Employee perks to consider

The job market is currently very difficult to navigate. With a strained economy and cost of living crisis, combined with a change in working patterns due to the pandemic, employers can no longer compete by simply offering the highest salary.

Employees are now more interested in additional perks than ever before and may even accept a job with better benefits over salary.

Therefore, employers cannot afford to overlook this, and many are beginning to review their employee benefits offering.

Home office spend

As a result of the covid-19 pandemic, home working has risen considerably. People realised the benefits of working from home, from reduced travel time to increased productivity and better work-life balance.

Despite the pluses of working from home, it is still a relatively new concept for many, meaning that a lot of people’s homes are not equipped for optimally working from home. Therefore, offering employees a home-office budget can be very appealing. This will allow them to personalise their home office space with items that are more conducive to productivity. This could include fitted furniture to allow more room or a new desk chair to support correct posture.

Private healthcare

In an ever-increasingly health-conscious society and with the NHS waiting list being longer than ever, there is now a bigger demand for private healthcare. There is a range of providers available that employers can utilise in order to offer staff access to subsidised healthcare. This can include reimbursement for services such as eye tests or dental check-ups or could include the provision of complementary therapy or physio sessions.

Supplemented transport

For those employees who are travelling into an office on a regular basis, this can become very expensive. Whether they are catching the bus in or driving, even small costs can rack up. Offering to supplement some or all of an employee’s travel costs is a benefit that a lot of people would be very grateful for.

This could be done by providing a pre-topped-up travel card or via the provision of a company car and fuel card. The costs of doing this will need to be sufficiently reviewed before it is offered to staff.

Flexible working

Similar to working from home, flexible working has also become increasingly popular in recent years. Employees are now looking for the opportunity to manage their own time and be able to start and finish work within a given window rather than at two specified times. For example, starting anytime between 7:30-9:30 am and finishing between 3:30-5:30 pm dependent on start time.

Allowing employees this flexibility means they are able to better manage life commitments such as doctor’s appointments and childcare. Therefore, during times that they are working, they can be both more productive and focused.