A pandemic, war, labor market shortages. We can no longer avoid it, the world is changing. Some of the news stories in recent weeks

• ADE struggles with staff shortage and cost crisis, energy bill to come 
• Winter sweaters at universities: heater turned down to cut bills
• Sick with stress: Why twentysomethings and thirtysomethings are dropping out more often

The best free (fringe) benefits

This is the time to take your HR organization to the next level. 

Want to save money with free (fringe) benefits? Although, of course, it's never completely free. But by preventing absenteeism, retaining people and culture, you can save money, work more efficiently and avoid frustration. Invest these savings in your people in a positive way! Read our 4 tips here on what you can do to make this happen. 

Get inspiration on how to go from 35 to 140 employees in 3 years while maintaining culture? See our business case here.

‍

Doing nothing costs money
Did you know that an incapacitated employee costs an average of €250 to €300 per day? The departure of an employee and the induction of a new colleague costs you about a year's salary.

That's a lot of money, in addition to the frustration and inconvenience for you and your employee. It's simply a waste of everyone's time and energy. Rather, invest this time and energy in your people and culture in a positive way and your moral compass.

‍

What, my moral compass? Yes indeed! As an employer, you have a moral responsibility to take care of your people and the world. This not only ensures a nice culture within your organization. Make conscious choices and contribute with your company to a better world and your people. You can apply this moral responsibility to the economic situation today. 

‍

You, your employees, everyone faces cost increases. 

Energy costs, suppliers raising their prices and also your employees asking if there is a raise in the next few months because they, in turn, are affected.

The best (fringe) benefits for a better culture

An employee who finds themselves in a tight financial spot may become stressed, underperform, perhaps even drop out or look for another job with a higher salary. Well, then you are even further from home or, in this case, far from achieving your organizational goals. What can you do? 

‍

1. Time for a really good conversation with your people. Know what's going on with your people or if there are any (financial) concerns they are struggling with and what you as an employer can do. 

Especially the younger generation starting in their first job need guidance. 

‍

Make sure you and your leadership team know how to have a good conversation, do this regularly with your people. This is the only way to do the right thing at the right time.

‍

With a good conversation, you can find out what your people need and do what works. Not having time for this is no excuse. When your employee leaves or drops out, it costs you a lot of time and negative energy in addition to a lot of money. 

‍

" Work stress has been increasing in recent years, especially among young workers. As a result, people in their twenties and thirties are dropping out more often. Performance drive, high work pressure and wrong expectations of working life: it increasingly leads to work stress among young workers. This is shown by figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS)."

‍

Curious about ideas to help your employees in times of inflation? Read this blog!

‍

2. Prepare your people for impact by investing in benefits such as development, among others. In doing so, you provide development opportunities and challenges for your people while increasing your competitive advantage in the job market. 

‍

Investing in working conditions while costs rise so much? 

Yes indeed, make sure you have the best proposition and win it over the competition. Because as an entrepreneur, you need your best people now more than ever to achieve your results. In these times of labor shortage, you may be looking for talent, but at the same time, other companies continue to prey on the talents in your organization. 

‍

3. Investing helps you reduce turnover, prevent absenteeism and increase retention. In addition to creating development opportunities, consider the cost increases your employees face and what you as an employer can do to address (financial) concerns.  

‍

These cost increases can cause stress, and if this gets high, it can lead to attrition. So when you have that good conversation with your employee, give this some attention. After all, financial worries are not something someone is quick to discuss. See what you can do for your people, for example, by offering them attractive tax benefits such as a leased bicycle. Do you still have room within the WKR, has the untaxed home office allowance already been used? Have you thought about a budget coach for your people? 

‍

And there is a new generation entering the job market and they are demanding something different from you as an employer. Think hybrid, remote and part-time work. Which for you as an entrepreneur is diametrically opposed to the labor market tightness and possible financial concerns that people have. But there is no one size fits all solution so look for the one size fits most solution.

‍

4. That labor market crunch is not completely solved with the above tips. This headline also came along to past weeks: - SMEs do little with digitization: 'often lack of knowledge' - How efficient is work done in your organization? Look at the possibilities of automating "boring" work. If a system saves 10 percent of work, that saves 1 in 10 people per team. So you can do more with less capacity. Getting rid of the boring work also opens up new opportunities and challenges for your people. 

‍

Conclusion: doing nothing costs money and doing something also costs money but if you do it right then you work toward a cost-neutral solution and your working conditions are "free." 

Invest in the right things and avoid investing in things that are not going to move your business and people forward. If you take good care of your people, you will also take good care of the world and create an environment where continuous development, excellence and fun naturally lead to innovation, impact and success for the organization and people.

Would you like to know more about this? Then contact us and get advice from our People partners.

‍

‍