When looking for a new employer, job seekers are looking for more than just monetary compensation. Outside of higher salaries, candidates are looking for opportunities that can provide other benefits such as holiday leave, sick pay and health care benefits. In fact, Fast Company reported that 79 percent of surveyed workers said they would prefer additional benefits over a pay raise. With that in mind, employers could potentially attract better talent by offering a more competitive benefits package.
Here’s how additional benefits, including holiday leave, could affect your recruitment goals:
Paid holiday leave in the U.S.
In many European countries, holiday leave is mandated by the government. For example, France, Denmark and Sweden offer 25 paid holidays per year, according Glassdoor. In the U.S., the government has no such requirements for paid holiday leave. It’s up to the employer to make those decisions. On average, full-time professionals in the U.S. receive 8.5 paid holidays while blue collar workers average 7 days a year, reported The Balance. These statistics could make the case for adding additional holidays for positions requiring skilled talent – especially for companies unable to offer fully competitive salaries.
Attracting skilled talent
Hiring and retaining skilled talent is an important part of running a successful business. If employee turnover gets too high, it could become a serious problem. Turnover is expensive in the long run, because it means spending extra time and money on recruiting, hiring and training new employees. By keeping turnover low, managers can spend resources on growing the company. One reason that turnover might be higher for skilled positions is that those employees are looking for job opportunities that can provide better benefits. Offering extra vacation days or improving company health benefits could be all it takes to retain key talent.
Professional workers in the U.S. average 8.5 paid holidays a year.
Getting the word out
Thinking about the recruitment process from the very beginning, employers need determine how they will advertise their competitive benefits. Many businesses will describe their benefits packages on their website’s career page. Companies that offer varying benefits packages depending on position should consider showcasing their offerings in the job listing itself. A branded job board is a good idea for companies with multiple levels of benefits. Global HR Research offers customizable job boards as part of an overall package for optimizing employee recruitment. By controlling the message that applicants see – which isn’t always possible with third-party boards – companies can start targeting their ideal candidates from the very beginning of the process.
By offering additional benefits, companies can be more picky about the candidates they actually hire. Using diagnostic assessment methods, hiring managers can further pinpoint their efforts to discover qualified employees with personalities and professional know-how that matches the needs of the company. From there, they can focus on building employee morale and productivity to ultimately improve the business.
