Employers are increasing employee benefits to increase job satisfaction, but are they actually giving workers what they want?
Employees are far from happy. While the UK has recovered from the 2008 financial crisis, wages continue to fall. To add to the problem, workloads and working hours are on the up.
Unsurprisingly, UK employees are one of the least satisfied workforces in the world. A study of 23,000 employees found that the United Kingdom has the third lowest level of job satisfaction, just above of Belgium and France.
In order to curb growing dissatisfaction in the workplace, employers are experimenting with the employee benefits that they offer their staff members in an attempt to cut rising employee turnover.
The fad of ‘modern’ offices has seen companies introduce perks such as office fitness classes, company holidays and free food and drinks. However, research shows that employees care very little about these additional benefits.
What employee benefits do employees actually want?
Job seekers are more interested in joining companies that offer their employees standard perks, rather than useless extravagances.
A study by marketing company Fractl questioned 2,000 job seekers on the benefits that are most important to them when seeking employment. These employee benefits ranked top:
Better health, dental and vision insurance
The study found that 88% of people valued a company insurance package highly. As work-related stress wreaks havoc on our bodies and minds, health is a growing concern among workers.
Flexible working hours
Most of us now work nine hours a day, plus an average commute time of two hours, leaving very little time to focus on other areas of our lives. Keen to re-balance our time, more than 85% of job seekers want to be able to set their own hours.
More paid leave
The average UK worker received 28 days of paid leave each year, including eight public holidays. The study found that more annual leave would increase job satisfaction for 80% of employees.
Remote working
While more workers would prefer to set their own hours, there are a growing number of employees that would prefer to ditch the office and work from home. With digital access growing, many feel that office spaces are unnecessary.
Unlimited vacation
Employees want to take back control of their schedule. It may sound ridiculous, but companies that have implemented the perk have reported higher levels of job satisfaction and increased productivity and passion as a result of the perceived trust that their employees felt.
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