What Do Employees Value the Most? 19 Studies Told Us This

What do Employees Value the Most?

We compiled a short list of 10 popular benefits that are valued most by employees and job seekers. We want to compare what employees really want to what their employers think they want.

Green: Definitely think about implementing this idea into your company

Yellow: It would be nice….think about doing it in the future

Red: Stay away!

Opportunity to Grow in the Workplace

2,000 Americans who are full-time employees were surveyed to find out what they think the most important benefits are.  The highest benefit being professional growth opportunities at 25% and the next was flexible work schedules at 23%.

Flexible Hours

A study published by Deloitte shows that making the switch to offering flexible work hours doesn’t require much of an adjustment and is one of the top ways for employees to sustain good work/life balance.

Positives:

• Increased employee engagement and commitment to the company.
• Increased attendance and reduced tardiness

Higher Salary

Not only can your business not always afford to pay your employees more, it may actually hurt your business long term.  Giving new employees raises, may backfire and cause trouble with longer serving staff members.

• Replacing employees could cost an estimated 90% to 200% of their annual salary

You also want a workforce that wants to be there because they like your company and the mission behind it, not just because you pay well.  If the only thing you have to offer your team is a pay raise they will be more focused on their salary rather than the quality of their work.

Why increase pay when there are so many other cheaper options to keep them motivated and boost employee retention?

Option to Work from Home

Gallup published a study on how a flexible work schedule and working from home actually plays a large role in whether or not an employee wants to take a job.  

• Working from home influences job seekers, especially millennials (68%).
• Turnover rates fall by more than 50% when employers offer a work from home option.

Unlimited Vacation

Unlimited Vacation, or just more vacation time, saves employers money.

Implementing an unlimited time-off policy can actually save companies $1,898 per employee and research shows that most of these companies do not experience an increase in vacation time being used.

A study by Glassdoor, “50 HR and Recruiting Statistics for 2017”, showed that out of a list of 54 benefits, the highest correlation with employee satisfaction had Health Insurance ranked at #1 and Vacation/PTO ranked at #2.

Recognition / A Sense of Purpose

Employees want to feel valued for their hard work.

• Only 25% of workers feel like they are being recognized for their hard work (16 percent drop from the previous year).  
• 39% of employees stated that not getting recognition for their work was their main reason for wanting to leave their current job.

Recognition and sense of purpose can also be exhibited in whether or not employees, especially millennials, are receiving some kind of mentorship.

• 50% of millennials want to continue learning through their work by receiving training and development.
• 28% of employees report that the most memorable recognition, leading to increased engagement, comes from a direct manager.

Exceptional Company Culture (employee outings, bonding events)

Quality is measured by the amount of collaboration, work environment and the alignment between the companies mission and values.

• Only 24% of employees feel connected to their colleagues despite it being the #1 thing they like about their job
• Almost 50% of employees start looking for a job when companies have a poor culture.
• When companies have a strong culture, the quality rating of the company increases by 20%.

Healthcare Benefits (better health, dental and vision insurance)

Providing employees with healthcare actually saves you money.

Disease management programs showed a greater benefit to employees than lifestyle management programs and were able to generate $136 per month in savings per employee.

These programs are beneficial because they help promote a happy, healthy, and productive work environment.  Most health promotion programs have actually been proven to yield a $3 to $6 ROI for every dollar spent.

Perks (free coffee, snacks, on-site gym, yoga classes, parking, paid transportation)

According to Glassdoor’s 2017:

• Nearly 80% of employees would prefer new/additional benefits to a pay raise
• Women (82%) are more likely to prefer new/additional benefits compared to men (76%)
• While 90% of millennials say they would prefer benefits over a pay increase

Development of Skills

Training your employees shouldn’t stop after orientation. Employees should constantly be learning and advancing their skills.

Training and development opportunities should be implemented in every business considering, 46% of employees cited they were bored in their current position because they haven’t been learning any new skills.  

Being able to keep your employees engaged and continually learning, will not only increase retention but also develop the next set of leaders at your company.

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When interacting with your co-workers, there will always be those few people that display the worst when it comes to bad practices and personalities.