6 REASONS TO OFFER COMPETITIVE EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
If your intention is to compete for top-tier FinTech candidates, simply offering a competitive salary package may no longer be enough.
The war for top tech talent is being fiercely fought, and businesses are using every tool at their disposal to secure and retain skilled staff; one of which is the offer of competitive and enticing employee benefits. The following discusses 6 reasons businesses should provide employee benefits - along with how both candidates and their employers, can stand to gain.
Brand Appeal
To attract the best and most talented skills in the industry you need one thing - an appealing opportunity. Now some will argue that the job itself should be the decision driver, and with normal hiring this can be the case. However when we focus-in on just the most skilled end of the candidate pool, the needs and requirements of candidates can be much higher.
Traditional ‘one size fits all’ packages that include the likes of health and life insurance, company cars, discounts at certain retailers etc., are either now expected as standard, or are increasingly less appealing to the latest crop of technologists.
This is becoming ever more the case, as our workplaces continue to diversify and age gaps force a more innovative, imaginative approach to benefits [2]. Millennials for example, are more likely to be inspired by benefits focused on their personal and professional development; and will find the opportunity to work remotely outside of the ‘9-5’ very appealing.
If your benefits package is going to compete in the FinTech space, you must recognise the need to match what your organisation is offering against the type of workforce you’re targeting. Differentiating your brand with personalised benefits will demonstrate your investment in employees, helping you to attract A-list IT professionals.
Retention
You’ve successfully hired the most skilled professional in your business market - now how do you stop them from leaving a year from now? A strong employee benefits package can help ensure leaving the business simply isn’t on the cards for your new hire. No, I’m not talking about a 2-for-1 cinema card or access to the gym down the road, but instead, benefits that create business engagement and pull an individual into the heart of your company.
For example, let’s say you provide in-house training for industry-recognised qualifications and then pay for the exams as a business perk; which once enrolled on, have a minimum completion time of two years per course.
Given that many IT professionals fall under the rule of ‘always learning’ to stay up-to-speed with technological advancements [3], this perk would be attractive to a new hire. Additionally, it would increase their likeliness to remain with and invest in your company AND would provide the business for an even higher skilled resource.
Culture & Satisfaction
There is a theory in psychology called Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It depicts a five-tier model of human motivations, starting with the physiological, and peeking when self fulfilment is achieved [4]. If we translate this into the recruitment of top-tier staff, we get a pyramid like the one dictated here. In this, we start with the basic motivations of any employee - to earn money to live, eat, stay warm, stay safe etc. Once this is achieved we next look at job satisfaction needs beyond monetary gains, such as engagement with the company and its culture. Then finally we have the peak of the pyramid, with needs that stretch well past simple monetary gains or company nights out.
Well thought out employee benefits can support and develop the mid and top sections of this pyramid. You can use benefits to show how staff exactly how much your business cares about its employees and the things that matter to them. In turn, this will create a loyalty culture where staff are engaged with the company and feel driven to achieve.
Healthy, Happy
An estimated 137.3 million working days we lost due to sickness or injury in the UK during 2016, equivalent to 4.3 days per worker [5]. Even though that’s the lowest recorded figure since recordings started in 1993, it’s still estimated that sick leave costs UK employers over £29 billion pounds a year [6].
The benefits of a healthy workforce are, therefore, pretty obvious for businesses: active people that are physically and mentally fit make for better employees. This is a fact not lost on IT professionals, many of whom succumb to one of the 21st century's highest risk diseases, excessive sitting [7].
Offering benefits that focus on a healthy lifestyle make it easier for your workforce to access and action activities that lead to good health; such as physical training and regular medical checkups. Again, this leads to staff taking more preventative medical steps to avoid sickness, meaning less sick days, which is good for everyone.
Health benefits also extend into how we work, as we see a growing trend for remote and flexible working conditions. Of course, these may not be suitable for every organisation, but should be considered where possible, given their positive impact on physical and mental well-being [8].
Reputation & Recommendations
So you have a healthy, happy, engaged, loyal and skilled workforce filled with top-tier employees - along with a recognised brand that’s known for investing in its people. What’s the next logical thing that happens? More people want to work for you, that’s what.
The digital world has pulled us together and real-world reviews and recommendations have never held as much value as they do today; just look at the impact of reviews on sites like Amazon or Tripadvisor. People trust people, and unsurprisingly the most skilled industry professionals usually network with others of a similar stature. Offer great employee benefits to one and soon, the rest could follow.
Business Performance Success
Finally, business performance success. This is simply an accumulation of all of the above. Your business will achieve long-term success if your competitive benefits structure helps you obtain people that will drive you forward. At Caspian One we know that people make a business succeed. Our consultants receive various benefits, both financial and developmental - and in return, we’ve gained an experienced, loyal and engaged team of recruiters, that have their successes recognised and can meet and exceed our client expectations.
References:
http://uk.businessinsider.com/hardest-fintech-jobs-to-fill-in-uk-according-to-indeedcom-2017-3
https://blog.xexec.com/why-traditional-employee-benefits-schemes-no-longer-work
https://workfrom.co/magazine/story/health-benefits-working-remotely
