Login

The top four benefits employees are demanding in 2023

In today’s highly competitive job market, a comprehensive benefits package is one of the most powerful ways you can set your business apart from others. Finding out what the most popular benefits are, what your competitors offer, and most importantly, what your own employees need, is key. We look at some of the current trends in employee benefits in 2023 and how you can tailor a package to attract the best people to your team and keep them there for longer.

Why do employee benefits matter? 

The tight labour market is posing a major talent acquisition challenge for HR leaders and business owners in 2023.

For employees, rising mortgages, escalating rents, higher grocery bills and the increased cost of running a car are top of mind. Being part of a healthy workplace culture, and having access to flexible and remote work and meaningful wellbeing programs are equally pressing concerns.

Unfortunately, as an employer, managing a business during tough economic times can involve cutting expenditure and operating under a tighter budget. This means that you need to “do more with less” and come up with innovative and affordable ways to meet employee needs that go beyond simply increasing pay.

Benefits like salary packaging, car leases, goods and services discounts and access to financial and health-related wellbeing programs can go a long way to provide employees with a way to ease economic burdens and improve their lifestyles.

What benefits are job-seekers and employees looking for in 2023? 

We look at a range of benefits that are sought after by employees, are easy for you to create and administer, and come at little or no added cost to your business.

1. Salary packaging

Salary packaging or salary sacrificing gives your employees access to phones, motor vehicles, work related insurances, entertainment, portable electronic devices, self-education and retail discounts (to name just a few potential benefits) by way of a pre-tax deduction.

Research shows that the demand for salary packaging is on the rise. In fact, when EY and Flare surveyed 7,000 Aussie workers, they found that three quarters would take up a financial benefit like salary packaging if it was offered. 

Owning a car is one of Australians’ biggest household expenses, and offering a car salary packaging benefit through a novated lease gives your employees a way to free up disposable income without costing your business. 

With fuel, registration, insurance, and maintenance included, car salary packaging offers a cost-effective way for employees to finance their vehicles and manage ongoing expenses with pre-tax dollars and lessen their tax liability as a result. 

On average, Flare leaseholders have saved a substantial sum of $6,000 a year in tax and car running costs*. An added benefit is that they can choose a car to suit their budget, whether it’s new, used or one of the latest models of hybrid or electric vehicles (EVs).

As Flare customer Healius has found, novated leasing can also give staff a compelling reason to join or stay with you. The business is currently experiencing a retention rate of 98% for employees with a Flare novated lease as part of their salary package.  

2. Discount and wellbeing employee benefits

Discounts on products and services, especially ones that your employees already regularly buy, can help with weekly shopping budgets and make their pay packets go further.

An employee discount scheme isn’t only a welcome money saver for your staff, but it also allows you to provide valuable benefits without having to shoulder additional costs or pay anything out-of-pocket.

Flare offers a free benefits and perks platform for your entire workforce, giving them access to cheaper groceries and petrol, clothing and electronics, and entertainment and leisure activities from a whole host of Aussie retailers and wellbeing brands.

3. Remote access to employee benefits 

Pandemic-related pressures have led to a very different way of working in 2023 with more and more Australians joining the ranks of hybrid, remote, or geographically flexible employees.

Importantly, how you make benefits available in these circumstances can affect the success of your program. Customised mobile and app-based HR solutions are saving the day by giving workers flexible options whether they’re in the office or away from it.

Skout Solutions is one employer using the Flare app to engage a diverse team that’s constantly on the go. “You can always put out an email with information about your benefits package, but our teams are often on the move, so we needed to find a way to make the information available at employees’ fingertips,” says Jac Dircks, Operational Analyst at Skout Solutions.

“I get a lot of positive feedback about the discounts and rewards that are available. Keeping the cost of living down by having a discount on everyday items makes a big difference for staff in the long run,” she adds.

4. Personalised employee benefits

Programs that offer only a few core benefits with limited appeal are being replaced with ones that provide a more aware, multigenerational workforce with truly useful and meaningful options.

In fact, the best perks packages that you can offer your employees should be designed with personalisation in mind and based on the unique wants and needs of a diverse employee pool.

Flare’s free benefit solution gives your employees choice with hundreds of discounts at over 9,000 locations across Australia and pre-tax savings on salary packaging, so there’s something of value for everyone.

Businesses can even add their own benefits to the app and employers like Skout Solutions have customised further by adding specific benefits like leave, EAP and events.

How to use benefits to attract and retain top talent

Forward-thinking recruitment and retention strategies are essential as job seekers continue to have leverage in a tight job market. 

A comprehensive benefits package can be one of the best and most cost-effective strategies to position yourself as an employer of choice and provide your employees with options they will value.

