In a candidate driven market it is more important than ever to be offering competitive benefits. What is competitive? Well that depends on what you use as your comparators. In a nutshell a competitive benefits package should be:-
In line or better than your competitors
At the moment we are finding that there are simply not enough people on the market for the amount of jobs. This means that candidates are in a position to select the opportunity that will offer the best package and progression, and that’s right if your offering is not as good as your competitors then you will most likely be losing talent to them.
I recently received a great report from Jobsite on a current survey they did and there are some excellent insights in this report which I think are useful for all clients and candidates to know, here is a snapshot of key findings.
Source: The Jobsite guide to The real value of employee benefits schemes, 2016
What can this tell us? Firstly it is clear that employees are acutely aware of the current benefits packages that are on offer in their industry. Therefore if you start to fall behind you risk losing your talent to your competitors. It is vital to regularly compare your benefits package to the market and ensure you are meeting or exceeding the averages.
If you are struggling to find talent in your sector then look to see if you can offer a more attractive benefits package. I.e. can you offer flexible working, which is high value but low cost.
And finally, make sure you advertise and promote your benefits regularly. It seems that employees are not fully aware of the true value, a simple re-education could improve their perception and understanding hugely.
Ignore these findings at your peril! Of course there are a whole mix of important factors that affect the decision of accepting an offer for a role or moving companies. However, if 85% of people have full awareness of what is on offer in their sector, then this tells us that 85% place value on this area.
We will continue to ensure that our clients and candidates are fully aware of what is happening in the current market, and should you wish to speak to one of our consultants for any free updates or support then please call us on:
Uxbridge Employment Agency – 01895 520 700
Windsor Employment Agency – 01753 290 260