Is your company attracting top talent through benefits?
How do Canadian companies gain an advantage with top candidates. Money is not the only factor. Attracting top talent through benefits is key.
Attracting top talent is tough. For a Canadian business to thrive, it not only has to be able to attract top talent but it needs to retain them too. Of course, the best and brightest are always going to be in demand, and any company can expect serious competition to win their services. So what is it that attracts top talents to a business? It would be overly simplistic to assume it’s all about the money and a fat paycheck. There are a series of alternative incentives that play an important role in making potential employees feel appreciated, and energized at the prospect of working for a company. Along with the promise from employers of work-life-balance benefits, there are other incentives at play.
• Flexible work arrangements
• Opportunities for personal growth
• Job independence & flexibility
• Share/stock options
• Pension plans
• Health plan
In a recent Forbes.com article, the magazine worked with online statistics provider Statista, and asked more than 8,000 Canadian workers to determine, on a scale of zero to 10, if they would recommend their employer to someone else. The results includes 250 employers across 25 industries.
“It’s a very challenging time because the name of the game is talent retention—that’s certainly quite apparent to the best and smartest employers,” said Tom Knight, associate professor of Organizational Behaviour and Human Resources at the University of British Columbia ’s Sauder School of Business. Knight says for those employers, providing security and benefits in innovative ways will help them keep top talent in a vulnerable economy and attract candidates once hiring picks up again.
A few names on the list won’t surprise anyone—they’re employee favorites the world over. Costco rings in at 5th, while perennial workplace wonder Google comes in 9th. Apple comes in 31st; Cisco makes the list at 35th, and Microsoft claims 49th place.”
You will find more statistics at Statista
So what does this all mean? These companies are attracting top talent and paying attention to the needs of their employees!
Flexible working arrangements are ideal for appealing to people who want to retain as much control as possible over their lives. A 7am-3pm work week might benefit a working parent and helps companies stagger hours for more work coverage. Or 2 day work from home week can cut on commute, more concentrated focus and build trust with employees.
If you offer opportunities for personal growth, you’ll get employees that are committed to pursuing new skills and abilities. Offering classes, training and workshops allows your employees to grow into new roles, expand their capabilities and challenges that benefit both the company and the employee. Everybody wins!
We cannot pretend that money isn’t a big factor in luring top talent. However, Share and Stock Options, for example, can help employees feel that they really reap the benefits of working for a successful company. An attractive compensation package is also vital for making an employee aware of what they’re worth overall, not just in terms of wages, but additional bonuses that the company is willing to offer. Costco has one of the most competitive benefits packages in the industry, which is probably why they ranked #5 on the list.
People want to feel secure that they won’t have to worry about their finances once they reach an age where they cannot work regularly. For that reason, a generous and robust pension plan will be invaluable in attracting someone who has the foresight and intelligence to think seriously about their future. Similarly, a good health plan is always a major plus point for a business to brag about. Having both of these benefits in place will ensure a healthy, secure, and content group of employees.
There are many methods in attracting top talent, but at the end of the day it comes down to a few core values. People want to have money, they want to feel safe, they want to feel appreciated, and they want to enjoy going into work every single day. If you can offer all of those things, there’s no reason you can’t attract Canada’s best employees to work for you.
Proforce Top Tip: Evaluate your Basket of Benefits. What are you offering besides a competitive wage? Are you attracting top talent in Canada with your compensation packages?
