Introduction
Anthony Vollmer Managing Director, Moorepay
At the same time employers are having to contend with a dangerous cocktail of a shortage of candidates with the right skills; demographic changes leading to a decline in the number of 18 to 24–year olds entering the workplace and fears about Brexit which have deterred many EU citizens from seeking employment in the UK. The balance of power between employees and employers is changing. Even the language surrounding recruitment and retention signals how hard it is to find the employees companies need. It’s now a ‘war for talent,’ and ‘a recruitment battlefield.’ This reinforces the gravity of the issue, as the productivity and growth plans of companies are affected. As a partner to SMEs we wanted to see whether the benefits companies offer have an impact on how valued employees feel. We asked the views of employees and also those of employers. In the struggle to recruit and retain the best staff are companies giving their people the benefits they want? At Moorepay we know that some SMEs feel that they cannot afford to offer benefits or that administering them will be too time–consuming. But can SMEs afford not to as they compete for the best recruits? SMEs shouldn’t underestimate the power of recognition and acknowledgement. Expressing how much you value your employees increases their engagement with your organisation. We would urge companies to carefully consider what will make them a great place to work, whether that’s a great atmosphere, a well–designed and administered benefits system that responds to what employees want, a defined sense of collective purpose or promoting a better work–balance. Being an ‘engaged employer’ is vital to the health of businesses. I hope you will find the results of our research interesting and that they offer some insight into how benefits could help you succeed in the recruitment and retention of employees.
As the company that manages payroll and offers HR services to over 10,000 businesses nationwide, Moorepay has conversations with the leaders of SMEs all over the country every day. Overwhelmingly the issue that concerns SME leaders is how and where to recruit the skilled staff they need, and then how to keep them. has never been so many of us in work. However, although this is heartening news, wage growth has been depressed since the financial downturn of 2008 and has only picked up over the last 12 months according to the ONS. In real terms (after adjusting for inflation), total average annual pay is estimated to have only increased by 1.9% compared with a year earlier. 1 “Wages may be rising but so are prices, particularly food and clothing, which has a big impact on families. They have less disposable income so many feel compelled to look for better remunerated employment.” The latest figures from the Office of National Statistics show that with a UK employment rate of 76.1%, there
1 Office of National Statistics: Average weekly earnings in Great Britain, September 2019
Whitepaper – The Engaged Employer 06
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