Right Time For Employee Rewards in Business

Right Time For Employee Rewards in Business - Employers are always looking for ways to increase staff motivation and loyalty. The reasons for this are obvious a motivated workforce is a more effective workforce, and a more reliable workforce means less absenteeism. 

But in times of economic downturn, employers need to be more resourceful with staff rewards, as conventional cash-cased bonusing is often cut-back. Benefits bringing similar cash savings to employees but without a cost to employers are naturally hugely attractive, hence the renewed focus on employee benefits.

Employee rewards cover a wide range of rewards that can be selected by employers based on the interests and needs of staff. 

For example, a young workforce may be more interested in savings on gym membership, whereas an older workforce may find childcare saving more desirable. Regardless of the type of benefit being offered, the outcome is the same, an employer able to posit themselves as a caring employer who takes care of their staff. 

This not only benefits, as mentioned, motivation but helps with retaining staff and recruiting staff. And, as an added incentive should one be needed, third party companies will take care of the promotion, administration and sourcing of many of the employee benefits currently on the market. 

Some of the key employee benefits available to staff revolve around childcare: unsurprising given the often onerous costs entailed with childcare provision.

All employers with any sizeable number of working parents should be looking at introducing a childcare voucher scheme. These can provide savings for staff with children up until the September after their fifteenth birthday of up to nearly a 1000 p.a. 

Without any added cost to the employer, making them a no-brainer for many employers. They operate an opt-in salary sacrifice scheme whereby employees consent to give up a portion of their wages, receiving childcare vouchers of a greater value than the amount sacrificed in return. 

This is made possible due to the lack of tax and National Insurance Contributions being paid on the sum that is sacrificed. The scheme allows parents to then use these vouchers in payment to registered childminders, which can also be saved up by parents and redeemed at a later date. 

Usually, third party providers can administer the scheme through an online interface accessible to employers, employees and childminders. In addition to childcare vouchers, employers can further position themselves a child-friendly employer by creating a work-based nursery. 

Unlike voucher schemes, however, this can require greater effort by employers in terms of financing and sourcing but all this too can be made back from savings on National Insurance Contributions. 

Obviously, not all employees have children which is why third party providers usually feature a host of other benefits for employers to choose from.

These usually include employee well-being benefits such as negotiated rates for corporate gym membership to other schemes such as quitting smoking, or tailored fitness programmes for key executives. 

Along with enhanced staff motivation, they improve the overall health of staff contributing to a reduction in absenteeism. And, there are a host of other employee benefits which employers can choose to boost staff motivation. 

There are negotiated rates on car parks, so staff can reduce their daily parking bills; there are company fuel cards sop staff can reduce their travel costs; there are partners who will find the best prices for utilities for staff in their home, and so on and so forth. 

Clearly, there is great benefits to be had for employers looking to enhance their reward schemes. And, in the current economic climate, there's never been a better time to build up cost-neutral employee benefits.

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