Are You Offering The Right Benefits To Retain Your Best Talent?
You’ll be hard pushed to find a business or individual who hasn’t experienced at least some negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic in some way. Uncertainty about when the economy and our way of life will get back to normal weighs heavily on everyone. While the recent news about vaccines is encouraging, we are still many months away from returning to the normality of our pre pandemic lives. Businesses and individuals have largely adapted well to remote and home working and many have even been able to successfully recruit new personnel without ever meeting in person. But research by GRiD found that the majority of employers are missing a trick when it comes to the recruitment process[1]:
• Only 22% of employers promote employee benefits prior to recruitment (e.g. in job ads)
• 25% make any mention of employee benefits before the first day of employment (e.g. in offer letters)
• Just 38% of employers communicate benefits in a welcome pack for new starts.
Salary and benefits equally important
In not promoting the benefits package, and focusing solely on salary during the recruitment process, employers are missing a potential opportunity to attract the best talent. GRiD’s research found that benefits were as important to 32% of employees as salary and a similar proportion of employers considered benefits as important as salary in helping to recruit and retain employees.
Presenting them early in the recruitment process gives them maximum impact. Treating benefits as an afterthought or as secondary to salary could not only affect the candidate’s perception of their value but could result in employers inadvertently breaking the law. Since 6 April 2020 it has been a requirement for employers to inform new employees about their employment terms, including benefits, on day one.
Focus on health and wellbeing
Living through this pandemic has taught us to value our health and wellbeing more highly than ever before, making all of us acutely aware of the potential impact a serious illness or worse would have on our families and finances. Benefits packages that support mental, physical and financial wellbeing are arguably becoming more and more important for attracting and retaining staff.
Employers need to demonstrate at an early stage in the recruitment process that they are not merely meeting their duty of care when it comes to providing support for employee health and wellbeing but that it is at the heart of the organisation’s culture. Failing to do so puts the ability to recruit the best people at risk.
If you’d like help to make sure your benefits package is delivering the health and wellbeing support your workforce needs, you could turn to an employee benefits consultant. Novo has partnered with LEBC Group Limited who were founded in 2000 and have advisers across the UK. LEBC can help you to customise your benefits offering, ensuring you are able to find the best possible cover and value for money. With expertise across the spectrum of employee benefits with Workplace Pensions, Healthcare and Group Risk benefits being at the forefront. LEBC work with business ranging from SMEs to large corporates to ensure all benefits are suited to business needs, in line with regulations and as cost competitive as possible.
To request a free consultation from one of LEBC’s benefits specialists, please click the link below.
