More and more companies are relying on corporate benefits. We present the 10 best employee offers that employers can make.
More and more companies are relying on corporate benefits. We present the 10 best employee offers that employers can make.
Something extra on top of the salary – that’s something all employees are happy about.
But which employee offers are really well received? Here are 10 corporate benefits that employers can use to impress their employees!
According to Study by Pew Research 43% of employees stated in 2021 that they changed companies because of poor or missing benefits. This shows in reverse: employers can motivate and retain their employees with additional benefits. The following 10 offers are particularly popular.
Everyone knows the midday slump: After lunch, you'd love to take a little nap. Studies also show that power naps can increase concentration and performance. But unfortunately, that's not easy to do at work. After all, what kind of impression does it make on superiors, colleagues and customers if you're snoring with your head on the desk? The solution is a so-called "napping room". This is a room specially set up for sleep breaks. Darkened and equipped with comfortable furniture for lying down and relaxing, it offers employees the opportunity to switch off for a moment and recharge their batteries.
Corporate volunteering is about companies encouraging and supporting their employees to volunteer. Employees are given time off from work to work on a social project. The measure not only serves to improve the company's image, but also enables employees to gain new experiences, develop skills and experience teamwork in a new environment. Corporate volunteering particularly appeals to talented people who are looking for companies with social values and meaningful work. The measure therefore fits perfectly with the purpose-driven recruiting strategy.
Do you lack the time and motivation to exercise alongside your job? This is probably how many employees feel. Physical and mental health are the basis for performance at work. Companies have a variety of options to motivate their employees to do sports: be it equipping them with sports equipment at work (e.g. desk bikes at the desk), organizing sports events or participating in local sports events, offering to cover gym fees or setting up company sports teams.
Whether for business trips or the journey to the office, many employees incur costs. Therefore, there are various employee offers that provide financial relief for mobility. For example, the provision of discounted or free tickets for public transport is popular. Some companies offer their employees their own company car, especially for positions that require a lot of travel. Home office options and flexible working hours can help to minimize the daily commute.
Good employees lay the foundation for the company's success. So shouldn't they also be directly involved in this success? Profit sharing is a form of financial participation - employees receive a share of the profits, which are paid out at certain intervals (e.g. annually). Some companies also offer their employees bonuses. That is, additional amounts of money or benefits in kind as a reward for outstanding performance and success. Both bonuses and profit sharing can increase employee motivation and willingness to perform.
Balancing a career and a job is not always easy. For employees with children, support in this area is therefore a popular corporate benefit. This can take the form of financial subsidies for childcare, but also home office options and flexible working hours. If there are many parents among the employees, it can be beneficial to create parent networks to exchange experiences and support each other. Some large companies also have their own company kindergarten.
More and more employees want green benefits - especially young employees who belong to the Greta Thunberg generation. These employees look closely at their employer's approach to sustainability, including in terms of employee benefits. Examples of green benefits include promoting sustainable mobility, e.g. through bicycle leasing or the provision of e-car charging stations, equipping the company with recyclable office materials, creating plant areas in the company building and sustainable catering options such as vegan meals in the canteen. These offers are part of a Green Recruiting Strategy.
Companies can give their employees an extra travel budget or travel vouchers. And this extra is actually geared towards vacation - it's not about a change of scenery where you work in a different place. The company still benefits from it. Not only are the employees more rested, no: "Nothing develops intelligence like traveling," as the French writer Émile Zola already knew. Travel impressions can provide motivation, especially in jobs where creativity and fresh ideas are important.
Heating, electricity, fuel, food: everything is getting more expensive! Companies can help to cushion the effects of inflation. For example, in the form of a cost-of-living bonus or benefits in kind that are tax-free up to a certain amount. Examples of popular benefits in kind are fuel cards, meal vouchers or the payment of training costs.
Helping employees to get the best out of themselves: With personal development opportunities, employees can build human capital, improve their quality of life and (further) develop skills. SAP, for example, regularly organizes a two-day Mindfulness workshop and has had consistently positive experiences with this corporate benefit. The result: employees have become more motivated and absenteeism has decreased. They report that they can concentrate better, have become more creative and are generally more satisfied in their jobs.
They are a variety of benefits and perks provided by a company to its employees to promote their well-being, motivation and retention. These benefits go beyond the traditional salary and can take many forms - from healthcare to flexible working hours to childcare.
Companies use these additional services not only as a tool for Employee retention, but also as a strategy to attract talented professionals and gain a competitive advantage in the labor market. It is therefore not just a "nice to have" but an established tool in the fight for new talent, which is also used by "big players" such as Google, Mercedes, Telekom, Salesforce, BMW, IKEA and others.
Corporate benefits are also known in this country under the terms employee benefits, employee offers, employer benefits and additional company benefits.
Companies would do well to put the topic of corporate benefits on their agenda. Because: Almost every second employee would forego part of their basic salary for attractive employee offers. This was the result of the Mercer study "Benefits and Wellbeing 2020+: What companies offer“. One in seven respondents also stated that additional company benefits were a decisive factor in choosing the right company.
The study shows that corporate benefits are well received. However, it should be considered that simply providing all employees with a fruit basket and a voucher for the gym is (often) not that easy. The benefits should be tailored to the individual as far as possible. Not all employees are equally happy about a particular offer. Employers should therefore be open to the needs and wishes of individual employees and take their specific life realities into account in order to enable appropriate corporate benefits. At the same time, the offers must of course fit in with the company's own culture.
(Photo cover: https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/blond-man-happy-expression_1011047.htm by kues1)
