ompensating employees to motivate them and involve them in the organization is a trend that increasingly aligns with flexibility. Welcome to the era of flexible compensation.
The questions, say those who know the dynamics well, are already common in recruitment processes. "How many days a week can I work remotely?" and “What are the flexible benefits that the company offers?”.
A competitive base salary is the starting point for a job offer that is meant to be attractive in a market with more and more competition, but flexible benefits are a complement that neither companies nor employees do without. Flexible compensation has become a way of motivating and involving employees in the organisation and is increasingly used according to the needs of each person.
“Flexible compensation is not as 'fringe' as it used to be: now it is a decisive element when it comes to hiring and retaining talent ”, pointed out Domingos Cruz, who’s a lawyer at CCA, in the webinar“ Flexible compensation: far beyond salary ”, promoted by IIRH.
This tripartite agreement between employees - who want to have better working conditions and ensure their future -, companies - who have an extra concern for the health and care of employees - and the government - which is still people’s last safeguard, ensuring employees will be able to benefit from this type of support - makes flexible compensation an effective strategy in the way organisations attract and retain their talent and, therefore, increasingly sought after by people managers.
A competitive base salary is the starting point for a job offer that is meant to be attractive in a market with more and more competition, but flexible benefits are a complement that neither companies nor employees do without. Flexible compensation has become a way of motivating and involving employees in the organisation and is increasingly used according to the needs of each person.
At a time when, for the first time in history, five different generations intersect in organisations, it is increasingly necessary to have organisations that look at each of their employees as elements with unique needs and different perspectives on how to work and live. "The transition to a mechanism such as Coverflex allows the flexibility for everyone to decide where they want to invest - training, technology, gym - facilitating, on the side of companies, the entire administrative process", defended Miguel Madeira, Head of People Operations at Kelvin, during the conversation.
The aftermath: 6 key takeaways
- Compensation is a tool that allows for flexibility and creates a sense of belonging within the organisation.
- The tripartite model between employee, company and government presents, in Portugal, a disadvantage in comparison to countries such as Australia. “We want absolute transparency and certainty about what flexible benefits are and how they are treated”, stresses Domingos Cruz.
- The last few years - and, in particular, the previous year, the one of the pandemic - have encouraged the “creativity” of human resources directors in the attribution of benefits that, in turn, have been “extremely well received by workers”, says Maria Barbosa, from CCA.
- The benefit budget has a perceived monetary value. “The broader the total benefits’ package, the more the bills are mixed up when a worker thinks about leaving”, points out Miguel Madeira.
- The pandemic accelerated the construction of a logic that takes into account a holistic view of the employee: people are considered unique, regardless of the size of the organisation to which they belong (and not for which they work). The organisation must be permeable to the lives of its employees, be part of it, facilitate it, and compensate its most core area: people.
- With the increased competitiveness resulting from the pandemic, which opened up a global market and allowed cross-border talent recruitment to happen, there was a greater need for a “retention structure”. “Compensation weighs a lot; it is not the only factor to retain talent but it is one of the most essential ones”, concludes Miguel Madeira.
