The recruitment market is more competitive each year, so offering the right benefits will increase the company’s chances to attract top talent. Gone are the days where employees were happy with a good salary and decent health insurance; now they expect more after going through university or years of experience.
It also depends on the industry. The tech industry has some of the most competitive and creative benefits of all; something like pet-friendly offices is common in tech companies. But these are some benefits that are more common and will help you attract and retain top talent.
Flexible Culture
One of the main benefits a potential employee looks for is a company with a flexible culture, according to an article on Business News Daily. This means anything from flexible working hours to flexible dress code. The days where everyone went to the office in suits are in the past. This is still true in some industries, but each year it becomes less frequent.
Also, employees now want to be more autonomous, according to an article published by Entrepreneur Asia Pacific. They want to be able to work at the hours they are most productive or have the chance to decide to maybe work harder four days a week and have Friday off. So try to offer flexible culture as much as you can if you want to attract and retain top young talent.
Remote Opportunities
People choose to work remotely for many reasons. Maybe they want to spend more time with their families, want the comfort of working from their own home, or just want the freedom of working from anywhere in the world. Either way, remote work is becoming more common each year; more so now with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Make sure you offer remote working opportunities to your employees. As suggested by Business News Daily, it doesn’t have to be full-time remote, but maybe once a week or once a month. Plus, remote work brings a lot of benefits like lower overall costs.
It also depends on your profession. A doctor can hardly operate a patient remotely, or at least we are not there yet. But a Web Developer can work remotely efficiently. So, you can have part of the team remote and the rest at the office, depending on your needs.
Family Benefits
Mindsets are changing with the new generations. Now, it is more common for people to prioritize their mental health and family life over work, as suggested in this article published by Sprigghr. Many companies offer benefits like four to 12 months of family leave for new parents, even for adoption and foster care.
Other less common benefits are egg freezing assistance and reimbursements for fertility treatments. Either way, something like offering health insurance for all direct family members can make a huge difference for someone to stay at a company.
Student Loan Assistance
Most Americans who reach professional levels do it with student loan debt. Some of them reach middle age still in debt, according to an article on CNBC. So, another benefit that has become really attractive for top workers is student loan assistance. It varies from yearly bonuses to help pay the debt to monthly allowances. This will not only attract employees, but it will give the company tax breaks.
Career Development
Another benefit that everyone looks for is career development opportunities. People generally want to grow in their careers, but studies and specializations are expensive, so having an employer that will pay for it is a huge draw. You can offer to pay for courses to further employees’ skills, and they don’t have to be super expensive.
Many online courses are quite affordable and will give you great results. The company can also offer training programs and platforms made by its employees. And, at last, they can create mentorship programs where new employees work with more experienced ones.
PTO
PTO stands for “paid time off.” Generous vacations are the second most important benefit for employees. Some companies are starting even to get unlimited PTO, according to Business News Daily. You don’t have to offer this same benefit, but you should offer generous PTO to attract top talent.
Workers that don’t take vacations regularly can suffer from burn-out, which brings poor performance to the company. Some companies even believe that holidays should be mandatory as shown in this article by Forbes; employees will come back rested and refreshed.
In Summary
The recruitment industry is a process of trial and error, but there are some things you can do from the start to be successful. By offering benefits that you know will attract the right candidates, you are starting off on the right foot.
Employees nowadays look for companies that offer flexible schedules, remote working options, family benefits, career development, and generous PTO. Try to add some of these to your own team and your employees will be happier.