Small business owners often struggle to compete with large corporations to attract top talent. While salary can be a deciding factor, they can do a few things to be more attractive to job candidates. Today’s workforce cares about purpose, work/life balance, and personal growth.
Many small and midsize businesses use creative perks to attract and keep talent. Non-financial benefits can spur people to choose one job over another, even if the pay is slightly less. For smaller firms, this offers an opportunity to create non-salary strategies that build a loyal and skilled team without going into the red.
The best creative non-salary compensation ideas come from what employees want most. Start by surveying talent to find out what they love, hate, and could change for the better. Data-driven decisions are more powerful than following what other companies do. Here are six fun and inexpensive ways small businesses can offer perks that draw in top-tier talent without spending a fortune.
1. Flexible Schedules
The pandemic showed people they should embrace what’s most important in life—time with family and work-life balance. Five years later, employers are finding people still want results-only work environments (ROWEs) and the trust to complete tasks autonomously.
Approximately 15% of civilian employees have access to a flexible work schedule. Since the percentage is still low, organizations can utilize the opportunity to offer scheduling adjustments, which could be pretty attractive to those continuing their education alongside work or serving as caregivers to children or elderly parents.
Flexible scheduling is low-cost for employers and may result in lower absenteeism. Leaders should establish clear guidelines around flexibility to prevent being taken advantage of. For example, your staff should put in a certain number of hours daily and inform their department heads about availability. Knowing the needs of each employee ensures an offer that matches their lifestyle.
2. Company Culture Events
Experienced employees may have been in toxic workplaces and now seek something more upbeat. Focusing on events that build a sense of well-being and teamwork may be what these individuals are looking for.
Add free lunch on Fridays or after-hours events where staff can get to know each other better. Let workers have a few hours each week to focus on something they’re passionate about, be it a personal project, wellness retreat, or brainstorming solutions to problems they face in their current roles.
The cost for each event will be minimal, covering only food, supplies, and time off. Teams that socialize are often more productive and have higher job satisfaction. A WebMD study found that workers aged 18 to 44 are likely to stay with an organization because of the people they work with. Even occasional zero-budget team-building endeavors may have retention benefits.
3. Profit Sharing and Performance Incentives
When businesses start or go through a rapid growth spurt, they may not have the funds to pay higher salaries than big corporations. However, they can offer a non-standard salary package. Profit-sharing and performance bonuses show employees how their hard work pays off. They’ll have a direct stake in whether the business succeeds, turning them into partners more than staff members.
One survey revealed that 71% of private companies offer short-term incentive plans, with profit-sharing being among the most popular. These perks align employee performance with company goals. Leadership can also adjust the bonuses based on revenue. Instead of committing to a fixed salary increase, managers promise a reward if everyone meets their targets.
Each company chooses what it gives back in profit sharing. Typical amounts are 3% to 7% based on tenure or rank and what the brand can afford. Profit sharing may result in lower churn and higher output. Workers want to see the results of helping the entire team succeed, so they will put in more effort.
4. Professional Learning Stipends
Another way to spread out the cost of benefits is to offer professional development through tuition reimbursement or by paying for specialized training. Talent sees this as investing in them as individuals and are more likely to remain with a company that invests in their growth.
Offering learning pathways shows a commitment to the long-term well-being of workers. Employers should personalize each learning pathway rather than creating a vague program based on the employee’s role, goals, and interests. Offer the benefit by creating an annual budget for each staff member. Part of the budget can go to lunch-and-learn sessions and knowledge sharing. The other part can go to tuition reimbursement or workshops.
Depending on the offer, the cost can start as low as a few hundred dollars and go up to thousands. Most organizations put a cap on the amount they’ll spend, covering a certain number of credit hours at a local community college or offering in-house workshops that they can better control the costs of. Over time, the knowledge growth kept internally will result in higher profits and job satisfaction.
5. Home Office Subsidies
Many workers want remote and hybrid options before they take on a new role. Leadership can offer stipends for office equipment or reimburse costs for ergonomic office chairs or technology upgrades, such as installing fiber-optic cables. It can also provide or reimburse for standard items like noise-canceling headphones and external monitors.
Investing in home office setups can also ensure brands keep their databases secure from hackers. Around 98% of the security breaches reported in 2023 were due to negligence or carelessness, so investing in training and security setup for at-home benefits them and the company.
Expect to pay as much as $600 for a basic setup and invest in tech refreshes occasionally. Remote workers can be much more productive without the distractions of office conversation and constant interruptions. Investing in at-home office setups may benefit the organization through higher productivity and better work-life balance for staff.
6. Non-Standard PTO
Today’s younger staff are more aware of how fast time passes and want those extra days to take a vacation, visit with family, or follow their passions. Small businesses can offer a few options to embrace the growing trend of unlimited PTO without giving so many days that it harms a smaller firm’s productivity.
For example, the company could offer mental health days/breaks. In a Bentley-Gallup report, 74% of American workers said having mental health days would have an extremely or somewhat positive effect on their well-being.
Younger employees often prioritize mental health as a benefit they seek in positions. By offering the option of mental health breaks without question, management can better align with employee needs and drive productivity through healthy initiatives. Offering days for people to recharge costs little in direct expenses but delivers a high return on investment via better engagement and retention rates.
Customizing the Offers and Keeping the Workers
Every employee has different needs. Customizing offer packages or raising offers may ensure that the person becomes a long-time, loyal team member.
Instead of trying to outspend larger competitors, a smaller business should take the time to discuss employee concerns and needs and devise compensation packages that attract top talent and keep them for decades. Now is the right time to conduct a team survey and determine what non-salary compensation strategies are most effective and align with company values and goals.
Devin Partida is the Editor-in-Chief of ReHack.com, and is especially interested in writing about business and BizTech. Devin’s work has been featured on Entrepreneur, Forbes, and Nasdaq.
Photo courtesy Vinicius “amnx” Amano for Unsplash+
