EMPLOYEE VALUE PROPOSITIONS: A TOOL FOR ATTRACTING TALENT
Given recent high rates of year-over-year employment
growth, it’s not surprising that middle market companies
cite talent issues as a top challenge. Companies need
qualified people to help support growth, and those
people can be difficult to find.
One way companies can attract the best talent is by
enhancing their employee value propositions, or the
complete package of benefits and opportunities that
employees receive in exchange for working for a firm.
Middle market companies appear equally split between
three approaches to benefits: Minimizers offer only
what’s expected. Competitors offer expanded services
to keep up with peers. And Differentiators use benefits
as a strategic tool for attracting the best talent. In terms
of ownership structures, partnerships tend to be more
strategic than companies with other ownership types,
while public firms and non-profits are much more likely to
match the competition. Interestingly, Competitors show
the fastest revenue growth and Minimizers are posting the
highest employment growth rates and expect the greatest
increases in headcount in the year to come.
From an industry perspective, the fastest-growing
segments, including business services, financial services,
and healthcare, offer the most diverse benefits packages.
It’s not surprising that slower-growing industries, namely
retail and wholesale, offer less comprehensive benefits.
Yet, executives in these industries appear to be no less
satisfied with the benefits they offer than their peers
whose packages are more robust, presumably because
their bar is lower.
Retailers, however, are most concerned about the financial
well-being of their employees, probably because pay
tends to be lower in this industry. But they are not alone.
Most leaders across all industries are at least somewhat
concerned about employees’ financial health. And some
are doing something about it: Indeed, financial wellness
packages, along with physical and emotional wellness,
are emerging benefit areas that some companies, upper
middle market firms in particular, are considering adding
to attract more employees.