Insights

Staff perks help your employees to feel valued. This can make them more engaged and benefit your business through increased loyalty and greater commitment.

There are many different employee benefits you can offer and we’ve highlighted three that are good for both your company and your workers, from unlimited holidays to salary sacrifice.

Unlimited holidays

Unlimited holidays have gained popularity in recent years. They remove the gap on the annual leave your staff can take.

Your staff benefits from unlimited holidays because they know they can take time off when they need it. This is something that will make them feel more at ease with the balance between work and home life, giving you more engaged workers as a result.

It’s natural that you might have some reservations about introducing such a policy. The principle of unlimited holidays means you might worry your employees will suddenly take huge amounts of annual leave and put you in a position where you’re short of staff.

The reality is rather different, with this article including a number of quotes from representatives of companies who have introduced unlimited holidays. The key takeaways are that employees benefited from a better work-life balance and businesses were rewarded with more productive workers.

But there is a potential downside to introducing unlimited holidays. While it’s a perk to be able to take annual leave whenever you want, some companies found their staff took fewer holidays and risked going below the legal minimum number for days off each year.

To make sure your staff gets the benefits of unlimited holidays and your business is protected against the risks this can bring, we advise that you have a minimum requirement and then make it your policy to place no cap on the extra days of leave that your staff may take.

Commission

Commission is a feature of sales jobs and has been for many years. It’s a bonus you give to your employees when they win new business for your company, either by signing a client or getting a customer.

The staff and business benefits of commission are pretty straightforward. Your employees get to earn some extra money, while your company can increase its revenue by incentivizing workers to win new business.

The great thing for you is that it’s a perk that rewards success and is protected against failure — you don’t pay commission unless your company is making more money.

You have a few options for how to introduce commission into your business:

• For individual sales
• For monthly sales
• For quarterly sales
• For annual sales

This blog post goes into even more detail about the types of commission available to you. Giving you the information you need to make an informed decision about what works best for your company. We believe that using a combination of commission types will make it a real perk for your staff and a valuable benefit for your business.

Of course, commission doesn’t suit every company and its employees. If this is the case for your business and staff then there are alternative perks that offer benefits that are pretty similar. You could offer bonuses or create a profit-sharing plan, for example.

The point isn’t that you need to give your employees a specific financial reward for bringing new revenue to your company, but that you should recognize their contribution to the success of your business by giving them a cash boost that works for you and them, so know their efforts are being rewarded.

Salary sacrifice

If you’re an employer based in the UK, Europe, or Australia then salary sacrifice may be something to consider.

We understand asking your employees to sacrifice some of their salary sounds like a perk that’s downright dangerous, as any conversation that begins with offering staff the chance to lose money seems destined to fail.

However, if used properly, it’s a way of giving your employees more control over how they’re paid and the chance to get tax breaks on things they want their wages to go towards.

The way salary sacrifice works for your employees is that they give up part of their salary and you give them a non-cash benefit in return. These non-cash benefits can either be future rewards (such as pension contributions) or present advantages (like company cars).

This can make them more committed to your business, inspiring greater loyalty and higher retention rates without handing out a pay rise.

One thing you should keep in mind when considering offering a salary sacrifice to your employees is that finance management (particularly when tax and pensions are involved) can be daunting for some people. This is why you should offer them support.

If your staff opt for increased pension contributions then you can support them with software that allows them to see how this is helping them. For example, this tool provides personalized retirement benefit estimates. It’s a quick, easy and secure way for your employees to get regular updates on their retirement funds, simplifying what could be a complicated process.

If your workers decide they want a company car then you can make it easier for them to manage the expenses that come with this (gas, oil, and other travel costs) by getting fuel cards for them. For instance, this guide lists the different options your company can pick. You can select ones based on the fuel your workers use (gas or diesel) and the places they prefer to refuel (highways or grocery stores), personalizing the card based on their needs.

Salary sacrifice is a perk that can feel less obvious to your employees. This is why we suggest you keep an open line of communication with your staff, so you can establish if they feel they’re getting the benefits they want from it.

And although salary sacrifice isn’t an option in the United States, businesses in the U.S. can offer their employees similar perks to boost retention, such as a child care subsidy program.

When you help cut your employee’s childcare costs you reduce conflict between family and work responsibility which lessens turnover and absenteeism. In addition to dependent care assistance, other fringe benefits to consider could include education assistance, adoption assistance, employee stock options, a company car, and more.

Whichever of these benefits you decide to offer and wherever you’re based, the key takeaway from this is that you take a real interest in your employees’ lives and offer them a perk that makes a real difference to them. This personal touch can go a long way with your staff because it shows you value them as people — not just workers.

Unlimited holidays, commission, and salary sacrifice are three very different staff perks but they all share one thing in common. They can benefit both your employees and your business, as long as they’re introduced correctly.

So, pick the one(s) you think works best for your staff and company and then follow our tips and advice when you implement them.

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About the Author:

Rodney Laws is an ecommerce expert with over a decade of experience in building online businesses. He’s worked with the biggest platforms in the world, making him the perfect person to offer advice on which platform you should use to build your website. Check out his reviews on EcommercePlatforms.io and you’ll find practical tips that you can use to build the best online store for your business.

Connect with him on Twitter @EcomPlatformsio.