Small businesses need employees to help them grow – but the cost and red tape can seem prohibitive.
For those that take the leap, there is no guarantee these new hires will stick around either – and recent AXA PPP Healthcare research found that it costs SMEs an average of nearly £30,000 to replace a worker.
So if you want to be prudent with your staff costs, but show your team members that you care, here are some of their favourite benefits outside of the straight up-and-down wage. And, who knows, offering them a simple-but-broader package may give them that warm and fuzzy feeling, making them think twice about hitting the job boards.
Private medical insurance is the most valued workplace benefit, says digital group risk insurer Ellipse, with 48% of employees surveyed voting it in their top three. Next came critical illness cover, close behind with 31%.
“With a wide range of different employee benefits now available to employers, it’s important to invest in those benefits that employees really value,” says Ellipse chief executive Lee Lovett. “This survey shows that employees value benefits which protect their long-term health and provide them with financial security the most.”
And, does that match with what SMEs are providing? Effectively, yes. 20% offer private medical insurance, and a similar number offer life insurance – while 15% provide critical illness cover.
There are whole range of other options – outside of the core health and security benefits.
These include:
- Leisure discounts and gym membership – We’ve grouped these together, because you might be able to offer these to staff without it costing your business a penny. The only thing is putting in some graft to find these deals and setting them up. But you might not have to traipse around the high street for local deals – some of these benefits can be run through a browser-based system in which users can see all their benefits in one place online.
- Season ticket loans – These can be really popular, but must be considered carefully by an SME, as it could contribute towards the business being put under cashflow pressure.
- Pensions and childcare vouchers – Auto-enrolment has forced all businesses to offer a pension scheme, but, alongside childcare vouchers, both are still beneficial in relation to tax and National Insurance. Many so-called “salary sacrifice” schemes – where payments for the benefit come directly out of the wage and benefit both the employee and employer on tax and NI payments – are being stamped out. But these two are to continue for the time being.
Lovett added: “These results, supplemented by an employer’s own research, should help to guide their priorities when buying benefits for their staff. There is a clear hierarchy of needs when it comes to employee benefits and this research shows that group risk and healthcare benefits should be the foundation of every benefits programme.”
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