Support for employees with rising costs
Keeping abreast with current affairs over the last few years has been depressing to say the least, and I’m not ashamed to say that in a bid to protect my mental health somewhat I’ve been avoiding consuming too much mass media. (Let’s face it – life can be tough enough without having to constantly hear about the pandemic, wars, corrupt politicians etc.) It’s very hard, however, to ignore the horrendous economic crisis that we are facing right now, and if you’re an employer you’ve been undoubtedly thinking about rising costs for both your business and your employees.
When fuel costs were set to increase beyond all reasonable belief, some employers started to offer support to their employees. John Lewis, for example, are issuing a £500 payment to full time staff and have engaged in other supportive measures such as offering free meals and interest free loans (Williams, 2022; and Butler, 2022). Hays Travel have also set up a new initiative that sees all employees part of a monthly prize draw, where prizes have included paying an employee’s mortgage and bill payments for 6 months (Ford, 2022). These companies aren’t on their own, a recent survey undertaken by PwC found that 83% of large companies are taking action to try and support employees with the continual rising cost of living (Cave, 2022).
All of this is, of course, easier to offer when you’re a large organisation – but what about smaller businesses who may want to try and offer something to make a difference? What could you look to do to support employees and try to keep engagement high when the wider climate is incredibly challenging? Below are a few ideas:
1. Consider facilitating a salary review – This is perhaps an obvious option, but with costs rising as they are it may be time to consider reviewing salaries. Not only do you want to ensure your organisation is competitive by offering salaries that appropriately recognise the skills and responsibilities held by your employees to attract the best candidates for vacancies; but you also want to retain your best talent and salary is a huge driver for people right now. With the “great resignation” continuing and people re-evaluating what’s important to them, failing to pay appropriately could have a significant impact on your retention figures. Don’t wait for staff to come to you with offers from other organisations before you acknowledge their talent by paying them what they’re worth.
2. Think about meaningful bonuses – Could you help bump up employee pay by implementing a bonus scheme of some sort? There’s a whole host of ways in which a bonus scheme could bring about positive change for the organisation. You could link bonuses to overall company profit, thereby incentivising everyone to think about the bigger picture and appreciate the part they play in achieving the wider aims of the business. Alternatively, you could consider linking bonuses specifically to the achievement of objectives as part of personal performance reviews. If implemented right, not only can this drive business performance but it could also have a huge impact on employee income.
3. Offer perks – Are you part of a cycle to work scheme? Do you facilitate employee discounts at local/national stores? There are a number of ways that you could support employees by offering them access to a variety of perks. A cycle to work scheme, or joining in with a discount scheme, is optional and a tax efficient way for employees to get discounts from their favourite stores. Every little helps!
4. Stock the fridges – Whether it’s subsidised tea and coffee facilities or access to a buffet lunch once per week, another way in which you could consider supporting employees is by offering them access to paid refreshments. Yes, there may be contention around people using the tea/coffee milk supply for their breakfast cereal, and yes you will need to think about dietary requirements, but with the cost of living increasing any offer of this nature may be well received.
5. Trial a 4 day working week/allow more hybrid and flexible working options – While not an obvious one, this could have big benefits for employer and employees alike. A number of companies have entered into a trial enabling employees to work a 4 day week without seeing a reduction in salary. At the half way mark, 86% of respondents note that they’re likely or very likely to continue with the arrangement beyond the trial period. Respondents have also noted an increase in productivity (Ledsom, 2022). Trailing a working arrangement like this one can support with the cost of living crisis if staff are able to offset childcare costs or costs for other caring responsibilities that they’d otherwise have. The modern workforce is changing, and people don’t necessarily want strict working patterns – they want to be able to do their own work in their own way. While this won’t be suitable for every organisation (e.g. those working shifts in a manufacturing environment can’t suddenly decide to work at an alternative time, nor would they have the resources to work from home); it might be an interesting option to consider for some.
6. Implement an employee assistance program (EAP)/subsidised Health and Wellbeing options – The pandemic has had a profound impact on so many people, and demands on the health service right now are at an all time high. If you’re able to, why not consider signing up to an EAP to give your employees access to mental health support, and assistance with other holistic concerns? Waiting times for NHS funded mental health provision is high, and facilitating something like this privately is very costly. If you’re able to support employees in this way, it can have a huge impact not only on their mental health, but also on your business as a result.
7. Evaluate your travel policy and arrangements – Do you have a lot of staff who have to travel for work? Do you offer subsidised vehicle purchases, and is your rate for business mileage keeping up with the cost of fuel? Evaluating your existing policies and processes in this area will ensure that they’re fit for purpose and don’t leave staff worse off for undertaking work related travel.
If you’re considering implementing something to support your staff, you may want to think about conducting a survey first to ensure that any proposed benefits will have a real impact and make a difference. Offering more flexible working opportunities wouldn’t be seen as a benefit to a workforce who all want to come in and work from the office rather than paying to heat their own homes. Equally, a cycle to work scheme and shopping discounts may not be seen as a benefit if you operate out of a really remote location where the majority of people need to drive to work and couldn’t easily access retail parks. While you won’t be able to please everyone, a poll of some sort will help you to ensure that your offer has a meaningful impact.
It goes without saying that none of these suggestions are free to an employer, but many of these employee benefits would act as an “invest to save” with employers seeing increased engagement, better productivity, increased profits and better retention statistics as a result. I don’t believe it’s the responsibility of employers to counteract the difficult times that their workforce are going through, but if you’re able do anything to try and help not only will your staff be grateful – but you’ll also likely reap the benefits!
I’d love to hear your thoughts – what, if anything, have you been doing to support your employees during this difficult time?