It’s no surprise that things have shifted for both employers and employees since the pandemic. It has caused a huge shift in what employers offer and what employees are looking for in the workplace. For employers who don’t step up to the challenge of taking a deep look at their management style, the benefits they offer, and their work culture, a hard truth is coming. Employees, top talent, and the amazing people that make your business function are going to look elsewhere.
What Do Employees Want?
Higher Pay – Employees know what they are worth and what they can bring to a company. Also, in today’s economy, things are far more expensive than they have ever been. They recognize the need to work for employers that understand that a higher cost of living is affecting them.
Benefits – Employees are looking for health insurance, life insurance, parental leave, PTO, sick days, retirement – the list goes on and on. Benefits are everything and bring value and safety to their lives.
Flexible Schedules – Increasingly, employees are seeking companies that offer flexible schedules or opportunities to work from home options. Flexible schedules give them a true work-life balance.
Work Culture – A healthy work culture is highly valuable to employees. They are seeking work cultures that are inclusive, diverse, collaborative, and care about their well-being.
Taking these into consideration, employers have the opportunity to make some important changes to not only attract employees but also retain them – which, all-in-all is better for your business.
What Can You, As The Employer Do?
Higher pay isn’t always the easiest place to start, BUT it’s the most important. Take a deep dive into what your competitors are paying, and what industry standards are, and consider the true value that a position adds to your company. Prioritizing higher pay is a huge step toward attracting the top talent that you need!
If higher pay isn’t feasible, or even if it is, look at the benefits that are currently offered. Is there the possibility of offering more PTO or creating a retirement plan? What other incentives make sense for the role? Is it a gas card or a cell phone reimbursement? Be thoughtful in what you can truly offer.
Being open-minded and creative when it comes to schedules can be a huge perk to employees. Could you implement at least one work-from-home day a week? Could the team leave earlier on Fridays? Ultimately, could a position be done fully remote? This is something that you can decide for your team and will go a long way in keeping employees around.
Work culture is so important and oftentimes can be hard to pin down. Creating a healthy work culture starts from the top. Micromanagement is a thing of the past, and if that is something that is holding your work culture back, it’s time to let it go. Employees want to be properly trained and trusted to do their jobs. It can be hard to loosen the reigns, but, for a business to thrive, there needs to be trust. Take the time to reimagine what your work culture can be and ask your employees what they value in the workplace.
This by no means is everything an employee is looking for when it comes to choosing an employer, but, it’s a great place to start. Take into account the well-being of your employees, and they will stick around for a long time and add so much value to your business. Understanding these hard truths will set you up for the long game and set you apart from the competition.