» How to Use your Benefits as a Competitive Advantage in Recruiting

As most of you are aware, there is a large labor shortage in our market due to the pandemic and many other situations. When you look at the different industries; transportation, manufacturing, education, health care, and social assistance have been impacted the most and have the largest amount of job openings. On average these industries are filling 65% of their vacant jobs. On the last business day of August, 11.3 million jobs were open (“The Job Market is still ‘red hot’ despite recession fears, as the Great Resignation continues”, CNBC). Another contributor to this is that layoffs were near a record low but the amount quitting their jobs is significantly higher. About 4.3 million voluntarily left their jobs in May of 2022, like the previous month (“Understanding Americas Labor Shortage”, US Chamber of Commerce). This means employers cannot retain good talent and are still managing to keep the talent they usually would not which is decreasing their morale.

The questions you must ask yourself as the employer are the following.

“What is driving this?”

“What can I do in order to attain top talent?”

Driving Causes

Besides the pandemic, many other situations are driving employees to find other work. The largest topic is remote work. The Chamber of Commerce says “91% of U.S. workers hoped they could continue working some of their hours from home, and three in 10 workers signaled they would seek new employment if they were recalled to the office”. As an employer who moved remote during the pandemic you are probably feeling this pain. How can you continue your culture? Why have the overhead cost of a building when you employees work just as effectively from their home? Then you consider the commute and so forth, the argument goes both ways.

Another topic is the increase in salaries! Wages increased 6.1% in May and continue to rise due to inflation (“The Job Market is still ‘red hot’ despite recession fears, as the Great Resignation continues”, CNBC).  Your employees are leaving for jobs that are almost doubling their current salary.

Then there is the argument that people are just not working.

So how can you as employer attain this top talent?

Attaining Talent

Benefits are usually the conversation you have during the onboarding process, that’s what we have seen in the past. However, what if we changed the conversation and made your benefits a competitive advantage in the recruiting market. Imagine on top of having a competitive salary you can sit with that much wanted candidate and go through your benefits that had a $0 copay for Primary Care Visits, free telehealth visits, and a high-end wellness program on top of a gym membership advantage. Not only are you presenting a cultural advantage, but this could be the reason they are in the job market and the salary is no longer as important.

Studies show that employees feel more valued when their company values their health, whether it is mental, emotional, or physical. Market this in your interviews, money may not be what that great candidate is looking for.

Another marketing advantage is saying your benefits reflect your companies’ values. You can do this through adding fertility benefits or inclusive benefits for all families. This could catch the eye of just the team member you want. However, if you feel like your benefits do not reflect your values than maybe this is a time to reflect and revaluate your current plans.

With this market you must be creative, the younger generations look for experience not just money so if you want to build that culture you have to find a way to stick out from your competitors so you can retain that top talent.

Please Reach out or set up a time to discuss further! – Eleanor Schroeder

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Posted by John Hansbrough in Behavioral Health, Economy, Employee Benefits, Fertility, Health Insurance, Human Resources, Mental Health, News, Telehealth, Wellness