Jay Munro, Head of Career Insights for Indeed, shares his thoughts on the how work perks have evolved in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and how workplaces can adapt to ensure the perks they offer are competitive and useful.
A comprehensive suite of work perks can mean the difference between accepting and declining a new role, and it can be what turns a good job into a great one. From table tennis tables and well-stocked vending machines, to workplace wellness initiatives and on-site childcare, the bells and whistles on top of your role’s requirements can go a long way to making you feel like a valued part of the team.
However, in the throes of a global pandemic, the small perks that used to appeal to us (à la free fruit and nuts in the company kitchen) disappear when you’re required to work from home. March 2020 saw the upheaval of many work environments across the country and around the world, and left many employees wondering – what now?
Jay Munro, Head of Career Insights at Indeed, saw the impact of this shift first-hand, as clients and employees alike moved from in-office work to more flexible arrangements.
“From an employer’s perspective, perks are an extremely valuable asset to help attract new hires and retain existing employees. It can be what sets us apart from other organisations that are competing to hire talent with the same skill set, and it can also keep your staff engaged with their role and singing the praises of your overall employer brand.
“On the other hand, for employees, these perks reinforce that their employer cares about the health, wellbeing, and enjoyment of their staff. It serves as a foot in the door to check in to see if they’re engaged with the work they’re doing, and that they’re happy to be working with the company.
“Now that the terrain has changed due to the pandemic, so must the perks that employers offer.”
Flexibility as the new normal
Remote working and flexible working arrangements used to be the holy grail of work perks, but with COVID forcing some organisations to quickly restructure how they worked, working from home shifted from a peak perk to the new normal for some businesses.
“Upon reflection, this was quite short-sighted” says Mr. Munro.
“The freedom for employees to integrate their professional responsibilities around their personal lives is now expected. That kind of flexibility is far more valuable, and an employee’s ability to do so is not something that can or should be dictated by an employer.”
As hybrid working situations become more common, the focus will pivot towards how employers adapt to support their staff to work from anywhere at any time, and how they introduce new benefits to offset what employees have already lost.
“One solution isn’t going to fit everyone’s needs anymore. Providing staff with the technology and resources they need on a case-by-case basis will help with their transition from a centralised workspace to a hybrid working model.” says Munro.
“Furthermore, it’s not just about the party perks anymore. Stuff like in-office pool tables or team-building days aren’t as easy to offer when a workplace has moved to a hybrid model. Less tangible benefits, like extra annual leave or superannuation, or subsidised health insurance, are now coming to the fore and can be used and appreciated when you remove the office element of a working environment.”
Managing expectations and minimising burnout
COVID has forced many employers to reevaluate how they worked day-to-day, and employees have been expected to adapt along with them. However, when personal and professional worlds collided during the work from home order in March 2020, the burnout that comes from being plugged in 24/7 started to take a toll.
“Particularly at the beginning of COVID, it felt there was this expectation of availability at any time of the day or night. If your ‘office’ is right there, and you’re not doing anything else, why can’t you respond?” asks Mr. Munro. “The responsibility falls both to employees and employers to establish concrete boundaries, which circles back to the importance of employees being able to define what flexibility means to them. We know that those who work from home are working just as hard, if not harder, in these home environments.”
There’s a big difference, however, between organisations having the right intention to change the perks they offer to hybrid employees, and tangible action.
Says Mr. Munro, “The first step should always be engagement. Engage your employees in this process of change at the ground level, and get their input to find out what’s important to them.
“It’s also an exercise in identifying the gaps between what perks you currently offer, what your employees want, and what other similar organisations in the market are offering. Once you know what these gaps are, it’s much easier to plug them and provide your staff with a more holistic perks offering.
“It’s important to articulate to employees why these new perks will benefit them, because until you can explain what’s in it for them, you’ll have low interest and engagement, which leads to lower job satisfaction. Do you offer all staff the same perk options? Do you restrict what perks you offer to who? The initial communication and engagement piece with employees will go a long way to help with change management.”
Standing out to future hires
With a stacked employment market, and more jobs posted on Seek earlier this year than in any time in the platform’s 23-year history, candidates are well and truly in the driver’s seat. According to Mr. Munro, this means that organisations will need to make sure they’re doing everything they can to set themselves apart from their competition, or else risk seeing mass talent migration.
“If companies choose not to adapt their perk offering, it will ultimately mean that they will lose talent currently working for them, and will struggle to attract new talent to replace them. If you’ve chosen not to adopt a hybrid working model, now is the time to ask yourself – why? What’s holding you back from adopting this? If it’s technology, find out what tech your competitors use and how you can implement this yourself. If it’s a rigid existing management model, find out how you can alter to adapt to these rapid changes we’re experiencing.
“It’s important to be open to change and to constantly keep your ear to the ground to see what else is working out there, rather than staying laser-focused on what you’ve always done.”
As workplace structure evolves, it’s becoming clear that there is no one ‘new normal’; some workplaces have returned to how they operated pre-COVID, some have incorporated hybrid working elements, and some have transferred to a completely remote workforce. In a constantly shifting job terrain, flexibility is what new hires now look for in a workplace, and it is ultimately what will keep organisations at the top of their field.
With more than 15 years of experience in the recruitment industry, Jay Munro has worked in a variety of roles in agencies and job boards, from consulting and recruiting, to leading the product development of new sourcing technologies. As the Head of Career Insights with the Indeed Employer Insights Team, Jay pairs platform data with industry trend analysis to share Indeed’s story and bring the value of the company’s programs and solutions to life.