The rate at which staff leave the workforce can cost some businesses millions of pounds each year. The cost of sifting through CVs, lost work days, completing paperwork, interviewing applicants, checking references, and training a new employee is in many ways a lot more expensive than creating a workplace where workers are happy and would like to stay.
You have the option of providing attractive employee benefits if you’d like your company to retain its staff. Although this is far from compulsory, most employees will probably look at your company’s benefits package, meaning that you may need one in order to attract and keep staff.
Great organisations attract great workers. When the business offers great reward opportunities for workers at all levels, employees won’t want to look elsewhere for new job opportunities.
In case you are concerned about a fall in employee morale, here are a few things you can do to keep your workers happy and productive.
The four brilliant benefits to offer your employees are:
1. Provide bonuses. Even a very small bonus can often mean a lot. Bonuses boost morale and enhance productivity. Check out what constitutes great bonuses; these may include sales bonuses, holiday bonuses, training bonuses, and even hire date anniversary bonuses.
2. Employee retreat plan. This is a perfect time to unwind and get to know your co-workers in a social setting. The result is improved teamwork and a more productive workforce. Nevertheless, workers may not wish to spend a weekend break away from loved ones even though you put them up in a great hotel.
If this is the case you might consider one-day employee retreats, possibly twice a year. You could close your place of work and spend the day playing golf, at a health spa, eating out, at a theme park, at the zoo, watching a movie or even mountain climbing.
3. Develop your workers. Many training centres offer reasonable and affordable coaching classes that can help workers in areas such as leadership and management skills, language skills, or computer knowledge. If a worker is happy to spend time taking one of these classes, compensate them by offering to cover a part of the training costs or providing them with a completion reward. The desire to improve and learn new skills is an attribute of a great worker.
4. Pay for time off work. Even though you are paying your workers’ salaries, you should not count on them to do the job every single day of the year. Pay staff for sick days, to take breaks, or for emergency days off when necessary.
In reality, there are several other benefits that businesses can provide for their workers, including:
Flexible working plans. If at all possible, offer workers flexible working plans that support their needs and reduce commuting times.
Health club subscriptions. Provide subscriptions to a fitness club or even pay a yoga instructor to come in once a week after work. This can be a really pleasant way to motivate workers to keep in shape.
Include their families. An annual holiday get-together or picnic during the summer is a powerful way to bring staff together with their family members. Even a barbecue and rounders tournament can be an enjoyable experience for the whole team and their families.
Invest in new office furniture. Show your workers that you care about their safety and comfort. Who wouldn’t appreciate a top-of-the-range ergonomically adjustable office chair?
Value your staff. Apple is a good example of a company that cares deeply about its employees as well as their families. They are always thinking about new and innovative approaches to employee well-being to keep their workforce happy and motivated. They support more benefits for women with their new extended maternity leave policy, for example, along with the preservation of eggs for women who wish to focus on their careers whilst still retaining the option of starting a family.
Allow casual days. We all know that casual Fridays are great. Nevertheless, you can always select a specific casual day every month. Allow staff come to work in jeans and comfy footwear and they're bound to be in a much better mood. Try it!
Free of charge provisions. Many companies supply free coffee for their workers. You can bring in nutritious snack foods on a weekly basis, such as fresh fruit baskets, mini salads, or even bagels. Having meals delivered once every couple of weeks is also an excellent gesture and workers will appreciate the cash they save. Another idea is to have your staff make lunch every month. Involve both men and women from different sections of the organisation and make sure that top management are also involved. Workers will learn how to prepare different dishes from other staff and they’ll have a great time cooking too. And everyone can enjoy the results!