Fancy perks will come and go, but a good total rewards marketing strategy should be forever.

 

Every year or two, some new job perk or benefit grabs national headlines. The latest trend currently buzzing around HR departments: The four-day workweek.  

The reason for the sudden interest? It’s simple. In a historically tight labor market, employers hope that a four-day workweek will give them a leg up when recruiting new employees and retaining existing ones — without hurting productivity or efficiency.  

But like any benefit–whether it’s 401K contributions, floating holidays, pet insurance, or the next fringe benefit craze that comes along––the only way to truly know if this incentive helps achieve your goals is when you have an effective total rewards communication and measurement strategy supporting it.  

You need a plan to clearly show your employees the tangible and intangible value of your incentive – and a way to gauge their interest in it to know if it works for your goals. 

While the four-day workweek might sound great on paper, your company operates in the real world – and what works for some may not work for all. Unique business-case scenarios, office politics, regional differences, and countless other considerations may impact whether a four-day workweek is a panacea for your current HR challenges. 

For one, sometimes four-day workweek benefits have been greatly overhyped in the media, as in one infamous Iceland study. Another study in New Zealand reported that some employees find the increased intensity of work, a by-product of a four-day week, more challenging than traditional schedules.  

In fact, according to a Qualtrics survey, supervisors, managers, and senior leaders showed concern about how a four-day workweek will affect the bottom line.  

  • 40% of individual contributors say there would be a negative impact on sales and revenue vs. 46% of managers and 53% of senior leaders 
  • 29% of individual contributors say employees would slack off vs. 40% of managers and 48% of senior leaders. 

In other words, employers need a way to “read the room” when it comes to what motivates candidates and employees.  

All Employee Perks Require a Total Compensation Communication Plan 

Whether you’re considering a four-day workweek or any other trendy perk to recruit top-quality candidates or to hold on to the talent you have, you need a method to effectively communicate the incentive’s value to employees and measure its relative value to them within the context of their total compensation package. 

One smart way to gather this insight is through a robust total rewards software platform. 

In a study by Aon Consulting, 90% of employees showed a higher appreciation for the value of their employer-provided benefits after receiving total compensation statements. Research also shows that 70% of employees found their total compensation was more than they realized.  

Using a total rewards software platform to get this message across is useful for employers – that’s why so many are rapidly adopting it as their preferred method to talk about their compensation packages. Unlike the old-fashioned piece of paper listing an employee’s compensation and benefits (that usually gets lost in the back of a filing cabinet), software is a two-way communication platform that helps you: 

  • clearly communicate your cash and non-cash rewards, including that trendy perk, along with direct pay, long-term incentives, other employee benefits, and retirement contributions;  
  • monitor engagement to see what elements of that package pique their interest with real-time insights; and 
  • determine individual compensation elements candidates and employees most value 
  • reinforce tangible financial benefits for current employees, whether it’s reducing daily parking and commuting costs or spending less on dry cleaning every month.  

By staying in sync with your employees, you’ll be able to ensure you’re providing the kinds of compensation and benefits that matter to them. 

Where to start?  

If you’re thinking about adopting the next great idea in employee perks – or just need help better communicating your current benefits — let’s talk. TotalRewards Software can help you find a suitable solution for you and your employees.