Cape Town - The recent compensation and benefits report published by the Top Employers Institute shows that top employers in South Africa are increasingly offering employees more benefits and non-financial rewards than other employers.
New research shows that top employers are stepping up their game when it comes to offering attractive packages to employees – with a bigger choice of non-financial benefits and rewards spicing up traditional financial remuneration.
The recent report shows a clear trend towards a total rewards philosophy in which employees are invited to pick benefits as if from a buffet in a cafeteria – leading to this trend being called the “cafeteria plan”.
“There is a shift from mere monetary compensation towards a more individual and holistic approach for employees,” says Billy Elliott, Top Employers Institute country manager for South Africa.
The institute is based in the Netherlands and globally certifies excellence in the conditions that employers create for their people.
It has recognised top employers around the world since 1991, including many stalwarts in South Africa.
Top Employers chief executive David Plink says although a salary is still very important, non-monetary elements such as flexible hours, catering to changing life-stage, learning and development, and recognition have become decisive factors in job offers and employee retention. “The recent growth in importance suggests it is an irreversible trend.”
According to Mannfred Koch, of AbbVie, a certified 2015 Top Employer, employees can work wherever and whenever they want within a given, very flexible framework.
“We train people to get an understanding of the times when they are most productive. It may be better for some to start early or late, or do some work in the evenings at home,” he says.
“This means a fundamental change in how HR is designing compensation and benefit policies to attract and retain talent,” Elliott adds.
Apart from salary, SA top employers also include the following elements within their annual total rewards statement to employees: profit sharing (29 percent), long-term incentives (57 percent) and secondary benefits (61 percent). Total rewards statements also involve a more individual and holistic approach of compensating employees, which takes into account individual needs and requirements.
James Hu, HR Unilever Future Leader, says: “Unilever is committed to developing all employees to be the best they can be and this means assessing people on their potential as well as their performance.”
Other interesting details from the report show that there are greater rewards for people with specialist skills due to global skill shortages, opening up new opportunities for global horizontal careers instead of moving up corporate ranks vertically within the same company.
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For more information on the report and the institute, visit www.hr-insights.top-employers.com/compensation-and-benefits.
CAPE TIMES