs of your employees are a constantly changing force. It’s important to stay on top of the latest workplace benefits trends to ensure your employer brand remains up to speed with the competition.
Here are some of the top employee benefits, according to the workforce themselves:
1. Flexible working hours
It should come as no surprise that flexible working hours are one of, if not the most popular employee benefits on the market. A reported 65% of organisations already offer their people to work at a time that best suits them and their busy lives, and a further 55% are looking to introduce the benefit following recent changes to HR law.
Flexible working is a benefit that has been appreciated across Talos360 ever since we added it to our list of workplace benefits in 2019. With the added flexibility, Talos360’s employees can work around their busy schedules whilst still providing the excellent service we and our clients expect.
2. Employee discount schemes
Employee discount schemes are great cost-saving benefits for employees, helping your people out when they feel the pinch. The best workplace benefits packages will offer considerable discounts on some of the biggest household brands, cinema tickets and day trips.
If you are looking into providing your people with employee discount schemes, take the time to ask your people what discounts they would like to see. This way, you can weigh up your potential employee benefit providers and choose a plan that will best support your team.
3. Holiday allowance trading
Do you allow your people to purchase extra holidays at the start of every year? Introducing a holiday allowance trading scheme into your employee benefits package is a great way to improve your employee’s flexibility and provide that much-needed work-life balance.
Our holiday purchase scheme is a relatively new benefit we introduced at Talos360 in 2023, and since then, we have had up to 40% of our people purchase extra holiday days.
4. Salary sacrifice schemes
Salary sacrifice is a well-recognised workplace benefit in HR. Effectively allowing our people to pay for goods before tax, this benefit is a great way to help employees save money.
Some of the more popular salary sacrifice schemes allow employees to purchase cars, new technology, childcare vouchers and even pension contributions.
5. Mental health and wellbeing leave
As more businesses look to support their employee’s mental health and wellbeing, new employee benefits are emerging. One of the most popular benefits for employees is dedicated mental health leave.
Unlike holiday or sick leave, mental health leave allows your people to switch off, take time from work and focus on their wellbeing. Some organisations have a similar scheme allowing their people to take time off each year to give back to local communities or work with a charity.
6. Subsidised gym membership
One of the more popular employee benefits amongst employees in the UK is a subsidised gym membership, with over 60% stating a discounted membership as their favoured benefit. Yet, despite the clear demand for this workplace benefit, just under a quarter of organisations actually offer this perk.
7. Childcare support
For parents, childcare support is one of the most valuable benefits for employees you can offer. Whether it’s providing financial support or allowing employees to work around their children’s educational schedule, childcare support really can be a strong pull for any candidate with children.
8. Upskilling courses
Learning and development is one of the most valued workplace benefits for employees, especially for young employees and those taking their first step on the career ladder. Upskilling courses allow employees to learn new skills, stay up to date with industry trends and bring new expertise to your workplace.
Learning and development courses are one of our employee benefits we’re very passionate about here at Talos360, but we’re not the only ones. A reported 67% of organisations are investing in L&D to better support their people and promote business growth.
The best workplace benefits for remote employees:
The expectations of your remote employees will be drastically different from those in office-based roles. With this in mind, here are some of the best workplace benefits for remote/hybrid workers:
1. Home office provisions
As employers, we’re used to kitting out our workplaces with all the essential equipment employees need to carry out their roles. However, when it comes to remote working, many colleagues end up using their own tech and equipment – monitors, desk chairs, webcams etc.
That’s why home office provisions serve as an extremely practical employee benefit for remote employees. Helping with the cost of additional equipment like screens and stationery is not only a great way to reward employees, but it’s also key for ensuring remote workers have all the tools necessary to succeed in their roles.
2. Mental health & wellbeing initiatives
Wellbeing has long been seen as one of the core drivers of employee morale and productivity. This issue has become all the more prominent for remote workers, with one in five employees saying they struggle with loneliness when working from home.
Mental health and wellbeing initiatives are, therefore, a great way to give back to employees who are working remotely. These can include things like employee assistance programmes, regular wellbeing webinars, or support in accessing services like coaching and counselling.
3. Subscriptions to professional publications
Fancy rewarding remote employees while also promoting their personal learning and development? Consider the benefits of providing paid-for subscriptions to professional publications that benefit their unique professional area.
This could include tech, finance, or marketing industry magazines or even memberships with professional learning institutes for online courses/webinars.
Subscriptions like these can usually come discounted for multiple employees – providing inventive, cost-effective employee benefits for remote and office-based colleagues alike.
How to choose employee benefits for your organisation
When choosing employee benefits that are right for your organisation, it’s important to consider your colleagues’ unique wants and needs.