Learn more about how Flare can give you the edge in attracting and retaining top talent to your team through personalised and meaningful salary and benefits packages.

How to compete for top talent on pay and benefits

Flare’s own Liz Crawford shares her top tips for SMEs looking to create an attractive pay and benefits package to compete for top talent.

At a glance

  • Employees want increased flexibility, authenticity, workplace wellbeing and a competitive pay package.
  • Remuneration isn’t everything if you’re overspending on an employee who might be the wrong fit.
  • Don’t sell yourself short as a smaller business. You have a lot to offer that larger companies can’t compete with, including offering employees better promotion opportunities and more exposure to business mechanisms.
  • Financial benefits are a great way to save you and your employees’ money, and can also tie into your employee value proposition.
  • A comprehensive benefits package allows you to match benefits to employees’ needs to compete with larger organisations.

Post-COVID-19, employee expectations have changed. Flexibility, which used to be a nice-to-have, is now a must, with some people believing they work more efficiently at home, while others value not having to commute.

There has also been a movement toward workplace wellbeing. While COVID-19 played a part in this shift, wellness had been becoming more significant for the past 10 years.

It’s more important than ever to embrace authenticity and allow people to bring their whole selves to work. That means you need managers who are trained to see people as individuals with their own strengths, weaknesses, needs, ways of interacting and preferences for communication.

People want to be compensated fairly, but once that bar is met, they look to other parts of your EVP.

The great job boom

Coupled with these changing needs and wants, we saw the hiring market transform at the tail end of 2021. Competition for candidates translated into higher salary expectations, meaning businesses needed to work out how to respond through hiring practices.

At Flare, our intention is for candidates to feel valued and for employees to be remunerated fairly, and to ensure we’re recruiting and retaining people at the right level. To do that, you need to understand a candidate’s current level of performance and their potential and use both as a lens to look at salary trends.

Ensuring candidates are aligned with your values is also key – and can give you an edge in hiring the right people. We strive for more for both ourselves and our customers, and that is also a core component of our employee value proposition (EVP). Flare employees get the opportunity to work on interesting problems with modern tools and technology, collaborating with smart people who have the same mindset. In other words – we offer development opportunities and meaningful work. 

For many, that’s more important than remuneration – or at least it’s less of a given. People want to be compensated fairly, but that bar can be met by many potential employers (and, as we have seen recently, can be raised within a day). Once that bar is met to their satisfaction, they look to other parts of your EVP, such as the experience they will have every day working with you.

Smart businesses find people who are a great fit for their organisations. For example, because we’re a growing start-up, we look for employees with a growth mindset. You don’t want someone in a role that may not be right for them – that’s a losing proposition for both sides

Competing on growth

There is much to gain from working at a smaller company – and much of it isn’t related to remuneration.

At many start-ups and scale-ups, you get as much responsibility as you can handle. If your employees are up to taking on more, support them in that endeavour and recognise their development. That’s much harder to do at a larger company, where there is often a hierarchy involved in who runs what, and there are several people competing for the next promotion – so in your recruitment and interviews, tell the stories of the people who have learned, developed and grown in your organisation.

Smaller businesses and scale-ups also offer the opportunity to be much closer to all levels of the business – such as senior leadership, other departments, and the overall business strategy.

When you add a comprehensive financial benefits program into the equation, you have a nice EVP offering to compete with larger organisations. 

For example, salary packaging is one of the greatest financial benefits a worker can get, providing employees with tax deductions that could save them thousands each year.

Other financial benefits such as discounts or access to special programs make people feel like they’re getting something extra from working at the business that they couldn’t get otherwise. And those savings often punch above their weight in sentiment – a few dollars here and there off specific purchases) feels like a boon.

I use our discounts to buy Woolworths gift cards, for example – not only do I save a little bit on the weekly grocery shop, but I’m also reminded every week when I shop for my family that we’re getting something a little bit extra from my employer.

We all spend our money differently, of course – I might be concerned about how much I spend at the supermarket, whereas someone else might value a discount of flights for their next holiday, or discounted fitness classes.

Targeting your benefits program

Whether you’re in a large organisation with a team of people working on your benefits program, or a smaller business with a sole HR director who also produces employment contracts and runs payroll, customisation of a benefits program is essential to ensure it matches your EVP.

If one of your EVP components is caring about people by treating them as individuals, providing flexibility and helping them grow, but you have no benefits offering – that’s not telling a cohesive story. 

When you combine a fair salary and a great benefits offering with an authentic expression of who you are as a business and what you can do for your employees, you’re putting your best foot forward in the market.

