70% of British employees state that job incentives motivate them. From free gourmet food and bring in your pet day, to napping pods and haircuts on site; companies like Google offer a variety of incentives and benefits to employees. Unsurprisingly, they hold a rating of 4.4/5 on Glassdoor, with 92% of its employees stating that they would recommend the company to a friend.

Many organisations struggle with attracting and retaining suitable staff. With the nature of today’s competitive job market, companies have to pull out all the stops in order to attract the highest caliber candidates.

Reboot online marketing conducted a survey of 1,200 marketing professionals on the benefits they are being offered at work and what their top 3 work benefits would be, if they could choose:

  • 66% stated their company offers benefits/ incentives.
  • 70% of employees say it makes a difference to their motivation and job retention. · 25% would take one job over another because it offers more/ better incentives.

A wide range of unconventional incentives are offered in companies, and companies aim to choose the most unconventional and adventurous benefits to excite employees:

  • Flexible hours: 16% of respondents reported they had flexi-time at work. Some companies have taken this to extremes, scrapping the 9-5 for no set hours! However, abusing the policy may result in serious consequences.
  • Student loan reimbursement: With student loans setting students back a monstrous £27,000, there is a growing trend for companies to offer student loan repayments, with 6% of those surveyed offered this incentive.
  • Pets: Companies are offering ‘bring your pet to work’ days and reimbursements of pet insurance, 3% are offered pet related incentives.
  • Health care on site: 4% of those surveyed state that their company offers health care on site, which saves employees taking time off for appointments.
  • Volunteer: 5% of those surveyed stated their company offers time off to volunteer in order to gain new skills and enhance wellbeing.
  • Staff holiday: 15% said their company offer staff holidays – from Spain, to Singapore and Australia! · Pampering: Companies are offering pampering and massages in the office whilst they work –

however, this isn’t common with just 2% in our survey receiving the luxury!

  • Adrenaline: 10% of respondents said their company offers adrenaline fueled activities such as bungee jumps, plane rides, and rock climbing sessions.
  • Concierge: Sick of those annoying admin tasks? Have a holiday to plan? Law firm BLT offers staff a concierge to carry out such tasks. Just 1% stated receiving this benefit.

Shai, Managing Director of Reboot Online comments:

‘I think it’s important to offer incentives and benefits to employees to show them you appreciate their work. I like to keep my staff on their toes; maintaining the thirst to learn and achieve, while ensuring there is never a dull moment. I take my staff boxing training with an ex-European champion every Friday, even giving them the chance to “hit the boss”, which has proven popular! I recently organised a competition with the prize being a flying lesson. I noticed the difference it made with motivation levels and when meeting targets almost immediately.’

Suzy – head of PR – London:

“It may not be one of the most important factors when applying for jobs, but the benefits and incentives offered by one job can give it the pull over another one, which doesn’t offer benefits. For me, job progression in a company is important. I don’t want to work in the same role for years, without eventually receiving more responsibility.”

Respondents rated their top incentives:

Monetary benefits such as reimbursement for travel and bonuses were predictably popular, though not as popular as benefits to do with job flexibility, such as flexi-time, which was chosen by 58% of respondents, more annual leave allowance (55%) and early finishes (30%).

The benefits taking top position were related to job progress. For example, the provision of on-the-job related training, which was chosen by the majority of respondents (60%), receiving greater responsibility and involvement in side projects (35%) also featuring in the top 10.

Overall, it has become clear that benefits and incentives are increasingly offered, and it is a factor candidates use when searching for a job. However, benefits are not the only factor for retention. A competitive pay packet and the possibility of career progression are too of paramount importance to prospective employees.

Interesting Links:

 

Post Views: 1469
Employee Experience