Compensation and benefits: a boost to worker efficiency

What are employee benefits?

As we previewed in the introduction, benefits and compensation in the workplace are everything an employee receives in return for their work. This includes not only salary, but also a variety of other tangible benefits (bonuses, commissions, health insurance, pension plans, and paid holiday days) or intangible ones (flexible working hours, professional development opportunities, and a good working environment).

The main objective of a company's compensation and benefits is to attract, motivate and retain employees.. A good compensation policy helps to ensure that the employee is motivated to develop their work correctly and satisfactorily, making it easier to retain in the long term and thus reducing the level of turnover.

What types of compensation and benefits are there

In recent years, the introduction of employee benefits has allowed for the creation of more comprehensive and attractive remuneration systems. The variety of types of compensation plans available on the market is quite diverse. However, most of them can be grouped into three main categories:

• Financial compensation and benefitsThis is the most important and easily recognisable remuneration system. Within this group we find salary, bonuses, extra payments, or even the availability of options such as Ticket Restaurant or Nursery Ticket, among others.
• Benefits and in-kind compensationUnlike the previous one, it is characterised by taking much more general forms than money. In this sense, it can involve access to the product or service produced by the company where one works, access to health insurance, availability of a company vehicle, access to a private pension plan, etc.

Some examples of economic benefits offered by companies can include:

• Base Salary and Variable Payments
• Health and Wellness Benefits
• Retirement Plans

On the other hand, in-kind benefits may include:

• Paid Time Off
• Flexible Working Options
• Professional Development

What to consider when creating a compensation and benefits plan

Although different important elements can be mentioned when establishing employee compensation and benefits, current trends are developing from the following key aspects:

• Total rewards philosophyThis is a perception of compensation and benefits as a unified whole, breaking with the tradition of non-monetary or strategic benefits being supplementary to economic ones.
• The use of new technologiesNew technologies are present in all aspects of contemporary life. Thanks to their applications, better benefits can be offered which, in turn, improve the employee's experience in relation to their perception of the benefits they receive for their work.
• Active talent managementIn this regard, active strategies can be implemented to improve employee engagement with the company, carrying them out continuously and equipping the human resources department with the necessary tools to detect any shortcomings from the earliest stages.

Flexible remuneration as an employee benefit

La Flexible remuneration has become an increasingly valued employee benefit, offering notable flexibility and customisation in employee compensation packages. This model allows employees to allocate a portion of their gross salary to different types of services and products, such as transportation, education, health insurance, or pension plans, before taxes are applied.

This approach has tax advantages for both the employee and the employer, as it reduces the tax base, resulting in tax savings..

For organisations, implementing flexible remuneration is an effective strategy for attracting and retaining talent, as it demonstrates consideration for the needs of their workforce and support for a better work-life balance.

Within Flexible Benefits schemes, some of the most valued employee benefits include:

• Ticket RestaurantThis benefit is extremely practical for employees' daily use, allowing them to save money thanks to the exemption from Personal Income Tax (IRPF). It is not limited to restaurant meals but also covers home delivery services, adapting to current working models.
• Edenred MobilityThe transport ticket is very appealing to employees who use public transport such as buses, metros, trains and commuter services to get to work.
• Edenred Guardería: Spending on childcare represents a significant cost for employees with children under three years old. The childcare voucher is an important form of assistance for them.

Conclusions

As you were able to see, having a well-structured compensation and benefits policy can be very beneficial for a company when it comes to attracting, motivating, and retaining talent. Furthermore, including flexible remuneration within the benefits package helps employees perceive that the company is aware of the needs implicit in carrying out their work, such as getting around and eating.