Crew ConsultingThe old days when an “employee benefit” meant a ping pong table and a beer fridge are over.
We’re in the post-Covid era now, where work from home or hybrid hours are the minimum benefit expectation. Where mental health days aren’t taboo, and our values have shifted from just cashing a check to creating balance in our lives.
For both employees and employers, the negotiation landscape has changed.
So what do you need to know about offering or negotiating a benefits package? Mat Baird, one of our Senior Recruitment Consultants, has stepped up to lay it all out for you. Whether you’re a business owner looking for the edge over your competitors, or a talented employee wanting to get what you’re worth, here’s our run down of all you need to know about employee benefits + salary packages.
Set your expectations higher
You might still see the odd cheeky job ad where they list holiday and sick leave as a benefit, but we know you’re not falling for that. We’re talking real benefit packages – tangible perks on top of your salary that provide real value to employees.
Some benefits that we see frequently include:
- Health insurance, and other insurances
- Work from home, hybrid working, and flexi hours
- Share options
- Allowances for laptop, mobile phone, or kitting out a home office
- Learning and development – professional development programmes, paid memberships
- Wellness allowance, gym memberships
- Extra annual leave, mental health and wellbeing leave, family leave
“People expect a bit more from their work these days; it’s not just about going to work to get paid. They want their boss to care, they want their work to make their lives easier, they want to feel supported,” Mat explains.
The change since Covid
The hunger for better benefits has risen since Covid changed our lives. Mat describes how things have changed: “Over time we’ve seen benefits encroaching anyway but in the last couple of years we’ve seen it a lot more as benefits have become expectations, and companies have to get more creative around what they offer so they can differentiate themselves. Two years ago work from home was unheard of, now it’s a baseline expectation. Insurance wasn’t seen so often, now it’s a common benefit.”
We’ve become accustomed to flexibility and shown that we can make it work, so these days if a company won’t allow for partial work from home “Candidates won’t even look at it,” Mat explains, “You’ll lose people if you’re not able to offer that as the bare minimum.”
Hey employees, let someone else do your admin
There’s one benefit to a salary-only package for employees, and that’s that you get to spend it how you like. You can sum up your worth quite easily with a number and make all the decisions for where it goes.
However, with a benefits package you get more than just face value: you get someone else looking after that part of your life admin. Someone else is facilitating your health insurance, paying for your carpark and phone plan, ensuring your gym membership is up to date.
Since the pandemic we’ve been forced to think a bit more about what really matters to us – is it the number on our contract, or the life that we live day to day? Is family time and flexibility more important, or is learning and development your number one goal?
Hey employers, step up your advantage
In order to compete for top talent, you really need to offer benefits. “We rarely see a straight salary offer. Sometimes it can be higher than a salary plus benefits package, but more often we have business owners asking us what they can do to offer more. Most businesses know it’s an important differentiator, but they don’t know how their benefits compares, or can’t think of new and creative ways to encourage candidates to come work for them, or stay.”
When everyone’s offering a similar salary band, or you can’t afford to offer more, benefits are an excellent way to tip the balance in your favour.
Offering benefits is an easy way to bake your values into your offer – you’re telling candidates from the start that you care about their health and wellbeing, and they’ll be looked after within your team. Is environmental care important to your organisation? How about offering paid volunteer days for your team to plant trees or clean up a stream.
What benefits could you implement that reflect and align with your company culture?
There’s a fun opportunity to be creative with your benefits to really make sure you stand out from the pack. Interesting benefits can serve as a marketing opportunity to help attract stellar candidates.
Some creative benefits we’ve seen
Keen for some creative inspiration? Here are some ideas to chew on:
- Fluffy Fridays (bring your dog to work)
- Paid volunteer days at a charity of your choice
- Monthly visits from a massage therapist or physio
- Workplace library or book allowance
- Daily breakfast bar
- Annual mole-map voucher
Crew Technology Recruitment at the ready
Sound like the kinda place you want to work?
We’re here to open up communications between jobseekers and business managers, to help both sides negotiate a stellar deal that aligns with their values.
Employees, are you underselling yourself, or are you asking for far too much?
Employers, are you falling behind your competitors? What kind of benefits can you implement to attract and keep the top talent?
Chat to our team about benefits packages today and find out where you stand.