Some incentives will resonate with certain employees more than others, so don’t implement a ‘blanket’ employee benefits package; ensure your workplace HR strategy is dynamic and meets the unique expectations of different employee groups.
Here are our top tips for building a competitive employee benefits package:
1. Survey your workforce
Are your employees actually using your employee benefits? A reported 48% of HR directors told CIPD that their employees aren’t interested in the workplace benefits they’re offering.
The first step in creating a winning employee benefits package is to survey your workforce. Find out which of your current workplace incentives matter most/least to them, and analyse how this varies between different groups.
This will highlight the strengths of your current workplace benefits package and help you identify which incentives have become less relevant. This not only helps you to meet employee expectations but also saves money by reducing spending on unwanted benefits for employees.
2. Look to similar employers in the market
It’s always useful to know what other employers are offering ahead of your company. You need to stay ahead of the competition in order to attract and retain your industry’s top talent.
Look at current opportunities with similar employers in your sector; find out which benefits/incentives they’re offering to new recruits. Is there anything you’re missing?
3. Identify sought-after benefits
Now that you’ve analysed your current employee benefits package, it’s time to find out which key incentives you’re missing.
Create a list of examples (e.g. flexible working, learning and development, company car allowance) and poll your employees on the desirability of each suggestion. You can always add an additional field where respondents can highlight alternative workplace benefits they would like to see.
Identify which benefits your employees would most like to receive from your company, and discuss these with your management team to assess practicality. These are the incentives you need to consider in order to retain your current workforce and attract like-minded talent.
4. Make data-backed changes to your corporate benefits
Taking a ‘stab in the dark’ approach to workplace benefits is never a good idea.
Use data obtained from workforce surveys/1:1 reviews to inform the future of your EVP strategy. Make frequent changes to your benefits package to ensure it remains in line with employees’ expectations.
It’s often wise to consider a ‘dynamic’ approach to workplace benefits – especially if certain incentives resonate more/less with individual groups. Analyse your workforce data to identify your most valuable benefits across each department/team and ensure your ongoing strategy reflects this demand.
A data-backed workforce strategy is one that reflects the true opinions of your employees – helping to solidify your status as an ’employer of choice’ in your sector.
5. Review your chosen workplace benefits
Your employees’ expectations will change as time passes, making it crucial to review your EVP and benefits package on a regular basis.
Survey your workforce regularly to identify changes to their preferences; have any benefits become more/less important to them? Is there anything they would like to be offered in addition?
This is a crucial part of keeping your workforce strategy in line with the market trend, helping you to attract and retain more of the best talent. If employees feel as though there’s a better opportunity to be had elsewhere, they’re likely to seek it out! Avoid unnecessary resignations by giving your benefits package a competitive edge.
6. Shout about your top employee benefits to attract talent
Congratulations! You’ve successfully assessed your workforce’s expectations, and developed a proactive employee benefits strategy.
Now it’s time to shout about your upgraded benefits package; make sure to focus on your best workplace benefits in any job advertising campaign. Promote your most popular benefits across careers websites, leaving out any that are no longer relevant or have been found to be unpopular.
This will help you compete with other employers in the job market, securing your reach over more of the best talent in your sector.
Are employee benefits expensive?
Providing your people with any of the top employee benefits we’ve mentioned above will certainly come at a cost, and depending on what benefits for employees you’re looking to provide, it can quickly add up.
Whilst the best workplace benefits will come at a hefty cost, that’s not to say you won’t see a return on your investment. If you choose the right benefits for your people, you can expect higher productivity, improved retention and better chances of attracting top talent.
How to attract candidates with your benefits for employees
With a reported 73% of candidates considering an organisation’s employee benefits package before accepting an offer, it’s clear that choosing the right benefits is well within your best interests.
To attract candidates with your benefits, ensure they are in your job adverts, and mention them briefly in interviews when discussing company culture. You can also use employee testimonials to promote your benefits by asking your current employees to share what they like the most about your current workplace benefits.
Introducing…
Get the answers you need with Talos Engage
Want to build a talent-winning workplace benefits package? Talos Engage makes it easier than ever to identify the best incentives for your unique workforce.
Identify & amend your unique EVP
Employees simply play the Engage swipe-card gamified employee engagement tool game to give crucial feedback on your company’s EVP. This includes which cultural values matter most/least to them, and which incentives they would most like to receive going forward.
Data is formulated into a straightforward report, highlighting the unique expectations of key groups within your workplace.
This allows you to remain ahead of the curve with your HR strategy, giving your employees exactly what they want from their roles – boosting retention and talent attraction.
Discover the easiest way to build a talent-winning workplace:
