The economic climate is enduringly challenging for small business owners in the UK, who must contend with diminished growth and the ongoing uncertainty surrounding Brexit. These issues must be considered alongside the more mundane challenges that SMEs are required to deal with every single day, from optimising their cash flows to retaining existing customers.
Whilst the Treasury has at least announced that it will make around £200 million available to small businesses post Brexit, SMEs must take a proactive approach and consider ways in which they can minimise costs while also offering value to their employees and customers alike.
When looking to retain your best talent, for example, it’s important that you’re able to incentivise staff with viable employee benefits. Here are some creative ways in which you can do this whilst also keeping costs down.
1. Reward Them with Their Birthday Off
This may be a relatively small perk, but it’s an extremely cost-effective measure that can have a big impact in the minds of employees.
After all, rewarding staff members with their birthday off is the type of personalised benefit that employees crave in the modern age, whilst this essentially adds an extra day of paid holiday to each staff members’ contract.
In fact, when combined with a flexible working directive, this can serve as a huge incentive to employees and enable them to achieve a far more rewarding work-life balance over time.
2. Reward Your Employees with Early Finishes
The concept of flexible working directives and allowing staff members to work from home is an important one for small businesses, particularly in an age where sole trading offers such a viable and rewarding option to employees.
Remember, the last 10 years has seen a 66% rise in the number of 26 to 29 year old’s choosing a freelance career, according to and small businesses must create a flexible working schedule if they’re to compete for the very best talent.
Providing employees with early finishes is one way to create a flexible working environment, whilst this has the added benefit of making your employees feel genuinely appreciated.
We’d particularly recommend allowing staff members to work a half day or finish early on a Friday; this type of benefit also works especially well during the summer months.
3. Provide Affordable Financial Incentives
If there’s one thing that unites employees in the modern age, it’s the challenge of living in an economic climate where the rate of inflation continues to outstrip real wage growth.
Though you may not be able to offer huge bonuses or base salaries to your staff members, you should look for creative and affordable fiscal incentives that still offer value.
You could partner with various local organisations to provide discounts and advice, for example, as this will deliver practical assistance that helps individuals to achieve their financial objectives and ensure employee wellbeing.
If you’re an employer that wants to help your staff members and encourage them to live a more active lifestyle, you could also partner with a local gym to offer discounted membership packages. This is a significant benefit, and one that also contributes to a positive work-life balance.
