Member Article

Move salary aside:  Employees want perks and rewards

BrightHR’s Co-founders CEO Paul Tooth and CMO Paul Harris discuss tailoring perks and rewards to the individual to boost brilliance in the workplace

BrightHR has recently undertaken some deeper research into play in the workplace and looked at the perks and rewards systems across different professions.

Extending the ‘It Pays to Play’ findings, the Pauls were concerned to discover that within modern business, employees still ranked financial rewards and monetary bonuses as more important than lifestyle perks. While they acknowledged it was important people were paid competitively compared to others in the same marketplace, they were interested to see that in the modern workplace achieving higher salaries is still disproportionately important to the workplace culture.

The figures showed 28 per cent of people would like a financial bonus, with a quarter of people saying they would like an annual bonus on top of their salary. ‘Salary is always important to everyone, any employment survey will say this, but actually when you scratch the surface it is actually a hygiene factor’, argues Paul Tooth. ‘People get a financial boost and they are happy, but this is short lived because all that happens is their outgoings will expand to match their increase in salary. You will always be fighting that, it’s a race the top and salary is a blunt instrument for that reason, whereas perks are a different thing altogether.’

The Pauls believe companies should offer a whole range of perks to combat the tricky issue of ensuring everyone is happy in the office. Perks are part of the culture; after work drinks, duvet days, fruit in the office, breakout spaces, flexi-working patterns or discounted gym membership. Paul Tooth added, ‘Perks as plural is important too, some people won’t be bothered about fruit but they may like the gym membership. And whereas some people won’t touch the play station others may use the beanbags in your chill out zone every day. You can find perks that cost business very little money for a bigger benefit for the staff.’

A whole range of perks, Paul Harris believes, is actually more valuable to your workforce. ‘It’s a statement, it says we value people’ added Paul Harris, ‘Listening to people so they have a voice, encouraging your team to use tools like Yammer so people can share their thoughts and opinions. You could even have a traditional post box in your office which allows people to share their ideas. Our suggestion box is shaped like a beach hut!’

Touching on the research Paul Harris was disappointed but not surprised that fun work culture had yet to gain ground on financial incentives. ‘It is interesting that those surveyed ranked financial bonuses and rewards as their ultimate perk. This is all they know. Once people have experienced a truly great workplace culture and the effect it has on their emotional state, energy, happiness, productivity, motivation, etc they can’t go back. You can see that in BrightHR’s retention figures. So it’s an education thing.’

Juggling different workers and motivations of individuals can be tricky, agreed Paul Tooth. But when you tap into the benefits and rewards the individual needs from their work environment then you have a happier work force. ’Not everyone is efficient or happy working 9 ‘til 5’ added Paul Tooth, ‘Simply allowing people to be flexible with their day, and trusting them to be responsible with their own time, for many people can be more of a reward than a pay rise because it acknowledges what they need and want from their working lives.’

Some employees are career people, they live and breathe their job, and others aren’t. Some people will want to come in and get the job done and go home and neither are right or wrong. This is why the old business structure doesn’t work, it’s too ridged and unaccommodating, argued Paul Harris, ‘This is why in a modern business like ours we place emphasis on allowing you to wear what you want, come in when you want, step away from your desk and have a nap or play, giving that flexibility makes people feel trusted and happier in their work environment.’

A business that trusts its employees with simple perks will retain their staff, as it boosts wellbeing and encourages people to work hard - with less focus on a cash bonus. ‘Money will always attract people and help recruit and retain staff,’ commented Paul Tooth, ‘But it won’t give employees a sense of satisfaction for their work– move salary aside and perks and rewards will do the rest.’

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Paul Harris .