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Understanding what employees really want will bring you the best candidates
Key takeaways:
Finding quality talent is the key challenge of the hiring and recruitment process. To attract the best workers to your business, you need to advertise in the right places, look for optimal skillsets on resumes, and ask questions that help you get to know candidates during interviews. You also need to create a workspace that appeals to people.
Monetary compensation influences job candidates as they select their employers, but organizational culture and benefits also play a significant role. The job market is competitive for employers right now. How can you attract the best candidates? By offering the right mix of pay, culture, and benefits. Consider offering the following if you want the best talent to work for you.
The lines between work and life have blurred dramatically over the years. Employees no longer just clock in for eight hours and then leave for the day. Instead, they may answer phone calls, field emails, and work on projects at all hours of the day or night.
This line became even blurrier when many employees were sent home during the COVID-19 pandemic, where they had to juggle work, home, kids, and the stress of the unknown at the same time.
Over half of employees say flexibility is important. Contemporary workers want the ability to set their schedules, work from home, choose their projects, and even take unlimited paid-time-off.
Logistically, those exact perks don't work for every business. But, there are always ways to build flexibility into your organization. Parents, in particular, want flexible schedules. Approximately 84% of working parents say they need job flexibility.
Regardless of your industry, your employees likely need help striking a balance between work and life. They want employers who respect them as people with obligations outside of work. Show prospective employees how your organization will help them strike a work-life balance during the hiring and recruitment process. Maybe this means you offer flexible schedules in the form of hybrid or remote work. If you can create a better work-life balance for people, it will improve their attitudes and productivity.
When people feel like they have a purpose, they believe in what they do. By extension, they tend to work harder and be more productive. Ideally, you should help prospective employees see the purpose of their work during the hiring and recruitment process. Then, you should continue to support their search for purpose during their time with your organization.
You can instill a sense of purpose in your employees through a range of different actions. Help them to see the importance of their role in your organization and in the world. You can also give them value by recognizing their achievements and investing in them through career development or wellness initiatives.
Beyond those essentials, make employees feel heard by listening to their ideas. Then, consider going a step further and actively soliciting their thoughts and ideas.
Help your employees see how the business is impacting customers by sharing their success stories. Ultimately, you need to help your employees see the bigger picture of why they come to work and why they should be proud of their efforts.
Professional development programs help people reach their full potential. By investing in your talent through training, you help employees feel valued. At the same time, you also benefit your organization by creating a more skilled workforce.
Businesses that commit to professional development programs boost retention rates. Without these programs, employees often feel undervalued. They are also more likely to leave for better opportunities.
Contemporary employees don't just want the typical list of benefits. Instead, they want benefits that make sense for their lives. They want perks that meet their unique needs.
This varies based on the employee. Organizations should take time to research the demographics of their employees and identify the benefits that make the most sense for them. Organizations with a diverse range of employees may even need to offer a la carte benefits so employees can customize the benefits that appeal the most to them.
If you employ independent contractors, for example, or want to give full-time employees more flexibility, consider offering portable benefits. These are benefits that the employee can take with them if they leave.
A portable benefits system gives self-employed workers access to benefits in the first place. Traditional benefits can be made portable such as retirement and medical plans, HSAs, and sick time.
Again, the benefits you offer need to appeal to the type of talent you want to hire. What are their needs and struggles? How can you help them improve their lives? Think about these questions as you create your benefits packages.
Some employers answer these concerns with on-site services ranging from free lunches to yoga classes to massages or even dry cleaning and hair appointments. Other employers offer health and dental care on-site. If your employees can take care of these needs while at work on a break, they will feel more relaxed and less stressed.
In other cases, employers seek to address their employees' stressors through wellness programs or benefits that reduce financial stress. This may include financial education programs, stress reduction workshops, or similar events that help your employees improve their lives.
A fantastic financial benefit that you may want to offer your employees is an emergency savings account (ESA). This helps them deal with short-term emergencies and reduces the risk of them letting financial issues distract them from work.
Traditionally, employers expected their employees to leave home at home. But, in return, employees expected to leave work at work. Now that these lines are getting blurred, it's becoming even more important to support your employees holistically, and the right benefits help. If you want to attract top talent, you need benefits that support their true needs.
Contact SecureSave to talk about our simple-to-use ESA
At SecureSave, we help employers enrich their benefits packages with an ESA. Our ESA is a high-impact, low-cost benefit that meets the true needs of your employees. It’s also easy to set up with your existing payroll software, and it’s simple for employees to manage and contribute to.
To learn more about enhancing your hiring and recruitment with an ESA, contact us at SecureSave today.