The job market has become increasingly competitive for both candidates and organisations. Companies are having to become more and more competitive in their offers to candidates in order to secure the best talent.
A few months ago, I was speaking to a friend of mine who works in internal recruitment. She expressed the issues she was having with staff retention for those with niche skills. Other organisations needing similar employees have been offering above market salaries. Without having a solid employee benefit scheme in place, there is no way to counter these offers.
Whilst money is important, candidates rarely hold this most dear. When speaking to candidates, it is often clear that they value flexible work hours and a positive work culture more so than money. Achieving a strong work/life balance and independence helps people feel more loyalty to organisations. For employers, it also opens up the pool of applicants to those needing flexible work hours.
By adopting employee benefit schemes, organisations find they have a greater edge against competitors with what they offer talent. With a saturated market, organisations like Google are leading by example. Offering staff benefits such as free lunch or flexible hours, organisations are able to attract the best candidates without having to enter a bidding war with rival companies.