Employers have never been short of reasons to be frustrated when trying to attract talent. Competition for the right fit is always fierce, even in times when the economy has been far from great.
Now it’s an era of effectively full employment, with most other nations of Ireland’s standing facing the same challenge. A business in Cork isn’t just fighting those from Clones to Carrick-on-Suir, but companies in Cologne and Colchester for talent.
Furthermore, pay alone isn’t the only matter that sways employees. Motivations have truly become individualised, with some driven by purpose, others by job security, and then there’s flexibility and wellbeing.
In short, the challenge would turn me grey if that hadn’t already happened a dozen years back. Expectations are widening and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to build a package that works for all.
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Flexibility in the package often starts with looking at how flexibility affects the workplace. A study by Ibec earlier this year found that 68 per cent of employees found flexibility fundamental to their wellbeing. Speaking with existing staff about why flexibility matters is a good step towards shaping this element of the benefits packages you will offer candidates.
“Discussions around flexible work, both within and beyond the workplace,” Patrick Haslett, product manager at KeepWell, said in the Ibec report, “are crucial to developing long-term solutions that serve the best interests of employees and organisations alike.”
“Employees clearly value flexibility, so much so that some are willing to leave well-paying jobs if hybrid work is not available”
A transparent approach here is vital. If you get all the other elements of the package right but don’t meet the candidate’s flexibility expectations, all you are doing is wasting the time of both you and the potential employee. This is a strong filter that can help you focus on the more tangible benefits in your package.
An increasingly important piece within the tangible elements is pensions. With auto-enrolment coming in, greater education around pensions is vital. Despite pension plans being a conventional part of benefits before auto-enrolment, which kicks in this January, public understanding remains suboptimal.
A clearly communicated pension benefit package can prove useful here. By simplifying what it involves, the prospective candidate won’t just know what they are getting but will be grateful for the clarity provided.
Then there are the non-cash perks, which still have cash consequences. These include company cars, gym memberships, subsidised meals, or anything that shows appreciation beyond the pay packet to staff.
Again, and I’m going to sound like a broken record here, transparency and clarity are your friends.
With subsidised meals, you are likely best off having them as a companywide policy. The reason for this is twofold: one, it shows staff that you appreciate them, and the second is that it reduces tax headaches. If only certain staff can access them, then it counts as a benefit in kind, whereas if it is companywide, it doesn’t.
The en vogue benefits to push are the likes of electric cars and bikes. These can be funded under salary sacrifice schemes, which involve an employee giving up part of their salary to get a non-cash benefit.
The key aspect here when wooing a candidate is to clearly explain the tax upside, as a salary sacrifice scheme lowers the total taxable income of the employee, meaning they pay less tax.
This can also tie existing and potential employees back into understanding the mindset of your organisation. If your package has a good and clearly explained pension plan, a transparent approach to flexible working, and approaches non-cash benefits with care, such as those under salary sacrifice schemes, it tells a great deal.
First, that you are focused on their long-term future, second, that you are a straight talker, and third, that you are willing to do the work for them. This can all be added to by focusing on employee wellbeing in any package being offered.
In the post-pandemic era, this has become an expected part of any package and not just a nice extra. Global spending reflects that with investment in employee wellbeing globally expected to rise to €85 billion next year, according to MetLife, up from under €55 billion in 2021.
The best way to demonstrate wellness benefits to prospective candidates is to turn your workforce into advocates. The Slieve Russell hotel in Cavan is a great example, which has an employee-led wellness calendar to drive that focus.
People you are trying to attract to your company will regularly engage with those who are or have previously worked for you. Use this to your advantage, as an engaged workforce focused on wellness will espouse these benefits to the candidates you are trying to lure.
When you bring it all together, the salary, flexibility, pensions, wellness, and all those other perks, the goal is to present you in the best possible light as an employer.
You can have the greatest package in the world, but if you don’t communicate well, then you will miss out on some top talent. A candidate puts work into their job search, so anything you can do to make it more straightforward for them to find you helps them and presents you in a positive light.
That isn’t easy, nor should it be. You should want it to be a challenge because that way, the more work you put in, the better the chance you will stand out to candidates.
