Facing an ongoing cost of living crisis and with operating cost increases on the horizon, many charities will be looking to the future with some trepidation and will be thinking about ways to cut back. Whilst there could be some temptation to reduce spending on employee rewards, Laura Masheder from BHP highlights how important these benefits can be in terms of recruiting, retention and motivation of staff.
Across all industries, staff recruitment and retention appear to have been key challenges, which everyone continues to grapple with. A report released in March 2023 by Pro Bono Economics and Nottingham Trent University found that 70% of charities have found it difficult to recruit and retain staff, with salaries lagging behind commercial counterparts contributing to the recruitment challenge.
This has led to many employees taking on additional duties to help pick up the shortfall and, in some cases, charities having to cut services due to an inability to deliver, all in a time of growing demand.
Sadly, this doesn’t feel like a challenge that is going to disappear quickly for the sector. The report states that charity employees earn on average 7% less than counterparts in other parts of the economy – a gap that has widened over the last two years. The sector is becoming increasingly less attractive based on remuneration alone.
Without doubt, the sector benefits from the huge commitment of the individuals who chose to work in it. However, with the salary gap widening and with the pressures of the cost of living crisis, the charity sector needs to work hard to reward its people with non-monetary rewards.
Salaries are a big factor when deciding which roles to apply for or which offer to accept, but culture and values are critical – if the salary is competitive enough, you make your people feel valued, the working environment is good and the organisation is passionately mission orientated, you will retain and attract the right people.
Non-monetary benefits can really help you recruit, retain and motivate your people. Here, we look at several different ways to do this:
- Culture – as a charitable organisation, you should lead with your purpose. Giving people the ability to do something that makes them feel good is a real competitive advantage.
- Flexible and hybrid working – work from home, working around personal commitments or an early finish Friday.
- Working environment – providing a safe working environment with access to the equipment they need to do their work. Add the nice extra touches, little things really mean a lot to people.
- Spending time with the team – regular catch ups, team lunches, taking employees out for a coffee away from the office.
- Give recognition and give the team the opportunity to show appreciation – employee of the month, e-cards, employee benefits platform. Make sure everyone can see what the reward is for and why!
- Give the team responsibility – people are kept interested and motivated by being challenged.
- Personal development/training – support programmes for new employees, relevant work-based training and development opportunities.
- Wellbeing events/apps – promote wellbeing activities and provide employees with opportunities or subsidise healthcare schemes providing access to services and help with care costs.
- Involve your employees – ask them what they would value and listen to them!
In addition to the non-monetary benefits, there are also a number of tax-efficient benefits you can provide for your employees, which increase the value of the monetary package while managing the cost to the charity. These include benefits such as the cycle to work scheme, salary sacrifice pension arrangements and salary sacrifice for electric cars, which is becoming increasingly popular.
All in all, these rewards and benefits, could serve to greatly improve staff morale during a difficult time for employees, whilst not costing the earth. This can help to keep the best people, those who help your charity make a real difference to the communities you serve, maximising their positive impact.
Traditionally, the Christmas period is the time of year when employees may start looking for a new job. Therefore, now may be a good time for charities to think about how to retain the staff they have.
For more information on this subject, see our People and Culture page