Attracting And Retaining Talent With Employee Rewards And Benefits
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, many businesses survived by adapting to a new ways of working. Businesses that did make it through the pandemic now face a new challenge in recruitment.
The recruitment market is currently candidate driven for the majority of areas, many businesses face the dilemma how do we attract and retain talent in a highly competitive market?
Research has shown that one incredibly important factor that many candidates are taking into consideration during the recruitment process is the employee reward packages and benefits that a company has on offer. This is often not as simple as the monetary value but now is much more focused on work life balance and how a business fits into the wider economy and communities.
What type of employee reward packages and benefits are candidates looking for?
Hybrid, remote and flexible working
The ability to work from home as part of a hybrid or completely remote role is a major influencing factor for many employees. During the covid-19 pandemic, many employees across the country were expected to work from home and some have done so since the pandemic started in March 2020. During this time, employees have adapted to a new way of working that offers greater flexibility and work life balance to many.
Remote and hybrid working can also has benefits for businesses, including reduced costs, higher productivity and reduced turnover.
Examples of hybrid, remote and flexible working include:
- Work from anywhere
- Flexitime
- Job share
It is however important to note that not all employees want to work from home and flexibility in businesses is what is seen as key for many candidates.
Some businesses have also found that offering only hybrid or remote working limits the candidate market because some employees have realised that to prove themselves, learn and influence others in the workplace they do need to be in the workplace for some or the majority of the time.
Enhanced family friendly policies
Candidates are becoming increasingly interested in employer’s that go above and beyond what they are legally required to do. An employee has a statutory right to paid time off including maternity leave, paternity leave and parental leave for example. An employer only has to offer the statutory minimum when it comes to family friendly policies in terms of length of leave and statutory pay, however many employers are now implementing policies which entitle their employees to enhanced amounts, such as enhanced maternity, adoption and paternity leave and pay.
Health and wellbeing
Candidates want to join companies that care about their health and wellbeing. Promoting positive health and wellbeing amongst employees can help to reduce absenteeism and instead, creates a positive working environment.
Employers looking to improve their employee health and wellbeing can look to implement any or all of the following:
- Private health insurance
- Health care plans
- Policies covering menopause, fertility treatment and mental health
- Access to online GP appointments
- Counselling sessions
- Mental health first aiders
- Mindfulness and mediation sessions
- Wellbeing webinars
- Wellbeing Apps
- Gym membership
Environmental
Environmental policies can be so important for employees who want to protect our planet but also work to make it better for future generations.
Commonly candidates will ask what is your environmental policy? Are you working toward carbon neutral? Do you have electric charging points for employees to use? Do you recycle? How are you working toward reducing paper use?
With our ever-evolving work force it is important to consider whether this is something important to your business but also will it help increase your candidate pool if you do have a policy and strategies in place.
Social and corporate social responsibility
Where candidates are coming from out of town this can be incredibly important but also to help create a happy workforce many candidates are now looking to join company’s that have social events and programmes that they can get involved in. Candidates like to see that a company is not just about hard work and profits, but also being social, making friends and having fun along the way. Social events and programmes at work often improve morale and encourage team building, which benefit the company as well as the workforce. This can also include social corporate responsibility (‘CSR’) which means giving something back to the communities your business operates. These can be a great way to get people working together in what is often a fun and social environment as well.
Examples of social events and programmes companies may want to arrange include:
- Social clubs
- Team lunches and breakfasts
- Sports teams
- CSR events – painting a community building, local wildlife trusts, local sports teams
- Team trips and holidays
How can we help?
The employment team are BRM Solicitors advise on a wide variety of employment law related issues, including drafting, reviewing and updating policies and handbooks.
For further information regarding policies and handbooks or if you have a query on another area of employment law, our friendly and professional team are here to help.
Contact
Amy Hallam
Head of Employment
t: 0114 3496989
e: amy.hallam@brmlaw.co.uk
Ellie Leatherday
Senior Solicitor
t: 01246 564002
e: ellie.leatherday@brmlaw.co.uk
