7 awesome employee perks your team will love in 2022

If there’s one way to guarantee you keep your staff happy and attract great new talent to your team, it’s offering the right salary – and decent benefits and perks.

But what types of perks are going to get them really interested? A whizbang coffee machine in the kitchen? Complimentary parking spots? Free gym memberships? More super? Well, we’re glad you asked. Here are 7 employee perks gaining popularity among companies looking to recruit in 2022 – and are sure to be a hit with your staff.

1. Flexible working

In numerous surveys (including our Feel Good Index Report 2022) flexibility is a huge priority, especially post-Covid. So how can you offer it if you’re a hospitality or retail business? Schedule flexibility is part of it – allowing shift swapping or workers to choose preferred shifts enables staff to accommodate changes in their schedules and gives them a sense of control over scheduling and the work environment. Research shows it’ll also lead to better retention.

2. Health insurance

Health insurance premiums are ever-increasing these days, and it’s a chunk of change every month that people have to budget for. So why not offer to bundle a corporate health insurance policy into a salary package? If this is something you can offer as a tangible benefit, it’ll increase the money in your employees’ pockets. A knock-on effect is that it may reduce absenteeism, as staff don’t have to worry about the financial implications of seeking medical treatment, and they can deal with potential health issues before they become more serious.

3. Wellbeing programs

Lots of companies are making it a priority to build a resilient, healthy workforce – and show employees that they care about their mental and physical health. To that end, you might create corporate wellbeing programs that offer resources and benefits to employees to support their health endeavours. That might include access to counsellors, stress relief programs or offering subsidised fitness memberships.

4. Extra superannuation

Building a robust retirement fund is a huge priority for job-seekers these days, and they may look more favourably on companies that have done the legwork to offer employees a fund that works hard for its members. You could even go one step further and offer extra super to your employees. Companies are required by law to pay the superannuation guarantee (which is 10.5% as of July 2022), but if you offer an extra percent or two, you’ll be making a big difference to your staff’s futures – and this perk could make it easier to recruit and keep staff.

5. Additional annual leave

Offering extra annual leave – or even unlimited leave to all your employees – is a perk many companies are considering. Marketing agency Bastion Collective gives employees who’ve been with them 3 years or more unlimited leave, and consultancy Inventium offers it as well. Both companies told News.com.au that the policy hasn’t been abused – at Bastion, no one has taken more than an additional 10 days of leave since the policy came into effect, and at Inventium, staff take an average of five and a half weeks per year, instead of the usual four.

6. On-site childcare

It sounds like a dream, right? Being able to simply drive to work with your child and drop them at a quality childcare centre run by the company you work for. And it’s a reality at many large Australian companies including the ABC, Westpac, Optus and American Express. If you’re in a position to offer this perk, it’s a great way to show your support in helping parents get back into the workforce and assisting them with the often eye-watering costs of paying childcare for their little ones.

7. Training and personal development

This comes up again and again in our Feel Good Index Report – and this year it came second in a list of things that are important to job-seekers. Why? Because the world of work is changing, automation is tipped to take many jobs (and create new ones) and job-seekers know they need to upskill and train to future-proof their careers. If you can facilitate that and offer relevant on-the-job training and a budget for personal development, you’re offering staff real value.

Want more stats and facts on what’s keeping employees happy at work?

Download our 2022 Frontline Feel Good Index Report or get in touch with a member of our team!