f there were doubts that we are witnessing a revolution at work - and in life in general -, also materialised in the way companies pay their employees, all of them disappeared in yet another ReFLEXions by Coverflex. In “Benefits Revolution: how much is flexible compensation worth in attracting and retaining talent?”, Eduardo Andrade, João Chainho and Pedro Albuquerque shared experiences and knowledge about what they have seen, over the years, in the national technological market, and in particular in the way talent behaves during recruitment and in companies' day-to-day.
With a majority of technological profiles in his team, Eduardo Andrade, People Success Manager at OutSystems, ensures that this greatly shapes the offer. “The market is highly competitive in what comes to this type of profile, and you have to differentiate yourself in some way from other companies. Compensation is very important, but when that's not an issue, both the purpose of what you're doing and the technological challenge are very important. The thing is, money can never be a problem because you have to be always up to date with the market”. João Chainho, People & Culture of Mercedes-Benz.io Portugal, adds that the salary, despite “not being decisive”, is the Olympic minimum to qualify for the talent game. “It's very important to ensure you're in the race”, he assures.
João Chainho, People & Culture of Mercedes-Benz.io Portugal, adds that the salary, despite “not being decisive”, is the Olympic minimum to qualify for the talent game. “It's very important to ensure you're in the race”, he assures.
An alignment with what is being done in the market is very important - "decisive", he says - but something has changed in recent years: the response of companies to questions related to remote work, for example, has become part of the equation and, more than that, has gained importance in the final decision. “When hiring, the two premises are ‘How do we hire? Am I just another one? Is there space to be heard?’ and ‘How is the company adapting to more contextual conditions, such as flexible benefits, new ways of working, among others?”, he details. For this reason, João Chainho also emphasises the importance of an “open game for the future”, pointing out how relevant it is to be honest and, whenever the answer is unknown, admitting that there's an ongoing process of finding a solution. "We can clearly say that we don't know, but the company's values can help us to understand what our behaviour will be in the future".
Pedro Albuquerque, CFO at Sensei, admits a profound transformation in the way candidates relate to companies in the recruitment process over the past few years. “In terms of advantages, we don't feel this transformation because it is a newer company and, when it comes to hiring, we feel that people already know what flexible benefits are and expect to receive them. More and more candidates choose the companies they want to go to. The recruitment process counts a lot in the moment the candidate makes their choice”, he analyses.
Therefore, it is not a question of creating but rather of accelerating a process that, despite having started before the pandemic, has been expanding and evolving, on a “no return” path. “What changed with the pandemic was flexibility: there is a great expectation from people to understand the logic of the company and how it is adapting to the new reality. For example, during the last year and a half, at OutSystems we started to collaborate with the employees' internet account: the company pays the expense that the person submits. We also assign a value for the person to set up their office at home. There were very specific characteristics of this shift that changed the way people see the company. Never taking away the benefits that already exist, but adapting ourselves”, points out Eduardo Andrade.
“What changed with the pandemic was flexibility: there is a great expectation from people to understand the logic of the company and how it is adapting to the new reality. For example, during the last year and a half, at OutSystems we started to collaborate with the employees' internet account: the company pays the expense that the person submits. We also assign a value for the person to set up their office at home. There were very specific characteristics of this shift that changed the way people see the company. Never taking away the benefits that already exist, but adapting ourselves”, points out Eduardo Andrade.
At Mercedes-Benz.io, the pandemic has also transformed the area of remuneration beyond salary. "It took us many benefits, mobility benefits that no longer made sense - test drive, service vehicle, renting - and made people look for this concept of work-life flow, this continuity between work and personal life", he adds.
With offices in Lisbon, Berlin and Stuttgart, Mercedes-Benz.io tried to keep the employer journey, regardless of location, “so that people wouldn't feel different”. “We reached a point of immensity of benefits that led us to want a platform, when we felt that we had too much available and it was not easy to make the best of them. With ongoing pilot in Lisbon, the level of satisfaction in being assessed there, and then the goal is to escalate. Until now, there has never been the concern to 'give a choice'", he explains. Justification leverages the principle that the business is the resource for growth and development, not the person. “We never wanted the salary to be a transactional asset because that placed people as a resource, they were paid for something. And the resource has to be the company, so people can choose, make an impact. Therefore, our proposal is always gross salary plus meal allowance. The benefits have to meet people's needs”, underlines Mercedes-Benz.io Portugal's People & Culture.
Pedro Albuquerque says that, when the team had 15 people, they started a system for providing benefits in a simple logic, in Excel, but only now, months later, people start using a greater variety of options. “Coverflex made the choice easier. Measuring impact is a difficult question but what people see is that it becomes a condition that has to be satisfied. If we went back and offered only gross salaries, we wouldn't be able to attract people. In order to be in the race we have to offer flexible benefits”, he defends.
“Coverflex made the choice easier. Measuring impact is a difficult question but what people see is that it becomes a condition that has to be satisfied. If we went back and offered only gross salaries, we wouldn't be able to attract people. In order to be in the race we have to offer flexible benefits”, he defends.
Watch the full conversation here.
