Over the past couple of months, most of us have been faced with the challenge (or benefit!) of working from home, through no choice of our own. A benefit that many of us would’ve cried out for in a pre-covid world, but were not always provided with the option to do so.
As a Recruitment Consultant, I have found that there has been an upward shift of candidates asking about the wider benefits package when searching for new opportunities. Of course we would all love a designated city centre car-parking space at the front door, a free daily lunch or even an indoor slide like those in Google HQ! I have highlighted 3 of the most attractive perks below.
Flexibility, and even more flexibility
We are currently working in a world whereby we have absolutely everything at the touch of a button – so why is there an expectation that we should have a full-time, physical presence in the office? I am lucky that my door-to-door commute to the office is typically no longer than 30 minutes. However, there are people who can spend up to and above an hour sitting in rush hour traffic every morning, which is already putting frustrations in place before getting into work. This time could definitely be spent more wisely. Businesses such as Twitter and Fujitsu have confirmed that their employees can work from home forever.
There are also those who may have commitments outside the workplace, that having the option to starting/finishing earlier could make a huge impact. I was really lucky to work for an employer during my time in London who allowed me to take advantage of booking cheaper flights by leaving work early on a Thursday and working from home on a Friday!
Offering flexi-time is a huge benefit to most people, and can have a massive impact on staff retention, or in fact deems attractive to prospective employees. Personally, I think it is really important to have a proper flexible working policy put in place, especially for new employees to allow them to have the confidence to take advantage of this.
Annual leave and added extras!
It is no surprise that holiday entitlement is so important to employees. Having time to leave the office, recharge and come back in is not only beneficial for staff, it is also for the business. Annual leave can be the decision factor between a candidate accepting a job offer, and turning it down. Especially for those who like to spend time with their children during school holidays, go home frequently to visit family and friends, or who just like a good holiday!
One of the great things about Honeycomb, is that we get a day off for our birthday (Thanks Mairead!) and also an additional day off for each year of service up to 5 years. These incentives may seem like small things to an employer, but can mean so much to prospective employees. In addition to the above, these are a few things I have come across offered by businesses:
- Duvet days
- Employee of the month – extra half or full day off
- 3pm Friday finishes on the last Friday of the month
- Holiday ‘Lottery’
- Christmas office closure
Exam/Personal Development Support
Through recruiting in both the Financial Services and Insurance sector, exam support can be a game changer for prospective employees accepting job offers. Examinations and study material are both a huge personal expense, and not only benefit the individual, but also benefits the business through becoming a technical expert.
It can also be difficult to juggle both working full-time and studying outside the workplace. Therefore, I believe it is really important to offer employees study days leading up to exams or when an important assignment deadline is looming.
It goes without saying that if you invest in your employees, they will invest in you. If you would like to find out a bit more about the market, please do not hesitate to contact me on 028 96 207 050 or email emma.h@honeycomb.jobs.
