As workplace culture around the world continues to evolve with the times, more and more employers are seeking ways to attract and retain the best talent for their companies. Maintaining employee loyalty through competitive benefits is essential.
However, as standards rise, so too do employee expectations. With so many companies now offering perks like free food and beverages as part of their workplace culture, employees’ standards have continued to rise. Today, employees are hoping to find a workplace that shows they value their employees.
This has led many companies to up their game and offer comprehensive benefits that make their employees feel valued and secure. As this becomes the standard, companies that don’t offer competitive job perks to keep their employees engaged and happy are at risk of missing out on top talent for their company.
What benefits can business owners bring to the table in order to keep employees happy and healthy? Here are a few of the essentials that can help entrepreneurs retain top talent:
Employees want security
Job stability is a crucial aspect of the job for many employees — especially for the youngest generation in the workforce.
Generation Z have been raised in a time of political and economic struggle, with major events from their early lives, like the terrorist attacks on September 11 and the global economic recession of the late 2000s, playing foundational roles in how they perceive the world.
Due to seeing struggle as the norm so early on in their lives (rather than as the shock that it was to millennials), this generation sees job security as a necessary part of their workplace, particularly now that they’ve begun graduating college.
They want to feel valued and indisposable, and creating a workplace culture that helps them feel that way will help attract new, bright, and loyal employees to your company.
Although job security has always been very important to attract and retain workers, it’s becoming an even greater priority.
As a rule of thumb, good companies should be treating their employees this way to begin with, but now that employees have access to potential employment opportunities through job sites like Linkedin and Indeed, they are unwilling to stay at a company that doesn’t offer what they want.
For companies to attract the best and freshest talent, they need to offer comprehensive benefits that show employees they are respected.
Paid holidays and sick leave
In order to feel valued, employees need to feel that their company cares about them, which means offering sick leave so they can get better when they fall ill. Lacking understanding for employees that get sick makes employees feel that they’re only worth their productivity and the money they bring in — not as a whole person who dedicates 40 hours each to the company.
Although there is no federal policy for paid time off (PTO), many companies offer this knowing that it helps to retain employees; however, this is now less of a perk and more of an expectation, as 69% of participants in a TSheets survey said they would reject a job that didn’t offer PTO. The average PTO allowance among most U.S. companies is 11 days.
Companies that offer paid holidays show that they value work-life balance and the time that their employees spend with their families. Paid holidays demonstrate that employees deserve to be compensated on mandatory days off.
Providing employees with some paid days off work is a small perk that can make a world of difference to employees who eventually become exhausted and burnt out on the routine of going to work every day.
Flexible schedules
Another very popular and important benefit for employees is flexibility in their schedules. For millennials and Gen Z, work-life balance is extremely important, and those in these age demographics value hobbies and other aspects of their lives as much as their jobs.
As more people gain liberal views, fewer people want to be defined solely by what they do for a living, and therefore need flexible schedules to pursue their other interests.
According to the TSheets survey, 76% of people want flexible schedules, but only 18% of them actually get this benefit from their employer. For companies seeking to attract and retain more employees, structuring their business practices to allow them to have flexible schedules could be a worthwhile investment to acquire more dedicated staff.
Image: Pexels
Steady raises
Another work benefit that’s integral to fostering loyalty with employees is a fair raise structure. Steady raises will not only accommodate increases to an employees’ cost of living, but they provide them with an incentive to stay with the company.
It’s not uncommon for employees to wonder if they could find a new position with a better workplace; but if they’re working at a company where they know they’ll be offered an increase in pay after a certain amount of time, they’re less likely to look for another position.
The TSheet survey indicated that 73% of employees want performance-based raises but only 10% get this benefit. Without a performance-based raise, employees are less motivated to go above and beyond for their company because they don’t feel their hard work is being appreciated.
Similarly, 66% of employees want discretionary bonuses for their hard work, but only 6% of employees get this.
Positive work environment
Feeling valued and getting benefits from work offers employees a positive work environment that makes them want to go in each day and do their job. A part of this type of environment is knowing that they will be protected if anything happens to them on the job.
In the U.S., workers’ compensation insurance is an important benefit to offer employees, especially if the workplace can be considered dangerous. Providing employees with peace of mind that accidents will be covered by their employer can help them feel valued and make them more likely to stay.
There are many other steps management can take to create a positive work environment. They must provide positive reinforcement regularly, celebrate individual and team achievements, and encourage positivity whenever possible.
If you want to go the extra mile, encourage supervisors to practice random acts of kindness, as an unexpected reward can go a long way when it comes to fostering trust and loyalty.
In Summary
Although perks like free food and drinks in the office can help employees feel more motivated to be in the office, the most important benefits for employees are the ones that help them feel valued and protected as a person.
Job security, paid holidays and sick leave, flexible schedules, steady raises, and a positive work environment help make employees feel that jobs respect their lives and care about keeping them and their families happy. For a workplace to remain competitive, they need to value their employees.
They must be as committed to providing them with benefits for a happier life as their employees are to serving the needs of the company.
About the Author
Indiana Lee lives in the Northwest and has a passion for the environment and personal development. Indiana loves experiencing new things and sharing with others what she learns through her writing. You can chat with Indiana on Twitter.
