Are Benefits at Work Still Important?
Are Benefits at Work Still Important?
Last week we posted a New Chapter poll on the satisfaction with your work perks… the results were very interesting and it inspired us to look further into it!
Flexible working went from being a benefit to the norm over night as the pandemic hit and WFH began. We found the extremes of ‘flexibility’ some companies are taking very interesting, allowing employees to work completely anywhere… even the beach!
Although that sounds like heaven do you think you need to be in a suitable environment to focus on work or can you take flexibility to its full potential and work easily anywhere?
For the past 10 years or so, the more contemporary firms have been decking out their businesses with company benefits, from pool tables, to snack cupboards, to nap stations and barbers, we’ve seen it all. These ‘benefits’ used to encourage both physical presence in the office and corporate loyalty, seem to be key to a modern workplace’s success and can be a huge, non-monetary selling point to potential candidates.
One study finds that 48% of employees would weigh company benefits and work perks in their decision to find their next job.
However, as a new post pandemic culture appears, after the need for our offices which held many of these benefits disappeared over night and remote working has changed the workforce, the demands from employees are changing as they come to the realization of what is actually important.
It’s not all bad though, as the change is helping companies better understand the needs of their teams with many now working on offering different benefits that matter more to them. With these largely centered around health, financial stability, and flexibility.
Cary Cooper the co-author of Flexible work, a book which examines flexible working through the lens of social science with a psychological perspective, says companies are progressively shifting toward an individualised, health-focused rewards culture. Cooper believes companies have a new understanding of the differing requirements from older and younger members of the workforce that is the heart of this transformation.
As the return to work emerges, companies are beginning to bring back some of the more novel benefits like Pringle who have ‘taco Tuesdays’ (we love this btw!). The question is though are these enough now to prevent employees leaving? Combined with the developed more meaningful benefits, we think so. But basic benefits alone just aren’t enough, with a ping pong table and some free snacks just not cutting it anymore.
It could be that those who fail to listen to the needs of their employees and identify the new corporate ‘practices’ now risk falling behind too.
SOME OF THE MOST SOUGHT AFTER PERKS IN 2021:
Offering job benefits not only helps engage, excite, and inspire staff, it can help attract top talent to the recruiting process as well, which is why it’s crucial to not only establish a positive company culture but communicate it too.
Our NC poll on LinkedIn provided us with some very interesting insights… its clear companies really aren’t quite hitting the standards expected with their not so perky perks!
Although many people say they are satisfied with the benefits they are offered at work (49%) it seems over half are unhappy and unfortunately it’s something that often doesn’t become ‘worthy’ enough of speaking up about. We see perks at NC as motivators, relationship builders and tokens of appreciation… all things which can help employees exceed alone and, in a team… ultimately making them pretty important in our eyes!
What does New Chapter's Founder, Adrian, think about benefits at work?
“It’s the work our employees do that make us a good company and so we’ve always tried to recognise this with a wide variety of rewards and incentives. These can range from big incentive trips to places like Las Vegas to little gestures like free fruit in the office to encourage wellbeing! Moving to a home-based working means that we’ve had to re-think a lot of our original rewards as they are no longer relevant or so easy to provide. We’ve focused on rewards that help to maintain the culture of New Chapter and help to ensure relationships in the business continue to flourish. This has ranged from meals out to murder mystery events!
I feel that providing an environment where you are treated like an adult and trusted to do your job one of the best rewards any leader can provide their team. During the last 18 months many people have had to juggle lots of different things like home schooling or helping elderly relatives out with their shopping. Being flexible with start or finish times has made a very difficult time a bit easier for the team here at NC.
Business really need to think about changing the way they work their reward schemes. You need to think about what behaviour you are wanting to encourage and then build the reward around that. For us it’s always been about collaboration and team spirit, If you don’t have a ping pong table for people to hang out together and build relationships, how do you make that happen in a remote working world?”
With 51% of people unsatisfied or wanting more from the benefits their company offers here are some of our favorite quirky benefits companies are contributing – maybe this will be some good inspiration!
What one of our Consultants, Luke, thinks about the benefits here at New Chapter
The benefits are great at New Chapter, they have changed a bit since working from home as some are now not applicable, times have moved on and so should ‘perks’.
For me, moving forward, it would be great to have benefits which bring the social aspect out at work again, as working from home a lot means we have lost seeing and interacting with colleagues.
New Chapter are great with their incentives which I also think links closely with ‘benefits of a business’
Here at NC we really value our team and ensure we have benefits in place to reward and motivate everyone… here are some of our favorite times together!
If you’re feeling unsatisfied with what your company is offering or even just ready for a fresh start then have a look at our live vacancies, or get in touch with us below!
