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Salary grabs an employee's attention, but it won’t always hold it.
Assuming you’re offering a competitive salary, there are a number of other factors an employee will evaluate before accepting an offer, such as corporate culture, values and social responsibility, and, of course, the benefits package. Here are the top 5 benefits and perks employees value after salary.
1. Paid Time Off and Volunteer Days
Having paid time off will support employees with burnout and thus it’s important to have corporate policies around vacation days, illness days off, and bereavement days. However, have you thought about wellness days off and volunteer time off? These go a long way with employees looking for a socially responsible company that cares for its employees and the community.
2. Employee Benefits
Survey after survey show us 80% of employees would choose benefits over a pay raise. Employees want protection for themselves and their families. Therefore, the focus has been on ensuring a competitive group benefits plan is in place that provides employees with extended health, dental, disability, vision care, and emergency travel insurance. It would be wise for employers to focus on a communication plan to ensure their employees understand the benefits that are being offered and in turn increase employee loyalty.
3. Financial Support
There are up to five generations in the workforce today. Each has expressed a desire for some variation of financial support. The most common employer sponsored programs we see are matching retirement savings plans, student loan repayment and tuition assistance, and general education on money matters. Employers who provide education sessions on money matters, retirement, budgeting and financial support will see more engaged employees.
4. Remote Work and Flexible Work Schedules
Employees love the flexible work schedule. Some employers have offered compressed work weeks such as four 10-hour days and others are allowing employees to work in four hour chunks of time. This allows employees to schedule their day to support family with eldercare, childcare and even self-care. Employees are less stressed when they can better manage and balance their work life with home life. As covid moves from a pandemic to being endemic, employees continue to want choice regarding their work environment. Most express a desire to continue to work from home or have a hybrid model of a few days at the office and a few days working from home.
5. Employee Perks
Employee perks are extra rewards and incentives for employees. An 2021 Environics Research survey revealed that 82% of Canadians are committed to taking better care of themselves and 39% intent to use their employee benefits and perks to help turn their vision into action. Thus, the greatly sought after perks have been:
- A Significant discount on wellness items such as gym membership, yoga classes, golf lessons, pottery class, painting class, etc.
- Company subsidized healthy meals and/or snacks.
After salary, employees look to benefits (non-wage compensation) and perks (extra rewards, incentives) when making a decision to stay with their current employer or look elsewhere. Showing corporate appreciation and recognition with these benefits and perks will build loyal, more engaged, and healthy employees.
Final Thoughts
The benefits and perks offered by your business are important factors in attracting and retaining top talent. The last two years brought dramatic, sweeping changes to how we work, and employers that adapt quickly to the new environment find themselves in an excellent position to keep morale high and the company moving forward.
