Long-standing issues like skills shortages and an ageing population have increased competition among employers in the UK job market. As a result, more businesses are being thrust into a fierce war for talent as they seek to attract top talent to their organisations.
To stand out on this recruitment battlefield, you need a point of difference — and the right employee benefits solution could be your secret weapon.
Here, we explain why employee benefits matter, the key components of a winning employee benefits package, and how to attract top talent with the perfect mix of perks.
Why Do Employee Benefits Matter?
With UK wage growth continuing to slow, a strong benefits offering can tip the balance in your favour when it comes to recruiting and retaining talent.
In fact, as expectations shift in response to new technologies and remote working capabilities, employee benefits have never mattered more. Existing and prospective employees will weigh up the complete package (not just salary) before deciding where their loyalties lie.
The right benefits can help your business:
- Improve employee well-being and satisfaction
- Increase productivity and morale
- Reduce turnover and recruitment costs
Let’s look at each of these advantages in a little more detail.
1. Improve employee well-being and satisfaction
Employees are increasingly tuned into their physical and mental well-being, with many ranking work-life balance as highly as pay in terms of importance for current and future jobs.
This comes as more and more are dealing with stress and exhaustion, with Avantus’ State of Employee Benefits report finding that 46% of UK workers surveyed are on the brink of burnout. Growing economic uncertainty and rising living costs aren’t helping matters, either.
With the right mix of perks and benefits, you can prove your commitment to a healthy work-life balance. Flexible working options, wellness programs, mental health services, healthcare benefits, retirement planning, and financial literacy support can all help alleviate stress, improve employee well-being, and boost job satisfaction.
2. Increase productivity and morale
Employees who are happy, healthy, and rested tend to work harder. So, it’s little surprise that, in addition to attracting and retaining top talent, the right employee benefits package can increase productivity and morale.
Take, for example, paid leave. A study by Vacation Tracker found that 44% of UK workers preferred extended paid leave, making it one of the most sought-after benefits in the country.
When your employees feel seen and supported by the benefits you offer, both inside and outside the workplace, they’re more likely to be engaged and productive at work. This can lead to better business outcomes, such as a positive workplace culture and strong company performance.
3. Reduce turnover and recruitment costs
A small amount of staff turnover can sometimes be a good thing. It allows fresh ideas, skills, and approaches to enter your business, potentially elevating productivity and performance.
However, a balance must be struck. To maintain your competitive edge, you need to recruit and retain high-performing employees.
If your best people leave, you may find it tough to replace them — especially as 38% of employers are struggling with hard-to-fill vacancies, according to the CIPD’s recent Labour Market Outlook report.
When you get your employee benefits spot on, you can bring staff turnover under control by giving your top performers a reason to stay. And by increasing loyalty, you’ll also reduce recruitment costs (it’s estimated that each lost employee costs a company around one-third of their annual salary).
What Are the Key Components of Employee Benefits Solutions?
There’s no longer room for a one-size-fits-all, generic approach to workplace benefit schemes.
Instead, benefits must be tailored to attract and retain specific talent pools across every generation and circumstance, from young graduates and parents to skilled workers and senior management.
A modern employee benefits package also requires diversity, inclusion, and sustainability.
Thankfully, emerging technologies are making it easier to deliver a range of benefits that foster inclusivity with just a few clicks or taps. This can be broken down into three key components:
- Traditional employment benefits, such as competitive health insurance, retirement plans, and paid time off.
- Work-life balance benefits, like parental leave, flexible working arrangements, holiday trading, and mental and physical wellness programs.
- Perks, bonuses, and rewards, such as professional development opportunities, tuition reimbursement, gym memberships, shopping vouchers, and environmental initiatives.
Using These Components to Create an Employee Benefits Strategy That Attracts Top Talent
Let’s consider the three categories outlined above as a kind of employee benefits shopping list.
The traditional employment benefits are your everyday essentials. Every current and potential employee would expect to see them.
However, to attract top talent, your staff must be able to pick and choose to create something that’s truly personalised and designed to meet their individual needs. For instance, a gym membership might resonate with some but not others. It should be a choice, not a requirement. A dedicated benefits platform and the right benefits partner can help you here (more on that below).
You must also consider how you communicate and deliver these benefits, both locally and globally. Whether your company operates a hybrid or remote model or has offices across the country or around the world, the experience of accessing and using employee benefits should be consistent for all staff members.
Finally, data is vital for shaping and reshaping rewards and benefits. By paying close attention to the analytics, you can see usage patterns and spot gaps to keep your employee benefits package relevant to changing workforce demographics.
The Importance of Partnering With the Right Benefits Platform Provider
Every business and workforce is different, with demands and expectations changing constantly. That’s why choosing the right partner when designing your employee benefits strategy is a crucial step in attracting top talent.
As an employee benefits platform provider, FlexGenius can help you select the features and benefits you need to make the platform your own. We work with businesses of all shapes and sizes, from SMEs to multinational companies with 50 up to 10,000 employees — so we can scale to the size that works for you.
And with dedicated support, you won’t be left to fend for yourself once you go live. We’re on hand to help you refine your employee benefits packages moving forward. That’s why we have such a loyal customer base with an exceptional 95% retention rate.
Overcoming Common Employee Benefits Solution Challenges
Implementing a tailored benefits solution to attract top talent is the way forward, but there are a few challenges to overcome first.
1. Budget constraints
In the past, employee benefits technology was expensive to implement and maintain, making it a hard sell to the person holding the purse strings.
However, with a dedicated platform provider like FlexGenius, you can sidestep budget constraints by creating a solution that’s configured to your exact business requirements. In other words, you don’t pay for features you don’t use.
What’s more, with management information and analytics on hand, you can easily measure the success of your benefits strategy and demonstrate ROI.
2. Compliance issues
Another tricky aspect of employee benefits management is ensuring that your company complies with all the various legal requirements, tax rules, and eligibility criteria.
That’s why FlexGenius's core functionality provides employers with a tool for hosting and publishing an unlimited number of company policies and documents, with built-in version control and permission-based publishing. This allows you to keep up with changing legislation and guidance and communicate it effortlessly to your employees.
3. Responding to employee needs and market trends
With constantly evolving employee needs, demands, and expectations alongside fluctuating market trends, it can be hard to keep on top of benefits admin at the best of times.
A modern benefits platform can help here. By simplifying benefits management, HR professionals can make changes instantly and communicate them efficiently. This significantly reduces the time and effort required for admin tasks, freeing up HR to focus on other crucial tasks.
In Summary
To recap, winning the war for talent requires a clear point of difference. Meanwhile, retaining your star employees will always be more cost-effective than replacing them. A competitive, tailored, and modern benefits package can give your company an edge as you seek to do both.
By offering the right employee benefits solutions, you’re also making a strategic long-term investment—one that can pay dividends in the form of increased productivity, improved morale, and enhanced company performance.
How to Attract Top Talent to Your Business by Leveraging a Flexible Benefits Platform
To attract high-performing employees, you need a best-in-class benefits platform.
Our comprehensive and innovative employee benefits software lets your HR team incorporate any kind of benefit, reward, perk, or salary sacrifice scheme, all in one easy-to-use platform.
You can integrate FlexGenius with your existing systems and provide the modern, engaging benefits you need to recruit and retain talent.
Watch our short explainer video to see how our platform works and the impact it could have on your recruitment and retention efforts!
Want to learn more about FlexGenius? Download our Checklist for Choosing the Right Employee Benefits Platform Provider, or book a free demo today.
