The new generation of workers are an incredibly picky bunch. Unfortunately, organisations today can’t afford to be as stingy. With the blinding pace at which technology is advancing, these new generation workers have all the skills and advantages from growing up in a global, digitalised world.
There is a noticeable trend that has been taking root over the past few years. Young, skilled workers who are ready made for the digital age are gravitating towards jobs that offer more benefits and financial security over a higher salary. With how tight the labour market is nowadays, organisations that fail to capture the interests of these workers will risk losing them to dozens of other companies that might be offering more enticing offers.
While salary does still play an important role in getting new talent onboard, it is ultimately a peace of mind that one can get from generous benefits that often leads to that coveted signing of a contract.
However, benefits can be expensive for a company. An organisation still has to be careful in how far they are willing to go with employee benefits so as to not cut too deeply into profit. Despite this, offering things like insurance or childcare represents a real effort to provide a good experience for employees and often serves as a good indicator to employees about the overall job experience.
Here are some examples of the most sought after employee benefits:
Time Off
Employee burnout is real. There is a reason why certain labour laws limit the amount of hours an employee is allowed to work in a given week. More hours working does not necessarily translate to more productivity. It does however, guarantee stress, mental and physical health deterioration on the workers part.
Vacation time is a must; while maternity/paternity leave or flexible time can also be an added bonus. Some companies today are even experimenting with 4-day work weeks to incentivise greater efficiency during the remaining working hours.
Health Insurance
Arguably the most commonly expected benefit to receive after time off is health insurance. Organisations have a little more flexibility when it comes to offering health benefits. Having multiple health plans so that an employee may choose one to their liking would be a huge plus.
Insurance costs have risen over the years, which has led to some employers to not offer health plans at all. One alternative would be to offer a define contribution plan, providing a fixed allowance to employees so that they may go out and choose their own health coverage as they see fit.
Dental and vision insurance are also rather pricey, so any plans that may cover these areas would also be appealing.
Voluntary and Ancillary Benefits
Life insurance, short- and long-term disability, childcare, and eldercare, are all perks that may not resonate with the younger generation of workers, but may appeal to the family oriented individuals with young children or elderly to care for.
Wellness Programs
Offering incentives to stay healthy or socialise with co-workers is a good way to show-off an organisations working culture. Companies can subsidies gym memberships, offer smoke cessation classes or even organise social outings to provide a softer, more humanised working environment that may appeal to potential hires.
