In times of economic crisis, it’s more important than ever for businesses to find ways to retain their current employees and persuade prospective recruits to take up positions.

While salary is an important factor in employee retention, the right perks can be just as persuasive. These can even improve efficiency, resulting in higher profitability for the business. But what perks are employees interested in the most? We take a look at three popular options.

Company cars

If your employees are required to travel for long distances fairly frequently, then a company car can seem attractive. Company vehicles make the lives of employees much easier since the business is responsible for all expenses.

These expenses include payments on the vehicle, maintenance, and servicing and MOT obligations. It is also common for companies to cover insurance on the vehicle for both personal and business use.

When it comes to choice of vehicle, businesses should prioritise mileage and safety. Opting for a vehicle with a long range and a good variety of safety features like the Hyundai Tucson ensures employees are well catered to during business trips.

Businesses can benefit from the economies of scale also by purchasing a fleet of vehicles as opposed to lots of individual vehicles. It’s more cost-effective and practical and signals to employees that you are genuinely invested in their future within the business.

Flexible working hours

For the majority of modern professionals, a healthy work-life balance is key; however, this can be difficult if working hours ensure that no time is left to partake in activities outside of work.

This works the same for looking after a family. If you’re unable to pick the kids up from school, you may have to spend your hard-earned money on childcare and won’t be able to spend as much time with them, learning about their day. Fortunately, there is a way around this.

Offering flexible working hours enables employees to choose the time they want to start or finish while still working the same number of hours each day. In most industries, this costs employers very little and requires minimal effort in terms of changing processes. The benefits most definitely outweigh the costs on this one.

Health and wellbeing packages

When looking for a role, a third of workers typically seek an employer that offers mental health support as part of their care packages. Those that provide wellbeing benefits like employee assistance programmes, opportunities to be active, and mental health first aiders are much more likely to appeal to potential employees and keep their current staff.

Additionally, signing employees up for services that allow them to save money on things like physiotherapy, dental care, and eye tests through salary sacrifice can really uplift the mood of employees and greatly improve productivity.