The race for attracting the best talent keeps heating up as more candidates have choices and employers face greater competition. To stay in the game, your recruiting solutions should include at least a couple of creative perks.
Creativity doesn’t have to be Earth-shattering. Not like the New Zealand town that’s offering free homes and land to new hires for their numerous job vacancies. Rice Consulting says higher salaries don’t always cut it, so recruiters have to do something different. In this case, being different means finding out what matters to candidates and then, if possible, making it happen. Here are 5 ideas to get you started.
#1: Telecommute Opportunities
Telecommute opportunities ushered in a new way of thinking about workdays. And now they’re no longer a rarity. As long as the necessary work is completed, more companies are realizing that a body in a chair in the office might not be mandatory for production. It can be a cost saver, too.
Working from home benefits employees and the company. Less dedicated office space is required when people often work from home. And the arrangement lets workers do their best in the environment that suits them most. Collaborative work can happen in the office. And when more focus is needed, employees can opt to work from home.
#2: Real Flexibility in Work Hours
What if employees could come and go as they please? Think that’s a grade-A way to run a company into the ground? Netflix doesn’t think so. As long as the work gets done, the company doesn’t care whether it happens from 9-5 or any other time of the day or night.
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Freedom with work hours serves at least a couple of important purposes. It shows employees that they’re valued for what they contribute and that the company doesn’t rule with an iron fist. And it also attracts top talent who don’t necessarily thrive in a traditional workday situation.
#3: Employer-Sponsored Healthcare
Healthcare isn’t cheap, especially for people who have to purchase their own plans. Employer-sponsored healthcare benefits have a more tangible value now than perhaps ever before. This can be a major employee perk.
The Affordable Care Act made coverage available for more people, but it’s not universally inexpensive. Some people pay a great deal for coverage, depending on the state. With an employer plan, candidates might save a lot of money.
#4: Ample PTO
The American mindset that more work and longer hours equals better employees is slowly but surely going through an overhaul. And it’s about time. Too many people either fail to take paid time off work or continue to work when they’re not in the office. And that leads to burnout and poor productivity at work, says WebMd.
Fear of lagging behind and the appearance of being nonproductive are two key reasons why employers sometimes discourage vacation and employees fail to use it. Offering generous, 100 percent guilt-free time off benefits the company and employees.
#5: Student Loan Reimbursement
In an era where people labor under mountains of crippling student loan debt, reimbursement could garner a lot of favorable attention. Business News Daily says that some companies offer a substantial annual amount toward paying off debt. Call it a yearly bonus or a perk, free money is rarely frowned upon.
It’s a reasonable benefit, too. Plenty of companies offer tuition assistance. Reimbursement is basically the same thing, just on the back end instead of the front end. Think of it as an investment in the education of a person for each year of company service.
Some employers think perks are synonymous with higher salaries. But that’s not the case. Of course, money matters. But so does an improved quality of life. Millennials are proving that. If you really want to get the attention of candidates, offer something meaningful. Maybe it will be money-related. Then again, maybe it will be a free cafeteria or a much-needed vacation every year.