Many companies are struggling to recruit and retain employees at the moment. We’re hearing from our client community that potential new recruits and long-servers alike are being tempted away by higher salaries.

HR is under pressure from the business to fill those empty roles as soon as possible. But inflating salaries brings its own problems down the line – both for new starters and yearly pay increases for incumbents. And what do you do if your pay budget simply won’t stretch?

So what’s the solution?

It’s a buyers’ market and to stand a chance, organisations need to be smart with their employee offer. Your best option is building a compelling reward package that looks beyond base pay to deliver real value in employees’ lives.

Being able to offer your workforce choice is a key advantage in the wage war; so if you haven’t already, it’s time to think about flexible benefits.

Flexible benefits are a great solution for HR teams, giving you a tool that will really help to increase the uptake of employee benefits while engaging and motivating your workforce at the same time. 

Take the lead

When competition for talent is so fierce, employers need to be proactive on keeping up with the changing needs of their workforce.

Letting employees choose their own benefits is a great way to engage your people. They’ll get better value from choosing benefits which suit their individual lifestyle, and it’s super-simple to adjust their perks if circumstances change. All this reflects well on you, the employer, which in turn helps you keep people on board and performing at their best.

More reasons to flex

Of course, there are wider forces driving the rise of flexible benefits.

The COVID-19 crisis massively accelerated the rise of flexible working. Practices like working from home, flexi-time, and compressed hours are now widespread and allow employees to accommodate other demands like childcare, exercise, or chores.

Research suggests that nine out of ten (88.2%) employees who worked at home during the lockdown would like to continue working at home in some capacity. As restrictions are lifted on returning to the workplace, many organisations continue to offer employees the option to work at home at least some of the time.

Even employers who were previously reluctant to offer remote working now see the benefits. When working from home is done well, it can improve employee productivity, creativity and morale, as well as overall wellbeing as people experience a better work/life balance.

To accommodate flexible working, shouldn’t your benefits be flexible too?

Employees are increasingly looking for ways to protect their work/life balance, and being able to choose benefits that suit their lifestyle is a key part of that. Whether it’s commuting by bike, flexible childcare, or affordable loans, employees will appreciate the autonomy to help protect the life they love.

For more information, email letschat@personalgroup.com or call us on 01908 605000.

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