There was a time when the company car was the most sought-after job benefit imaginable. Not only did it have practical value, but it also had a certain cachet which many people valued more than mere cash.
Those days are largely gone. High rates of benefit-in-kind taxation have eroded the perceived value of the company motor, while traffic congestion has made public transport an increasingly attractive commuting option.
Pensions and health insurance, along with new and more innovative benefits such as flexible holiday leave, supported learning and development, wellbeing packages and volunteering opportunities, are now seen as key elements of any benefits package.
And benefits packages are extremely important. According to research carried out by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) last year, employee benefits made up about one-third of compensation costs for employers worldwide. The research also found that benefits impact job satisfaction for 92 per cent of employees, while 32 per cent of them were unlikely to look for a new role if they were happy with the benefits provided by their current employer.
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The question for employers is what benefits to offer and how to offer them in order to keep employees happy.
Recruitment company CPL has cited continuous learning, unlimited leave, flexible working, onsite wellbeing services, and free food and catering, as some of the top benefits being offered by Irish organisations as they seek to attract and retain employees in a highly competitive talent market.
The difference with unlimited leave is that you can decide to take 40 or even 50 days off every year, or even to work a four-day week to improve work-life balance
Continuous learning is now the norm in most jobs, with employers seeking to ensure that employees are equipped with the skills required for a rapidly changing work environment. The CPL report also points out that Ireland falls well behind the EU average when it comes to lifelong learning, and that employers need to up their collective game in this regard.
Learning options for employees can include paid-for membership of professional bodies, access to in-house or external online courses, mentor programmes, and support for further education in the form of a financial contribution and paid study leave.
Unlimited annual leave is still very much an American phenomenon, where it was seen as quite revolutionary when it was first introduced a number of years ago. Instead of the usual 10 days of paid annual leave, companies started offering employees unlimited leave – the only catch was that additional days would be unpaid.
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This is actually quite a good deal. While employees in this part of the world may enjoy 30 days’ holidays or even more, the fact is that the employer is calculating the leave as part of their salary. Organisations need to have enough staff to cover for holidays, so leave is automatically factored in when calculating overall salary costs.
We may not think about it that way, but we are in effect paying for our holidays anyway.
The difference with unlimited leave is that you can decide to take 40 or even 50 days off every year, or even to work a four-day week to improve work-life balance. And you are not tied to a set amount every year. You can definitely see the attractions of such arrangements.
The reality is that employees pay for every benefit received from employers. It just doesn’t appear on the payslip as part of the gross salary
One of the longer-term impacts of the Covid pandemic has been the establishment of flexible working as the norm in many industries. Employees are allowed, within reason, to work where they want and to the schedules that best suit them. This allows employees to fit their work time in with their family lives and enables them to avoid lengthy commutes at rush hour should they wish.
It makes employers attractive to a wider pool of talent and, when organised properly, can generate savings in office space and other overheads. There is also strong anecdotal evidence of productivity gains.
Overall wellness has become a valued benefit for many employees. Employers are responding by offering things such as onsite fitness classes, nutrition advice, mindfulness sessions, yoga classes, mental health supports, quit-smoking programmes, health screenings, and financial wellness advisory sessions.
Then there’s the option of the free food and canteen service. Maybe this should be offered in conjunction with the fitness classes and nutrition advice.
The reality is that employees pay for every benefit received from employers. It just doesn’t appear on the payslip as part of the gross salary. That principle is now being extended by many employers to allow for the introduction of flexible benefits packages where each benefit has a monetary value and employees can choose to mix and match them in just about any way they want. A very attractive option for many employees in today’s world.