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The world of work is changing at a rapid pace. There has never been a greater range of generations, cultures and backgrounds within the workforce than the present day. With all this diversity, are companies fully utilising the broad range of benefits that are now available to attract and retain staff?

In order to keep up with this pace of change, benefit programmes need to be kept current, consistently and effectively communicated and offer something that appeals to the individual. Like any initiatives, return on investment is important, however, the intangible benefits that lead to engaged and retained staff also need to be taken into account.

Most Common Company Benefits

To save you some time, we’ve listed some of the most common benefits that we see companies utilising below. With a little creativity, some can be employed reasonably simply, whilst others may involve change programmes or need to be embedded over a period of time.

Childcare / Parental Leave Policy – Many companies are choosing to offer additional parental leave benefits above and beyond those that are mandatory. One common example is some organisations extending their parental leave programmes to cover men, as well as parents who choose to adopt.

Leave Entitlements – One of the latest global trends, often associated with start-ups in Silicon Valley, is the Unlimited Leave policy. Companies such as Virgin and Netflix are often seen as leading the way in this area, but the idea is quickly spreading to other businesses. If unlimited leave is too much of a leap, then consider providing employees with additional annual leave or the option to purchase additional leave.

Technology – Having access to desirable or in-vogue technology can be a major draw card for some people. Technology policies can also be used to provide your employees with greater freedom; Daimler, for example, has created software that automatically deletes new emails when an employee is away on holiday.

Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) – Offering access to professional help across many areas, including grief counselling, mediation or financial planning can really help to stand your business apart from competitors.

Health & Wellbeing – Benefits here can range from basic elements like discounted gym membership through to flu shots, fully-funded health insurance or even health consultations.

Food/Meals/Staffed kitchen - It’s amazing how well people respond to having basics such as good quality tea and coffee, fruit and other day-to-day items. Depending on your budget, it’s not uncommon for companies to provide fully stocked fridges or on-site, funded cafeterias.

Entertainment & Social Events – Most companies now have annual or bi-annual events, usually centred around Christmas. Outside of these, team or departmental incentives and events can often have a hugely positive effect on morale.

Education / Professional Development – The opportunity for professional development is nearly always cited by employees as one of the biggest draw cards when selecting an employer. This could be in the form of funded further education through to simple internal mentorship programs.

Charity Days – We’re living in a time when people now expect their employers to proactively give back to the community. Whilst company donations and partnerships are good, providing your teams with the opportunities to get involved themselves can be even better. Paid Volunteer Days are on the rise, where team members are given the day off to volunteer with the company’s charity or a charity of their choice.

Summary

The ideas above are by no means a comprehensive list, and some of the these may not be suited to your business, either due to company size, industry or financials. However, if you’re looking to drive your culture to a higher performing, trusting and more productive place, then thinking how you can implement some of these benefits could definitely help to get you on the right track.

If you’d like to discuss the trends we’re observing around employee benefits please fell free to get in touch.