These days, it’s not just potential employees sitting in the hot seat in the interview room. In the new remote working culture (which rapidly accelerated due to the onset of the COVID pandemic), workers expect more flexibility, work-life balance, perks and benefits than ever before. If you’re a business owner in the UK today, you’ll likely have to provide your workers with competitive benefits if you want to attract and retain the most talented employees - but what are the top benefits that companies can realistically offer?
Benefits of benefits
While it’s no secret that happy and satisfied workers tend to be more productive, providing employees with perks can be beneficial in more ways than one. As well as increased levels of productivity and quality of work, workers who feel valued are likely to stay for longer - this can help to reduce staff turnover levels, attract the best staff for the job and improve morale, energy levels and team spirit in the workplace.
Financial benefits
The most popular financial perks and benefits offered by companies in the UK include company equity (in which employees are given a stake in the business), paid time off (including holiday and sick pay), employee discounts (such as at cinemas, restaurants and businesses outside of work), incentive-based cash rewards and annual or monthly performance bonuses.
Wellness benefits
As well as enabling employees to save money in their everyday lives, the most competitive benefits schemes usually include wellness benefits, which can help workers to stay fit, happy and healthy. Popular wellness benefits in the UK include health insurance (where workers can receive private medical care if they fall ill) encompassing things like dental services, eye care and life insurance. Employers may also decide to adopt wellness programs and strategies to boost wellbeing and work-life balance, such as reduced working hours, flexible working arrangements and regular access to social functions.
Training
By providing your staff with easy access to comprehensive training and career progression programs, you’ll not only gain enhanced skills and quality of output in the workplace, but you’ll also show your workers how much they’re valued. As well as providing on-the-job training to build new skills, consider offering tuition reimbursement or sponsorship programs to those wishing to fulfil a higher education qualification that could be beneficial in the workplace.
Car services
Many employers in the UK today enable their workers to make use of company car schemes and receive free maintenance and repair work should their vehicle run into any issues. As well as company car schemes, employers may also offer to reimburse workers for petrol and commuting costs and even cover the cost of a full car service for personal vehicles.
Optimize office space
The best employers foster creative, inclusive and collaborative workplaces where employees feel valued, welcome and satisfied. If you’re looking to provide more perks for your workers, consider updating or optimizing your office space to include recreational/communal/cooking areas where employees can eat, chat, relax and kick back when they’re not hard at work.
