Company culture is vital to all businesses - big or small. As competition for talent remains a top concern for businesses across all industries, a salary alone is no longer enough to recruit or retain employees. Therefore, it's important for companies to provide employees with a unique workplace culture that shows they care about their overall well-being.
This means implementing programs that promote employees' physical, mental and emotional well-being, ranging from health and financial wellness benefits programs to career development and workload management.
When it comes to attracting and retaining talent in today's workplace, a few best practices exist that can be easily implemented and have worked for Aflac, which has been named to Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For list for 19 consecutive years. Below are four tips that will help promote a unique company culture to attract new talent and keep current employees.
1. Flexibility
Our philosophy at Aflac is to take care of our employees so that each person can take care of the business. With many different generations in the workforce today, including baby boomers, millennials and now Generation Z, offering a variety of benefits that allow flexibility is important, especially when promoting a healthy work-life balance.
These benefits can include days to work from home or giving new moms and dads an extra week of paid time off to help transition into parenthood. Flexible work schedules can also provide employees the opportunity to leave work early to play in a summer intramural game or adjust their work schedules to take care of appointments or run errands without being penalized.
2. Career advancement programs
It's important for companies, especially growing ones that are looking to expand their workforce, to invest in their employees so they feel more confident about their future within the company. Workers who see their employers investing in their personal career development are more productive and less stressed about job security - making them happier.
This can be done by implementing one-on-one mentor partnerships or by providing employees access to career counseling professionals or development programs.
3. Offering benefits beyond the basics
Offering robust benefits options at a time when many employers are limiting them is another way to keep employees happy. Supplemental insurance policies, such as disability, cancer, and critical illness, allow employees to customize their benefits package according to their individual needs and lifestyle.
These policies can also help a variety of generational workers stay financially stable in the event of an unexpected illness or injury by paying cash benefits to help cover out-of-pocket costs so they can maintain their lifestyles. Even better, supplemental insurance can be offered at no cost to employers.
4. Rewards and recognitions
A recent study showed that 79 percent of employees felt undervalued, mainly due to a lack of recognition at work.[1] With so many employees feeling underappreciated, it is important that companies recognize employees when they are working hard or excelling at their current position.
These recognitions and rewards don't need to be a lump sum of cash; instead, it can be a personalized card or email sent to the office highlighting what makes them a great employee. Doing this can motivate other employees to improve their performance and ultimately strengthen a company's culture as a whole.
The bottom line
Keeping top talent in today's workforce is not an easy task, and what may have kept people in their jobs before, isn't always the answer with today's workforce. Therefore, it's important for employers to continue enhancing their workplace culture and reinforcing the message that they care about and appreciate their employees.
Aflac herein means American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus and American Family Life Assurance Company of New York.
About the Author
Brenda J. Mullins is vice president of Human Resources and chief people officer at Aflac[1] Tiny Pulse, "The 7 Key Trends Impacting Today's Workplace."
