Most of us are pretty interested in ensuring that we maximise our earnings potential. I’ve mentioned before in this column the importance of rewarding your staff well, particularly given today’s competitive environment vis-à-vis attracting and retaining high calibre people.
But a recent survey highlights that it’s not just hard cash in the pay packet that motivates our employees. There are clear trends highlighting that softer benefits can also be valuable, and may even help to clinch a deal when it comes to bringing a new employee on board.
The Definitive Salary and Benefits Guide 2005 by Parkside Recruitment, as reported in Recruiter Magazine 20 April 2005, reveals the following results out of 15000 companies surveyed.
| HARD BENEFITS | |
| Benefit | % of companies offering |
| Bonus | 74% |
| Car allowance | 64% |
| Share options | 28% |
| Pension contributions | 80% |
| Medical cover | 78% |
| Life assurance | 64% |
| SOFT BENEFITS | |
| Benefit | % of companies offering |
| Mobile phone | 70% |
| Free car-parking | 86% |
| Study support | 70% |
| Free gym membership | 13% |
| Vocational training | 39% |
| LIFESTYLE BENEFITS | |
| Benefit | % of companies offering |
| Part-time working | 80% |
| Flexitime | 40% |
| Home working | 50% |
| Crèche facilities | 2% |
| Sabbatical |
22% |
Whilst not all employees take up the softer benefits on offer, they are important. It’s clear that hard financial benefits are fundamental, and are likely to be the first point of consideration by potential employees or job applicants, but the peripheral benefits are a major influencing factor too.
Other results highlighted in the survey suggest that company cars are being replaced more and more by car allowances – often proving more cost effective to the employer, as well as a preferable option to the employee.
At Sewell Moorhouse we are becoming increasingly aware of the balance between hard and soft benefits, and how they are influencing the decisions of both employers and job candidates. When top quality candidates can often be hard to come by, employers might consider reviewing their reward packages to account for these evolving trends.
If you would like to discuss your own approach to staff incentive and benefits schemes, contact Cliff Sewell or Philip Hill at Sewell Moorhouse - an independent and specialised accounting and financial recruitment consultancy based in Sheffield, Doncaster and Leeds.
Omega Court
364 Cemetery Road
Sheffield S11 8FT
T: 0114 268 3313
