Recent research has shown that a games room and free food come above things like company away days and free massages when it comes to modern-day employment benefits.
Job perks have demonstrated a shift over the last few years so now might be a good time to reassess your business supplies and also consider an office refurbishment.
Nearly 60% of jobseekers count job perks as a top consideration
Leading employment review platform, Glassdoor revealed that 57% of job-seekers prioritise employment benefits as a top consideration when weighing up the pros and cons of a job move.
For this reason, it’s essential that businesses start listening to what staff want if they are to successfully attract and retain the best talent in their industries.
Pet-friendly policies worth 110% more than private healthcare
A survey of 2,500 UK employees carried out by EuroOffice demonstrated that, although employment benefits are still highly influential when it comes to attraction and retention, desires have dramatically shifted of late.
Free gym memberships, casual clothes days, social events, away days and massages have all been common job perks for the last couple of decades.
These days, however, modern workers are looking to reap their benefits in different ways.
The survey showed that when considering financial worth on an annual basis:
- A pet-friendly office is worth more than £400 a year
- Flexible working is worth £858
- The ability to work from home is worth more than £900
In comparison to more traditional employment benefits such as:
- Subsidised gym membership (£82)
- Employee discounts (£73)
- Private healthcare (£189)
A fun working environment is worth 914% more than employee discounts
With an annual value of £743, a fun working culture proved to be of great significant for survey respondents. As the lines between private and professional lives continue to blur, it’s clear to see why.
A ‘fun’ working environment doesn’t have to mean Google-esque offices with slides and ball ponds and inhouse gin bars…
A games room, purpose-built social space or furniture which doubles as a games table is sometimes all it takes to transform morale and attitudes towards work and communication.
Click for our tips on bringing more fun into the office.
The findings from EuroOffice’s research support our own opinion that working environments and employers in the modern working world need to offer staff more choice and control.
Today’s employees want more autonomy and are placing more professional freedom above material gain. One of the most effective ways to facilitate this is through addressing workspace design and company culture.
Here’s our advice on making your working environment one which makes staff want to stick around:
- Offer a diverse ecosystem of different work settings which people can pick and choose between according to task and requirement
- Encourage activity-based working and more agile approaches to things like collaboration, breakout and privacy
- Make idea-sharing and the circulation of information more streamline with the appropriate technology
- Provide modular, reconfigurable furniture which can be easily manoeuvred around the office in response to task and requirement