Low Cost Company Perks, the Best and Easiest Ways to Keep Employees!

The current job market is a tough environment. According to the Work Institutes Employee Retention Report 42 million employees, which is a staggering 1 in 4, will leave their job this year. Shockingly, those leaving within the first year on the job is the highest it’s been in eight years!

Staff is constantly looking for better working conditions, more relaxed working environments and other benefits that can ease the pain of their daily grind. How do you stand out from other employers to attract and keep the right kind of hires? 

‘…leaving within the first year on the job is the highest it’s been in eight years!’

Getting creative with perks and other benefits without always having to delve deep into the company’s budgets is how to keep competitive. Make sure you offer your employees the right kinds of perks to retain present employees and help you to attract new staff.

Let’s look below at some great benefits you can offer your staff and help you stand head and shoulders above the competition.

Flexible working 

With the high cost of office rent, extortionate fuel, and lighting bills, offering your employees the opportunity to work from home or have flexible working is a win-win for both employer and employee.

Are there ways in which you can achieve this within your current working model? If so, it is a huge benefit for your employees and may make the difference between them choosing your company to work for, over one of your competitors.

It has been discovered that amongst millennials, it is THE most desired benefit. Maybe you could look at flexible working for employees on certain days of the week or have a core 4-hour office working day, with other hours more flexible. You can keep your team working cohesively whilst offering them a level of flexibility. 

A low-level benefit, but one which can help make an office day a little more comfortable is by offering smaller, consistent office perks. 

Office perks

Although some companies may splash out on expensive luxuries such as a games room, massage chairs or a luxury glass-fronted atrium-style cafe bar! Providing some everyday basics can really help to make daily office life a little better. For example, maybe stock the office or breakroom with some affordable healthy snacks, drinks and also a stocked medicine box including Ibuprofen. 

With working days ever more extended, benefits such as free coffee and water is also an attractive bonus to employees who otherwise, would be spending much of their hard-earned cash simply on existing throughout a day. These kinds of benefits really help to build an attractive company culture too. 

Now we’ve looked at some smaller benefits you can offer your employees and team members, Let’s think about whether you have any robust provisions in place to look after your long-term employees. 

Sabbaticals

If you’re lucky enough to have long term members of staff who’ve shown loyalty and dedication to your company, it’s time to think about how you can repay them for their hard work and perseverance. Any long-term employees who have worked for the company for any length from a decade upward can be rewarded quite simply with several weeks off.

Sabbatical structures can work differently from company to company. Some allow a series of weeks off to be used in any way the employee chooses, or on such activities as writing a novel or another project which is not work-related.

It’s an excellent way to reward your long-term staff and thank them for their services, whilst also encouraging them to stay with you for further years and help you stay competitive alongside other companies. 

What about your more junior members of your team? Are you able to add real value to your employees’ working life? Let’s look at an attractive lower cost-benefit to tempt and retain them. 

Increase vacation time

Increasing vacation time can be an excellent way of rewarding your employees when budgets for raises are not on the cards. Making sure you encourage your staff to take their vacations, is an effective and lower-cost option in showing the people who work for you that you are a caring company who does all they can to look after their employees’ wellbeing. 

It can be an excellent bargaining chip when maybe a potential new starter is choosing between two offers of roughly the same kind of terms.

Another idea is to consider giving the whole company a break during less busy times of the year, such as between Christmas and New Year, or for a week during the summer. 

We hope you’ve found this article useful and can think about making some low-cost changes which will benefit both your company and lift the bar for your competitors – and maybe for you too and all of us hardworking workers!