There was a time when people thought money was the most important factor when deciding which job to choose. Although of course this is still an important factor, times have changed. Obviously, we are not saying people shouldn’t be paid for their contribution, but what we are saying is that money is not everything. More often than ever, employees are placing greater value on things like flexible working hours, paid time off, and other offerings that fall into the emotional salary category. Employee happiness is no longer solely dependant on the amount of money a company can offer their workers. Let’s dive into the topic of what a “happy employee” is and everything else that goes along with it.
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Emotional Salary
As the name suggests, an emotional salary is one that touches on emotional gains rather than monetary benefits. These can include products or services that employees value more than money (ie. 1 hour of free afternoon daycare).
There are a number of ways to answer the question, how do you increase employee happiness? But, before we get into that, let’s look at why you should care in the first place. We’ll touch on this by sharing some of the residual effects that result when a company focuses on increasing the emotional contribution for their employees:
- Psychological well being: when employees see the company caring for their personal life and needs, they tend to feel more motivated and that their work is being recognised, which ultimately, leads to reduced stress levels.
- Reconciliation: offering flexible work hours or benefits like child care helps parents balance their work and family life.
- Opportunities for self-development and improvement: talent development courses, coaching, mentoring, and learning a new skill or language provide great opportunities for an employee to improve. Employers should encourage self-improvement as much professionally as personally.
There are times when companies can’t increase employees’ salaries. This doesn’t mean the employees can’t be compensated for their hard work. The happiness of an employee goes much further than throwing more money at them.
Employee Happiness: millennials and personalised compensation
One of the main reasons companies are beginning to include emotional salaries in their retribution policies is due to the appearance of millennials in the working environment. Millennials are a generation that commonly values other forms of compensation, other than money. They are also the ones in the workforce who thrive the most in an environment that provides constant professional challenges. In addition, millennials are qualified professionals that have experience in a wide variety of areas and are no stranger to an environment of uncertainty. Collectively, millennials are the ones who sees change as something good!
Things to bear in mind if you are hiring millennial employees:
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- 60% of employees between 18 and 34 will quit their job if their boss forbid them the use of a mobile phone
- 2 /3 millennials may want to change jobs at any moment and probably will do so in less than 2 years of starting work in a new company, according to a survey by Deloitte.
Attracting new talent is complicated, more so if the positions are technical ones. For these new generations of workers, location, social benefits and flexible hours are as important as money.
With that said, retaining millennial employees is not an easy task. For this reason, companies should focus on offering these employees constant growth opportunities. A solid career plan which allows employees to expand their knowledge and scope of responsibility is key! Employees thinking about leaving an organisation aren’t usually tempted by a monetary increase of £100/month. You’re going to have to get creative if you want to retain millennial talent and decrease turnover in your company.
More and more companies have started offering benefits and compensation plans t0 their employees. Companies who offer a gym membership, health insurance or help you pay for your ‘out of the office’ meals, definitely win brownie points.
Emotional Salary Examples
Flexible Hours
Working 8 hours a day, but without a strict timetable. Employees don’t always need to be present in the office. What’s important is that employees do their job correctly. Flexible hours are especially attractive to employees with children, or caregivers of other people or even pets. Allowing your employees to work from home from time to time is no cost to the employer, but offers a huge benefit to the worker. Check out our time and attendance software to track employee hours when they work from home!
Educational Training
Offering paid out of office training to your employees is a great way to motivate them to continue learning and improving. In addition, any extra training your employees undergo ultimately benefits the company in the end.
Child care
The best way to help employees manage child care is by providing them with a little extra assistance to alleviate the stress of them having to manage on their own.
Leisure Spaces
Office conditions are important things to think about too as they directly affect the work environment. If you have space, consider setting up a leisure room for your staff. They can come to this space to relax and disconnect. Maintaining a healthy work environment is vital to the happiness of your employees.
Volunteer Jobs
Some companies offer employees extra time off when they contribute hours to volunteer for a cause. This not only helps the collective but it also provides satisfaction to the employees themselves.
Flexible Retribution
Also called personalised compensation, allows employees to choose from the services offered by the company, based on their needs.
Social Benefits
Health care, restaurant vouchers or transportation cheques paid by the company are the best way to recognise an employee’s performance and retain talent. Workers feel appreciated when they can see that their employer is focused on employee happiness.
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