It’s hard and getting harder to find good help. Why? Companies are offering big signing bonuses and other perks along with higher pay to find a better caliber of employees. Small companies may struggle to compete on salary in this kind of candidate-driven marketplace. However, one thing you can do is change up your perks and benefits to attract talent. Here’s how you can get more creative with employee benefits for your business.
Changing Your Benefits to Attract Candidates
Get ready for the post-pandemic. Things have changed for your employees now that they’ve gotten a taste of remote work. The latest data says that we don’t want to go back to the era of the frantic commute. Human Resource Executive reports 58% of workers say they will quit before going back to that lifestyle. Their numbers also show:
- 65% of employees want to work remotely after the pandemic.
- 33% said a hybrid work environment would be fine.
- Only 2% said they wanted to return to an office full-time.
Employers, particularly smaller companies that can’t afford big salaries—pay attention! If you can flex your business model to allow for fully remote or hybrid positions, you will stand a better chance of attracting talent to your team. Human Resource Executive says this is the number one benefit you can offer to your workforce.
Be Flexible
As a subset of remote work, employers can also be more creative with employee hours by allowing flexibility to their workflows. Flexibility in work hours is particularly important for women. School closures and remote working conditions forced many women to rethink their roles in the household. Ultimately, two million women quit the workforce in 2020 to care for their small children. Good Morning America reports, “Of the 12.1 million women’s jobs lost between February and April (2020), more than two in five have not yet returned.”
This is a huge opportunity for employers that can be flexible around work time versus Mom time. If you can embrace remote work and make accommodations around the occasional at-home crisis, you will attract more of these candidates to your company.
You can also be creative with your benefits package by allowing employees to work four days a week. A four-year study showed that a four-day workweek is just as productive as the traditional five-day week. This should shake traditional business to its core. You can get a jump start by allowing employees the flexibility to put in four 10-hour days if it works for your business. This kind of creativity will help you retain your current workforce and attract new top talent.
This kind of creativity in scheduling should be coupled with a more supportive environment that promotes employee health. We’re all more aware of work/life balance and the importance of staying healthy during a pandemic. You can carry this over into your company by creating policies to support your workforce.
Contact Our Experts Today
Lingo Staffing can help support your efforts to attract a better quality team. We work with companies like yours to improve the candidate experience and help you meet your hiring goals. Contact us to find out how we can help.
