What does a good company benefits package look like?

Whether you want to attract better candidates to your organisation, or simply want to do all you can to keep hold of the employees you currently have, putting together a good benefits package is an important step. 
 

A company benefits package can contain all sorts of benefits. 
 

They can include financial benefits like:
 

• Genuinely competitive salaries
• Extended holiday entitlement 
• Enhanced pensions
• Generous sick pay
• Generous maternity/paternity leave
• Extra holiday buying schemes 
   

They can also include health benefits like:
 

• Health insurance & life assurance 
• Cycle to work scheme 
• Gym membership 
• Mental health or duvet days 
• Menopause leave
   

They can also include education benefits like:
 

• Funding for qualifications 
• Useful training opportunities 
   

They can also include extra perks like:
 

• Company days out 
• Social events
• Free food and drink 
• Staff parties 
   

However, some companies fall into the trap of prioritising ‘fun’ perks over genuinely useful benefits. 
 

Staff benefits package: Knowing your employees

One thing to remember is that employee benefits packages should be relevant to your employees. Offering a cycle to work scheme is hardly likely to be helpful to people who are looking for remote opportunities, for example. 
 

Likewise, if the salary or company culture isn’t right, offering fresh fruit in the office simply isn’t going to cut it. 
 

When it comes to curating benefits packages, we often advise clients to steer clear of the more attention-grabbing perks and focus on getting the fundamentals right. 
 

The best workplaces provide genuinely competitive salaries and create a supportive work culture, with opportunities for development. Anything above that is a bonus, but offering the perks and not providing the fundamentals of a good benefits package is a no-go. 
 

Which benefits packages should I offer?

There are a number of ways to deliver employee benefits. Some companies create tailor-made benefits packages, while others use pre-set schemes. 
 

Ultimately, this will be down to you based on your knowledge of your employees and the type of industry that you work in. 
 

Employee benefits package example

Putting together an employee benefits package doesn’t need to be complicated. It can be as minimal or as comprehensive as you would like to it be. 
 

First, start with the basics. 
 

Conduct a salary survey to understand what competitors in your industry are paying for employees of similar skills and experience. One of the easiest ways to do this is to speak with an experienced recruiter like Eden Scott. 
 

Then, gauge how much holiday entitlement you can provide. If your company cannot afford to offer beyond the statutory minimum for annual leave, then do not advertise annual leave as a company benefit. We see many companies doing this in their job descriptions and it will only frustrate potential applicants. 
 

Then, consider additional benefits
 

It’s a good idea to poll existing employees about the benefits that they would like to receive. Try gauging what benefits are most important to them - for example, they might value better mat/pat leave over a gym membership. 
 

Or, they might want the reassurance of private health insurance for their whole family rather than receiving funding for training opportunities. 
 

You might end up with a list like this:
 

• £40,000 annual salary
• One week extra annual leave allowance 
• Comprehensive private health insurance 
• Cycle to work scheme
   

OR
 

• £35,000 annual salary 
• Fully funded training opportunities 
• Extended maternity/paternity leave
• Enhanced pension scheme 
   

What not to list as an employee benefit 

While many things a company provides employees can be considered beneficial, they shouldn’t all be listed as a benefit on a job description. Why? Because they are so standardised that they do little to differentiate you from competitors.
 

Here are things that shouldn’t be listed as benefits:
 

1. Standard annual leave entitlement 
 

Everyone is entitled to 28 days of annual leave, so listing 28 days’ annual leave as a benefit is redundant.
 

2. Flexible working 

While flexible working is important, this is now commonly expected by employees. While you can feel free to refer to flexible working in job descriptions, focussing on it as a primary benefit might make you seem old fashioned. 
 

3. ‘Fun’ perks

Free tea and coffee or fresh fruit is simply not enough to entice somebody to work for you. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with offering this, offering anything that belongs in the ‘fun perks’ category when the fundamentals haven’t been taken care of will put people off your company. 
 

Company benefits package: Final thoughts

We hope you feel more empowered to offer relevant and current employee benefits packages to your team and new recruits. 
 

Next steps 

Want to know more about the current salaries in your industry? Get in touch with Eden Scott.