Using employee benefits as part of your recruitment and retention plan for the new normal is a smart strategy.
In the Covid-19 world that we are living in, benefits from financial wellness to flexible working to cycle to work schemes are more important than ever. Businesses that are able to demonstrate that they invest in their teams’ health, well-being and financial futures will gain an edge in finding and keeping the best talent.
Wholesale shifts to remote working means that employees can look for jobs beyond the commute. They can look to different parts of the UK, different parts of the world even. Workers have been going through tumultuous, testing times and they are evaluating what is important to them. Benefits, perks, reward and recognition are an important litmus test for how much a company values, and wants to invest in, their employees, wherever they work. And research shows us time and time again that employee benefits are a powerful tool in the HR recruitment and retention kitbag.
Here are a couple of reasons why:
- Glassdoor research in 2018 found that 48% of job seekers were attracted to the benefits provided by employers compared with 62% who were attracted to salaries. Fast forward to 2020 and employee benefits at 48% have now overtaken a relatively high salary at 46%, according to the employee website.
- 36% of employees quit within the first year of a new job and 43% quit within the first 90 days, according to Work Institute. Employee benefits can go a long way in preventing costly voluntary turnover.
Using employee benefits as part of your hiring strategy – your essential checklist
To help you re-evaluate your hiring strategy and leverage the power of the benefits and perks you offer, we thought it would be helpful to put together an essential 5-point checklist.
#1 Job adverts
Retention starts at the application phase. Including the details of employee benefits in your job ads and posts demonstrates that your company cares about its employees and wants to invest in their future. Think about your values, brand purpose and workplace culture. How do your employee benefits support the answers?
#2 Tracking turnover
There are two big questions that you’ll need to answer when devising your retention plan:
- what levels of turnover are you tracking?
- why do employees leave your business?
The answers will help you use your benefits to find the right talent, reduce turnover and keep the experienced, loyal staff that are critical in helping your business transition to the new normal.
#3 Employee experience
Employee experience is a top priority. You’ll need to do your research to find out what your current employees value about your benefits package? How does your plan improve the employee experience? Does your offering support the needs of future workers?
#4 Communication
With disparate teams working remotely, or on staggered days, times and shifts, it’s crucial to keep employees informed about the benefits on offer. As we mentioned at the top, these are difficult times and employees that are focusing on the day job may quickly forget about the benefits that you have invested in. Poor communication and engagement can lead to higher turnover. Using an employee benefits platform with in-built communication tools will be a big help here to boost engagement and benefits access and uptake.
#5 Diversity and inclusion
Does your benefits programme support your diversity and inclusion initiatives? The move to remote working means employers have an unprecedented opportunity to recruit from a wider talent pool. Does your offering need to be changed or expanded to better support a diverse, multi-generational workforce?
A final thought on retention …
Businesses that aren’t using employee benefits as part of recruitment and retention plans could struggle to find and keep the talent they need to thrive. Customers will expect a consistent experience in the coming months and your most experienced employees are the gatekeepers of that experience. While it’s always important to nurture new talent, it usually takes one to two years for a new starter to become ‘fully productive’ according to Betterteam – inexperience means team workloads could increase. Are your current employees able to absorb additional work in the coming months? You’ll want to keep your best people either way.
Recruiting your post-pandemic future
If you are looking at how employee benefits can help drive your recruitment and retention strategy, we’re here if you need our help.