In order for an employer to grow their team, they must have an understanding of the incentives that motivate individuals to lend their skill sets to a company in the first place. By comparing and analyzing recruitment ads in the Bay Area for initial incentives that encourage company commitment, to long-term perks that keep employees happy, it is clear that there are five key areas of the workplace in which an employer can optimize employee satisfaction.
Wellness
Recruitment advertising agencies in the Bay Area know that an employer’s first and foremost concern is with their employees’ safety and well-being. Safety measures and awareness of them are a legal requirement in any work space, but good employers understand how to ensure their employees are informed on their work-safe rights and feel confident. An aspect of wellness that is often neglected in workplaces is mental health and wellbeing. For this reason, it is essential for an employer to offer wellness incentives in order to exemplify a work environment that truly cares about its employees. Incentives may include:
Wellness care program
Wellness care may include free subscription access to digital tools like the headspace app, which guides users through meditation and breathing exercises in an effort to cultivate calm and healthy mindsets. Wellness care can include anything as small as an allocated office space for work breaks, to something as large as an educational program for mental health and emotional regulation tools. This kind of program could exist in the form of scheduled panels and events that employees have access to, or guest speakers who are invited into the office.
Vacation and paid time off
Rest is an important component of wellness, which is why it is important for an employer to offer allocated time off. Oftentimes, employers will offer an initial benefit package that includes two weeks of vacation time redeemable after a probationary period, with expansion each year that the employee stays with the company. This allows employees to take advantage of rest time immediately, but also incentivizes them to commit to the company in order to achieve a working relationship in which they receive additional vacation in exchange for their loyalty.
Another way to prioritize wellness is to assure employees that they will be paid in case of any emergency time they need off. This acknowledges that employees have human limits which the employer is compassionate to and willing to support. Oftentimes, an employee is allotted a certain number of paid time off days each year, in which case they have the information needed to appropriately take advantage of that time across the year as needed, without disadvantaging the employer.
Additional health care
To ensure mental wellness beyond basic health and living, an employer may consider covering costs such as reduced prescription costs, dental coverage, massage therapy and physiotherapy, psychiatry and social work, as well as free medical consultations.
Recognition
To keep employees motivated and enthusiastic about their job, it is important for an employer to recognize and express gratitude for their contributions.
Validation and acknowledgment
An employer may consider a recognition program in which an employee is rewarded for hard work— such as an employee of the month program. This validation can be expressed publicly, by using the rest of the team to acknowledge that person’s effort and therefore encourage a similar effort from others. It can also be done with monetary value, such as a gift program or bonus package. The employer should keep in mind ways to recognize every member of the team if this form of validation becomes disproportionate. An annual bonus may be another solution for acknowledging all employees.
Employee development program
Employees should not be expected to seek development entirely on their own, and rather should have access to tools for development, such as classes or seminars, or the ability to seek expertise from a more experienced employee.
Regular check-ins
In order for employees to feel truly cared for by their employer, they should have a direct line to them. If there are multiple levels of supervision in a company, an employer should check in with employees who are lower in the company hierarchy, just as much as the employees who report to them on a regular basis.
Inclusion
A diverse team of employees has many different needs, which an employer should acknowledge appropriately. A diversity and inclusion program is the best way to formally assure employees that they are cared for and prioritized. This may include acknowledgment of different cultures and religious practices, anti-racism and equality training for the workplace, as well as information about power and privilege, gender disparity, and bystander intervention training.
Inclusion also includes accessibility—a workplace should be wheelchair accessible and accommodating of various disabilities. Doing so may involve hiring support workers, inserting accessibility provisions into the office space as well as technological accommodation. If there is not an easily accessible route to the office, an employer may also consider offering a commuting service to employees.
In-office
To make the working environment as enjoyable and accommodating as possible, an employer might consider adding in-office incentives such as child care, meals, snacks, lounge space, and private space for specific circumstances (a pumping room for new mothers is an example of a specific need for privacy).
An ideal office environment will have a different meaning for different employees and prospective hires, but some general ways to optimize a space include windows, access to outdoor space, plants, comfortable seating and desk space, as well as social team orientation (a space that permits team collaboration and communication). In regard to comfort, the option for remote working and flexible scheduling may be an effective way to accommodate certain personalities, and employees who commute to work.
Financial Incentives
Outside of formalized in-contract incentives such as health benefits and salary, there are many additional contexts in which an employer can offer monetary perks. Examples include:
- Performance bonus
- Recruitment bonus for referring new hires
- Tuition reimbursement
- Grants and scholarships
- Discounted access to products and services associated with the company
- Free or discounted access to events
- Gym or fitness class membership
- Stock investment options
- Retirement plan
Recruitment advertising firms in the Bay Area know what employees really want from their employers, and what categories in which to highlight employment incentives for optimal satisfaction.
Keywords: recruitment ads bay area, recruitment advertising agencies bay area, recruitment advertising firms bay area