Learn more about hiring trends, the limits of remuneration and the financial perks that save you and your employees money. Download the ebook: Win the race for talent: How to revolutionise your EVP.

Media Release: Australians change jobs seeking better workplace benefits as the ‘great resignation’ takes hold

Australians are demanding more control over their pay and benefits amid mounting post-pandemic financial stress, with a new study confirming the global ‘Great Resignation’ phenomenon has arrived on our shores.
 

Professional services organisation Ernst & Young, Australia (EY) has collaborated with leading Australian pay and benefits platform Flare to survey 7,000 employees across the Australian economy over January–March 2022. The research findings have revealed a workforce with limited access to benefits or products that support financial wellbeing, and who are leaving their employers as their expectations change post-pandemic:

  • Workers are demanding greater control over their pay and benefits: 55% report COVID-19 lockdowns have changed what they expect from an employer.
  • Financial wellbeing accounted for over 50% of resignations in this period.
  • Just one in three Australian employees has access to a benefits program; yet those who do believe that it meaningfully improves their pay package and financial wellbeing—and makes them less likely to leave their jobs.
  • Over three quarters wish to take up key financial benefits like salary packaging.
 

Cashflow and payroll timing are also revealed as key financial stress factors for workers:

  • Australian workers have become the largest creditors in the economy: only half are paid weekly, and one in four report being paid late—resulting in extended periods where employees are without the pay they are owed.
  • 7 in 10 Australians are living paycheck-to-paycheck, with less than $5,000 in savings and an inability to meet their financial needs in an emergency.

 

Despite these escalating cashflow issues, 7 in 10 employees report they would never ask for a pay advance, choosing instead to take on debt to meet their cashflow needs:

  • Two in three have turned to credit cards to meet their spending needs; on average, they are now nearly $3,000 in debt.
  • One in five has used a personal loan or mortgage drawdown for a vital purchase.
  • Two in three wait until payday to make important purchases.

 

The analysis notes significant merit in employers adopting benefits programs that are accessible, dynamic and go beyond a static intranet—including the option to access pay on-demand without charging interest or fees, and where value is driven by other perks like affiliate partnerships or access to a broad range of financial wellness resources.

EY Oceania Fintech Leader May Lam said, ‘What is clear from this new data is that there is a significant workforce shift underway post-pandemic. In this environment, employers of all sizes have an imperative to review the financial and personal benefits they are offering to employees, or risk being left behind as others adapt.’

Flare Co-Founder and Co-CEO James Windon said, ‘This new data reveals the balance of power in the Australian workforce has shifted towards employees. Workers are coming to expect more from their benefits: nobody should have to pay to get paid.’

‘Employers can no longer provide a static intranet and expect to retain staff. The reality for most workers is that they’re not in an office every day: they’re remote or on their feet, and need financial resources in their hands, on their smartphone,’ Windon said.

‘Flare has listened to employees, and we’re proud to be launching Australia’s first pay and benefits app available to any business for free – letting workers take employee experience into their own hands. It’s our goal to equip businesses of all sizes to compete for top talent with the resources of ASX50 companies, right across the economy.’

The Flare & EY Whitepaper ‘Pay in the new economy’, can be accessed here.

About Flare

Sydney-based fintech Flare is Australia’s leading benefits platform and pay technology provider. Flare serves over a million employees—including a quarter of Australian workers starting jobs each year; and is integrated into the leading HRIS, time-and-attendance and payroll software suites.

The new Flare App and Card are available for free to businesses of any size, and bring Flare’s full suite of benefits into the hands of employees, at the centre of employee engagement:

  • The Flare Card gives employees the option to access their wages in real time for free—without incurring any fees, charges or interest.
  • Free access to a competitive suite of perks, discounts and wellness resources from leading Australian retailers and service providers.
  • Access to valuable salary packaging services to save on tax—including novated car leasing, a tax structure that saves car owners thousands of dollars per year on average.
  • Better engagement with your superannuation savings—the largest benefit available to most Australians.
  • Flare has partnered with Westpac, Australia’s oldest bank, to provide a full banking-as-a-service experience to employees within their workplace—launching later this year.

The Flare App and Card are rolling out now to early-access partners and will be available to the remainder of the Flare network over the course of 2022

About EY

The EY Technology and Consulting practice supports organisations as they initiate or undergo major transformations. Capabilities span end-to-end solution implementation services from consulting, strategy and architecture, to production deployment.

Media contact:
Harry Godber
0438 997 298

Australians are demanding more control over their pay and benefits amid mounting post-pandemic financial stress, with a new study confirming the global ‘Great Resignation’ phenomenon has arrived on our shores.