What benefits should you offer your employees and why?

Starting an employee benefits regime can be a tricky task for even the best of HR managers, so we’ve decided to give you a bit of guidance on how you can implement only the greatest of perks for your staff.

This article will outline the best benefits on the market and explain exactly why they could help you increase engagement and retention, which is crucial in today’s economic climate.

Cycle to work

We all known cycling to work is fantastic for health and fitness. But could it also help your employees to become more productive and engaged?

Yes, says Sustrans, which has committed itself to a campaign to raise awareness of the UK government’s cycle-to-work tax-free benefits guarantee, which allows workers to pay for a bicycle through a salary sacrifice scheme – minus the VAT, which always helps!

A recent survey by the foundation found those who use bikes to commute take an average of 2.4 days off per year, substantially lower than the 4.5 days most people take off.

Sustrans chief executive Malcolm Shepherd said: “Employers who encourage cycling can increase their profitability and have employees who take fewer sick days, but too many miss out on these benefits because they don’t provide decent facilities and support.

“In separate research conducted by YouGov, 22 per cent of UK adults who commute to work, but not by bike, said they don’t cycle to work because their workplace doesn’t have the facilities they need.”

This means it’s also important to try and get your financial department to back your new employee benefits programme with the installation of showering facilities and a bike shed.

“Cycle parking and showers in an office should be as common as a printer and a coffee machine,” Mr Shepherd added.

Pension Auto-enrollment

The government have recently revealed all employers across the UK will have to make sure their staff are enrolled onto a pension programme. But this could cause problems for some smaller companies that don’t have big enough HR departments to take care of the problem.

That’s where employee benefits providers like You at Work come in. The London-based firm could help your business to easily provide workers with all the information they need to know in regards to pension enrollment and could help you with the seemingly endless paperwork.

Money Skills

We aren’t all natural savers and many of us could probably do with a tip or two when it comes to making the monthly paycheck go further.

While most members of staff probably wouldn’t look to their employer as the first port of call in learning to become more wiley with money, it can be a great help to many struggling with lower levels of pay if bosses arrange a financial advice class for workers.

Not only will this help employees to become more happy and less stressed due to bills, it also shows how much your company cares about the wellbeing of staff and could increase engagement and retention.

Health Screening

Health screenings are one of the most popular employee benefits on the market and ensure staff are kept fit and healthy. Not only is letting staff see doctors regularly a good idea for decreasing absenteeism it, once again, proves to employees that your company cares about their wellbeing.

Also, if something is seriously wrong, identifying a problem earlier could reduce the chances of long-term time off work, which can cause issues for office managers.