The hottest topic in our HR community at the end of last year was salary, specifically what to do with the issue of inflation. Companies want to retain their talents, but at the same time often struggle with increased operational costs and lower growth numbers than expected.
‘When you can’t (or don’t want) to compete purely on salary, and you offer a market average compensation package - how can you stay attractive?‘
We are convinced part of the key here is offering the right, attractive, culture-fit benefits. Because móst companies offer market average salaries, and there’s only a few who get very creative when it comes to benefits.
How do we know this? We surveyed 250+ companies, a combination of start-ups, scale-ups and grownups from the Netherlands 🇳🇱. The results can be found in the Dutch Benefits Report we released. TL;DR 30 pages of everything you need to know to compare your company benefits to your competitors in the market.
How attractive and future-proof your benefits are also depends on the composition of your workforce. Keep in mind that Gen Z (born 1997 - 2012) will account for 27% of the workforce by 2025, so reviewing your more traditional benefits is almost a must.
A few cool benefits we love and hope will be adopted more broadly are:
💸 Financial: a financial coach for employees who need support and discounts on company products or services
🤍 Wellbeing: yearly retreats (a bit out there, but we are a big fan of workations!) and platforms such as OpenUp for mental health
🐣 Parental: topping up the 5 weeks government pay to fully paid leave for the partner and offering a baby-bonus
📚 Learning and Development: individualised learning opportunities as a reward for great performance (think certifications, MBA studies) without a repay clause
☀️ Leave: the holiday swap (super inclusive), option to buy extra leave days and Summer Fridays
🏘 Work location: the office is the new offsite - a place which facilitates teamwork and creativity - a really nice place to go
🍀 Social Responsibility: payroll giving, volunteering days and generally options to contribute to the world more broadly
Now you know what others are doing, it’s time to get creative and take action!
A final tip from us, talk to your employees (or consider a survey / focus group). Include them in your thinking about future benefits, as they might have surprising insights for you into what type of benefits they most appreciate. In the end, you offer benefits to attract and engage your people - why not start with them 💖.
