HR consultancy Kloud has developed an employee value proposition (EVP) to meet the rigours of the current economic environment.
Claire Langford, resource manager at the organisation, says: “When it comes to recruitment and retention, we are up against the major league, so we’ve had to build our strong, flexible culture into our benefits suite because we can’t compete with the bigger players on salaries .
“Many employees would rather work for less money in a more intimate, relaxed environment, where they can make more of a professional impact and take advantage of SME [small and medium enterprise] staff benefits, such as flexible working.”
Because of its collaborative culture, Kloud engaged its entire 62-strong workforce in reviewing its EVP and benefits package. Using a simple survey tool, staff were asked to rank 15 potential new benefits in order of preference.
“Pub membership vouchers, dedicated CSR [corporate social responsibility] days together with long-service awards featured highly, so we are exploring ways to build these into our business,” says Langford.
Flexible-working arrangements, pensions , health plans and bonuses are core elements, as are childcare-related benefits that appeal to staff with young families.
Langford adds: “Our consultants tend to be early adopters, so having access to techie-type products and tools, such as iPads, Skype and Yammer, also appeals.
“As we recruit more Generation Y employees into the business, we need to ensure our benefits remain attractive to them as well as our long-standing team members.”