Can employee benefits give you a competitive edge in recruitment?

Your employee benefits package can help you attract top talent by clearly reflecting your business values and a genuine commitment to employee well-being. For instance, if your core objective is promoting employee health or environmental sustainability, offering health insurance or a cycle-to-work scheme reinforces these priorities. Candidates value employers whose values align with their own, making it easier to attract like-minded staff.

Flexible benefits that evolve with employees’ needs show candidates that your business truly values their long-term well-being and financial security, not just immediate needs.

To design a unique employee benefits package, consider both what your current employees value and fresh options to attract a more diverse team. Highly valued benefits reflect your organisation's appreciation for employees and commitment to retaining and supporting new hires.

Health insurance

Business health insurance gives your team quick access to private medical care. Most policies also cover counselling, health assessments, and money-saving discounts. Insurers provide health, mental health, and financial wellness resources for employees as needed. You can use these resources to create well-being initiatives that boost employee health and engagement.

Health insurance is a highly valued employee benefit, so mentioning it during your recruitment process can help you attract quality candidates.

Help for young families

Supporting employees with children helps attract candidates who are rejoining the workforce, planning to start a family, or already parenting. Generous parental leave, enhanced maternity pay, and childcare support offer flexible, valuable benefits.

It's wise to seek professional advice to ensure you follow HMRC rules. You can also share information about other schemes, such as tax-free childcare, during recruitment to show prospective employees the support they can expect.

Support during a cost-of-living crisis

We've mentioned health insurers' discount schemes and childcare support that can help employees save money, but there are other ways to increase your employees' financial security. Season ticket loans, cycle-to-work schemes, and salary sacrifice schemes can help employees reduce their transport costs.

You can also offer free food in the office, subsidise gym memberships, or introduce innovative perks based on employee feedback. Seek input from prospective and current employees to increase satisfaction and gain a competitive edge when recruiting.

Mental health support

Strong mental health support, including counselling via health insurance or an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), helps you stand out. EAPs can also offer legal and financial guidance.

A positive work-life balance also supports good mental health, so include flexible work hours, hybrid working, and generous annual leave as part of your mental health benefits.

Generous annual leave entitlement

Providing annual leave beyond the statutory minimum demonstrates your commitment to employees’ work-life balance, helping reduce stress and boost productivity.

Offering an enhanced leave entitlement to all staff can help you attract the best candidates, but you can also encourage loyalty by increasing annual leave based on length of service.

Pension contribution matching

A young job seeker may not be thinking about their retirement plans yet, but offering pension contribution matching as part of your benefits package will help you attract experienced staff.

Workplace pensions are mandatory, with employees contributing at least 5% of their salary and employers contributing at least 3%. However, you can agree to match employees' contributions up to a defined percentage, depending on your budget. Taking this approach helps your business attract candidates who are thinking about their retirement plans.

Learning and career development

Learning and development opportunities can increase employee retention rates and give prospective recruits a clear vision of their future with your company. If you're recruiting apprentices, funding for further or higher education will likely be attractive, while other candidates may appreciate opportunities to apply for funding to enhance their skills.

You can also demonstrate a commitment to investing in your staff and helping them find their place in your organisation by offering unique employee benefits, such as internal mentorship schemes, work shadowing, and other workplace training.

Innovative benefits empower employees to tailor options to their individual needs, showing that you value their unique contributions and priorities. A thoughtful approach to benefits also demonstrates respect for staff diversity and long-term commitment.

While you don't have to offer the same benefits to every employee, it's wise to seek professional advice to avoid unintentional discrimination. You must usually demonstrate a business need when a benefit is available to some staff but not to others. For example, sales staff who travel frequently on business may need a company car, whereas office-based employees don't.

While some benefits are mandatory, you can also provide flexible benefits that employees can opt into if needed. For example, while you must provide a workplace pension, you can let your team decide how much to invest in their pension fund. You can offer health insurance to all employees, invite them to pay the premium if they choose to join, or reimburse them for the cost of a policy they choose based on their own research. We've mentioned other optional benefits, such as childcare support and travel assistance, that help employees feel valued because they can choose the support that best benefits them. You can find out more about designing a flexible benefits package here.

We hope this has given you ideas on how your employee benefits can give your business a competitive edge in recruiting new staff. If you’d like to learn more about how insurance can support a high-quality employee benefits package, please get in touch for advice tailored to your business.