As millions of Americans continue to retire or otherwise opt out of participating in the workforce, companies are scrambling to secure a share of the best and brightest of those who remain. Clearly, continuing to offer the same compensation and perks in the midst of a fundamental realignment of the labor force won’t cut it. At the same time, few companies can afford to simply throw money at the problem and boost compensation and benefits across the board.
Meeting the Diverse Needs of Individual Employees
Enter: “bespoke perks,” which are benefits that are individually crafted for individual employee as opposed to blanket policies covering an entire workforce. In an article for BBC Worklife, Bryan Lufkin cites multiple employment and business experts who argue that the future of employee benefits may be personalized or “bespoke” benefits packages that are closely tailored to the needs of individual employees.
Lufkin points to Anthony Klotz, an associate professor of management at Texas A&M University, who says, “Instead of one-size-fits-all development programmes, companies have begun investing time and resources into co-crafting bespoke career paths with individual workers.”
Big Benefit from Bespoke Benefits
The benefits and logistics of bespoke perks are worth considering.
In terms of benefits, catering perks to the specific needs and preferences of individual employees can be an economical way to attract and retain talent. Why give every worker 2 months of paid vacation if it’s not particularly important to some of them, for example? Additionally, catering benefits to specific workers is a great way to demonstrate that the company has taken the time to learn what they want and is willing to provide it for them.
On the logistics side, individualized benefits require a personal approach to benefits management. This means managers need to work closely with HR teams to ensure the perks offered to employees actually reflect the perks those employees value the most.
As companies continue to experience the impacts of a nationwide labor shortage, each individual employee and candidate becomes all the more valuable. It makes logical sense, then, that individualized benefits packages may be a sound strategy for attracting and retaining the best-available talent.
Lin Grensing-Pophal is a Contributing Editor at HR Daily Advisor.