Keeping hold of staff is a tricky business. With ample opportunities to network and connect with other businesses, employers run the risk of losing their best talent.
To retain staff, it’s important to provide a great company culture that makes your employees want to work for you and offer benefits which make them feel appreciated. A recent study by Glassdoor found that 57 percent of respondents felt that employee benefits and perks were top factors when considering a new job.
If you’re looking for some ideas on which employee perks to implement in your own workplace, here’s five benefits that work wonders on retaining your staff and making them feel valued.
Profit share
A profit share enables employees to take a direct benefit from the success of the business by receiving a percentage of the profit made in return for their hard work.
Usually, the company will designate a percentage of profits into a pool of money that’ll then be divided fairly between employees.
As part of its profit sharing plan, eligible Southwest Airlines employees received the equivalent of eight weeks pay or around 16 percent of their compensation. Thanks to profits in 2015, the plan resulted in $672 million being invested to 49,000 employees this year.
Profit sharing can help send the message to employees that they are all working together towards the same aim – what they put into the company, they’ll get back. By promoting teamwork and working towards a shared goal, you’ll find that employees will want the business to do well.
One weakness of profit sharing is that employees’ efforts become less about the hard work and more focused on the money they earn. In most cases, staff will receive their percentage regardless to how well they’ve worked and this can also have a detrimental effect on overall performance.
Gym membership
Having healthy employees will not only have an impact on their overall work ethic, but it’ll help make them feel valued and that their wellness is of importance to you.
Gym membership is something that most of your employees will already be spending money on and for those that aren’t, it could be welcome motivation to help them look after themselves.
Hershey Foods Corp. took this perk to a whole new level by introducing their very own fitness centres on their premises. Not only was the service available for all employees, but spouses and family members could use the service at a highly-discounted rate too.
Unlimited vacation days
Whilst this perk may sound like the ultimate dream for many employees out there, unlimited vacation days is a real thing for many companies.
Staff at Netflix’s California headquarters are allowed unlimited vacation days and work time isn’t tracked. As long as employees work hard and get all of their responsibilities completed, they are allowed to take as much time off as they like.
The perk does mean that staff do need to work extra hard and anyone seen to be abusing the system will undoubtedly be shown the door pretty quickly. To give your staff the freedom to take time off whenever it best suits them, build a level of trust and you can rest assured that they will work hard and not take advantage of this lucrative benefit.
Health care insurance
The 2016 Willis PMI Group Employee Benefits Index found that health insurance has grown in popularity with UK workers with 40 percent of employees ranking it as one of their favourite benefits. The reason for the success, reports Mike Blake, Director at Willis PMI Group, is the “scrutiny of the NHS and its struggle to meet the demands of an aging and growing population”.
Across the Atlantic, video games company Activision Blizzard covers 100 percent of each of their employee’s health care premiums and even provides 80 percent for their dependent’s premium too, showing dedication to their staff’s wellbeing. By offering health care premiums, the company is following one of its core values in finding the best way to do everything – including providing the best possible health care.
By providing something so important and desired, employees at Activision Blizzard feel valued and looked after and it’s not something they’ll want to throw away so lightly.
Retirement/pension plans
Providing peace of mind for later in life can be one of the best benefits you can offer to your employees.
Between now and 2018, the UK government is requiring businesses to auto-enrol workers into a pension plan with a minimum contribution of 5 percent being required from employers. Due to this, less businesses are using a specific pension plan.
The most popular employer-sponsored retirement plan today is the 401k plan where the employee can put tax-deductible money away with a regular contribution from the employer. Global banking firm, BNY Mellon, will match their employee’s contribution by 6 percent alongside 2 percent of their annual salary at the end of the year.
By offering a 401k plan or something similar, you are working together with the employee to contribute towards their future. For businesses wanting to make their pension plans more lucrative, they should look at ways in which they can go above and beyond the minimum threshold, like BNY Mellon, and maybe looking at how they can match the employee’s input.
It’s important to figure out the benefits that will personally benefit your staff. If your staff aren’t interested in health care insurance, then there’s not much need to offer it as a benefit. Talk to your staff, look at what they want and need and see how you can reasonably go about offering it.
Work with your employees
It’s important to figure out the benefits that will personally benefit your staff. If your staff aren’t interested in health care insurance, then there’s not much need to offer it as a benefit. Talk to your staff, look at what they want and need and see how you can reasonably go about offering it.
Adam Maidment is a content writer for Portfolio CBR, providers of compensation, benefits and rewards jobs throughout the UK. Get in touch with them if you’re looking for more information on employee benefits and how a Benefits Officer can help your company.
Hi Ian, Although this is all credible absolutely nothing stands up to looking after your staff, equity and fairness and respect. Doesn’t matter how many gym memberships or health insurance the company gives when you have a retractable boss retention rate will plummet. 75% of people leave their jobs due to their bosses. As I am now on my way out of an especially good job that I once enjoyed with nothing to go too I can testify to this, as can many of my friends.
Hi Laurie – yes – I quite agree. I think it is always worth sharing a variety of perspectives though. Ineffective leadership is without question among the most significant reasons behind employee retention (sadly).