Employees are the driving force behind every business. They’re responsible for pleasing clients, bringing in money and developing new products to sell. Without them, each of the 5.6 million businesses in the UK would struggle to facilitate the demand for their services. This makes keeping employees happy imperative for your success.
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Statistics from 2022 suggested that more than half of UK employees were looking for another job with better pay. This statistic could include some of your top contributors who we doubt you’ll want to lose. These staff members are responsible for the growth of your business, so you must do everything to keep them.
Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to hold onto your employees, including making your workplace more inclusive, developing a good culture and offering employee incentives. We believe employee incentives are the best way to boost your business but what are they and why can they help?
Our guide will take a closer look at the incentives you can make available to your workforce, so you can keep them happy and your business thriving. Continue reading to find out more.
What are the best employee incentives?
Employee incentives are rewards that staff members get for working well or simply being a member of the team. They’re designed to recognise good performance and make your business more attractive to current or prospective workers.
These incentives typically cost the business money but they’re seen as a worthwhile expense because of the benefits they bring. Many of these incentives can be tax-free too, which you may be excited to hear.
There are countless types of employee incentives depending on your budget but each should be seen as a positive by your staff. Take the leap today and start introducing them into your company too.
What are the benefits of offering employee incentives?
As mentioned, there are plenty of benefits of introducing these into your company’s working ways. Here are some of the main ones:
Increased productivity
Good productivity is critical to your success and ensures work is being completed quickly and at a high standard. Incentives can be used to reward productive attitudes among your workforce, so they continue to work hard for the business.
Boosting productivity with incentives typically means rewarding them for hitting or exceeding their targets.
Attract and retain the best staff
These worker benefits are something to shout about as they show that hard work pays in your business. This kind of culture is sought after by prospective employees and your existing workforce will hopefully feel valued because of them.
This combination ensures you can build a dream team of staff for your business with the best ones wanting to stay and great people wanting to join.
Encourage teamwork and collaboration
Teamwork is essential for a thriving business. Without it, projects may become misaligned, which can be detrimental to their success. By introducing incentives that reward teamwork, you can ensure workers talk and collaborate to deliver the highest quality work.
Which incentives should I offer to my employees?
With so many benefits, we’re sure you’ll be keen to introduce them to your business. Here are some of the incentives they may appreciate the most:
Bonus schemes
Money is one of the easiest ways to inspire people to work hard and bonus schemes reward them. These should be introduced to people who go above and beyond for you as their work will likely bring more money in for your business. It’s only fair that they reap some reward for their hard work and bonuses are great for that.
Extra annual leave
You’ll want a team that feels refreshed and ready to give it their all every day. By offering more annual leave, you can help them take time away from their desk and come back motivated.
You could consider offering annual leave purchase schemes too where employees buy additional holiday days. The deductions are made before tax, which benefits individuals and the lower wages will be good for the business.
Team retreats
Team retreats are an easy way to build morale among the team. Developing relationships outside of the office should make everyone closer, ensuring they collaborate well with each other.
Team retreats don’t have to be to the Bahamas either. They could be a day out in a UK city where work isn’t the priority.
Flexible working schedule
People work better at different times, so offering an incentive such as flexible working hours can help you get the most out of them. We recommend choosing core hours that everyone must work during but let them decide if they want to start earlier or finish later for optimal performance.
Vehicle Support Schemes
Vehicles are a vital part of commutes to work, so you’ll want to make sure employees aren’t restricted due to their finances. You could offer to pay for a full car service at their nearest garage to ensure the car is in good working order.
Alternatively, you could offer an electric car scheme that’ll boost the eco-friendliness of your business. This is another tax-saving incentive that helps your staff get a state-of-the-art electric car.
Health and Wellbeing
A healthy lifestyle is important to many of your employees, so making it easy for them to achieve it is a great incentive. Offer free gym memberships, yoga classes or physiotherapy sessions to get them in tip-top shape and we’re confident they’ll be happy.
With these memberships being bought in bulk, you may be able to get a great deal from the chosen health and wellbeing facility. We recommend shopping around to find the best facilities within your budget and your employees should be satisfied with the offering.
Each of these benefits can make your employees feel significantly more valued in the workplace. This should give them the boost they need to work as hard as they can for you. Set aside your budget for incentives and pick the best ones for your business today and it should benefit your business tremendously well.
