In addition, with many more people seeking a greater work-life balance and their employer to offer incentives such as benefits and perks, companies must do their best to meet those demands. Those that refuse may fall behind the competition and alienate their staff.

Not only can this impact on their employee retention but it can also begin to slow down productivity. So, what incentives can companies offer to boost staff happiness, loyalty and productivity?

Financial wellbeing support

Whether it’s topical or not, support with finances is always welcome for employees. This doesn’t mean companies must start paying their staff more or give them a huge bonus to accommodate a financial crisis. However, short-term loans or increasing pay in line with inflation to help ease woes is an avenue to explore for many companies willing to support their workers.

Money worries can have a significant bearing on your mental health, whether it’s difficulties in paying your rent or mortgage or an inability to save. This can trigger feelings of anxiety and sleeping problems. But companies can financially support their employees through training programmes, inviting guest speakers to help and better pension contributions.

Private medical cover

Healthcare is a great way to provide a benefit to your staff while differentiating yourself from the competition. With the waiting list for NHS operations reportedly reaching seven million in England, it’s clear that any member of staff who needs medical care may be in for a long wait.

But offering private medical care to staff can not only help them during a health concern but also ease their worries about their health in general. With higher stress levels comes lower productivity so helping reduce this worry for staff can allow everyone to remain more focused on their jobs.

Career development

Whether we’d like to admit it or not, most people are really only doing their jobs to keep a roof over their heads, not for the love of it. But having said that, the opportunity to develop professionally is a huge motivating factor that keeps people in their jobs and with their companies.

Others may jump ship to advance their careers, and who can really blame them if the opportunities aren’t forthcoming in their existing organisation? Knowing that by applying themselves and working hard to develop their skills there are greater rewards in the form of pay rises and promotions is a great way for companies to retain staff.

Striving to create a platform for growth isn’t always easy but a start is to take an interest in your staff and ask them what their plans are in an open discussion. A job rotation system can allow staff to develop their skills and understanding, helping them achieve more senior roles. Likewise, offering training, mentoring and introducing new technology helps improve how staff feel about the company they work for.

Providing remote and hybrid work patterns

The working landscape has altered in recent years by the desire and drive for companies to adopt remote and hybrid working patterns. More and more people are working from home as they ditch their commute for added time with their families, and who can blame them?

Companies would be wise to adapt their policies to encourage remote working, particularly as those who work from home are reported to be more productive and typically work one more day per week.

It’s also what many people want, and remote working is a selling point for your business to new recruits who may be leaving a role because it’s not an option for them. Technology like cloud-based storage and task management software allows teams to stay on top of their progress while communication channels like Slack and Zoom ensure everyone stays in touch.

Encourage people to visit the office

Now that it has become the norm for people to work remotely or from home on the regular, the challenge for businesses is to get people to come into the office. With greater flexibility around working patterns, many people would rather stay at home but without laying down the law and dictating schedules, what else can a business do to get staff in the office regularly?

While statistics suggest that working from home is more productive, the workplace is an opportunity for collaboration and creating a better team ethic, so it still is an important environment. There is a risk that people become isolated if they work remotely and the office or workplace is a great way to increase social interaction and make new team members feel like a part of the team.

Mental wellbeing initiatives

Being able to give staff some headspace back is essential for maintaining their mental wellness. Mental health awareness at work initiatives can help ease stress among staff, from a mindfulness session with a professional to activities like one-to-ones or virtual show-and-tell meetings. A breakout room with some form of mindfulness activity, be it a board game station, fancy coffee machine or crafting equipment, can help take people’s minds off their work for a brief moment.

Workplace physical health improvement techniques

As important as our mental wellbeing is, companies can also help their staff feel physically better at work. From encouraging regular breaks away from their screen to engaging in a light exercise class such as yoga or Pilates, movement is essential to help make us more alert and feel more positive.

We are in danger of living sedentary lifestyles so a workplace benefit that encourages staff to be more physically well helps boost concentration and mood. By engaging in some gentle on-site leisure activities with their co-workers, employees can both relax and boost their wellbeing as well as develop stronger relationships in the workplace. It allows them the space to unwind and talk about things other than work.

Addressing low retention rates

If your business is experiencing a drop in productivity or people are leaving en masse then it’s important to look inwards at the reasons why.

Common reasons for people leaving their roles include:

• Uncompetitive salary
• Overworked and under supported
• Lack of recognition or acknowledgement
• Poor communication from management
• Underwhelming perks and benefits
• Negative company culture
• Need for a better work-life balance

Once you can identify the areas and reasons that you may be having staff performance and retention issues, you can start to rectify them with workplace initiatives and benefits.