Is it time to review your benefits package?

According to a survey conducted by Reed.co.uk in 2022, the top three employee benefits or workplace perks were: 

1. Flexible working hours (62%)
2. Employer-contributed pension (54%)
3. Remote working access (36%)

Creating a diverse and inclusive culture is crucial for attracting top talent. By offering a comprehensive benefits package that supports employees of all backgrounds and abilities, you can foster a sense of belonging and commitment. When you support your employees' personal and professional goals, they will reciprocate by actively contributing to your organisation's success.

When it comes to enhancing your benefits packages, what more can you give?

 
Here are some ideas… 

• 24% of 18–34-year-olds consider enhanced maternity leave one of the most important employee perks. Pay equal attention to maternity, paternity, and adoption leave.
• Fertility support can come in the form of discounts on private fertility treatments, access to tests or specialists, as well as extra time off work for treatment, tests or for those affected by pregnancy loss. 
• Menopause support such as flexible working hours, dedicated wellbeing support, external signposting to menopause-specific support and even additional time-off allowance. Only 9% of businesses offer menopause support as an employee benefit, yet it affects 50% of the population.
• Only 22% of businesses offer mental health and wellbeing support as an employee benefit. Packages can be enhanced by the inclusion of wellness subsidiaries, virtual counselling, assistance programmes, support groups, resource hubs to build mindfulness, resilience and confidence, educational talks from experts, debt advice, free eye tests and many more. 
• Unlimited annual leave demonstrates trust but can lead to burnout in the long run as the ownness is on the employee to take their holiday and they often end up taking less than those with a set amount.
• Floating annual leave is a certain amount of paid time off that employees can use in addition to annual leave allowances and can either be as a substitute for an observed public holiday or an additional day’s leave. This will allow all employees, regardless of religion, ethnicity, or nationality, to celebrate and honour days that are important to them, and not just the government-approved observed holidays. 
• Career development plans are high on the list of desirable benefits for 18–34-year-olds and Black and Asian candidates. Giving people the opportunity to take courses and qualifications that will help to develop their skills outside of work will promote a good work-life balance and help your workforce become well-rounded and satisfied employees.
• Reward and recognition programmes can take shape in any way you see fit for your organisation. You can create schemes where employees or managers nominate their colleagues, and this can be on an individual and/or team basis.

Salary Benchmarking

Alongside reviewing your benefits package, you may also be thinking about your salaries. This article lays out the key steps your business can take to ensure what you pay your employees keeps pace with the market. 

Aspire Jobs in the Community

We're pleased to be sponsoring Ringwood School, which is taking part in the YMCA Bournemouth's Sleep Easy event this autumn. Children will 'sleep rough to support those when the going gets tough!'. If you're interested in supporting this initiative, you can find out more here.

We're also sponsoring Ringwood Carnival this year, it's on September 16th and promises a festival of fun supporting the local community!