TZL 1538

JEREMY CLARKE , from page 1

national and regarded think-tank on HR structures, trends, strategies, etc.), the top five benefits sought by candidates and employees are as follows: 1. Healthcare related (89 percent) 2. Retirement related (81 percent) 3. Work/life balance, PTO, and leave (80 percent) 4. Professional development (68 percent) 5. Catastrophic benefits, i.e., life/disability (67 percent) Did you notice the trend in those statistics? Candidates and employees want three core fundamental human needs met. They want: 1. Security. In other words, they want to feel assured. They want a sense of financial and physical safety in life through good healthcare, good retirement, and good insurance. 2. Purpose. In other words, they want a meaningful and positive trajectory for their career. They want to feel like they can advance and excel at their firm. 3. Wellness. In other words, they want better quality of life outcomes through good work/life balance so that instead of just doing and surviving they feel like they’re thriving. As employers, our intentions may be good; but at the end of the day, candidates and employees want greater investment into their security and wellness rather than having catered salads or “bring your pet to work” days. In fact, gimmicky, half-baked perks like these actually increase turnover by attracting the professionals who are seeking transient shallow “perks” over a legitimate long-term career opportunity. If you take one thing away from this article let it be this: Long runway benefits are a premium among long runway employees. Conversely, short runway perks are a premium among short runway employees The downside to the current trend of offering gimmicky, trendy benefits to employees is that, more often than not, the suggestion of it clouds what is truly worthy of human dignity and therefore truly meaningful (and for this reason they’re usually perceived as insincere anyway!). Pet insurance and kale smoothies might make for catchy hooks – they might even work for a time – but the fact is that if priority isn’t given to core issues such as security, wellness, and purpose, then all your imaginative short-term tactics will fail to be a basis for producing long-term commitment. Let me encourage you to get off the vicious treadmill and focus your firm’s strategy on offering meaningful and relevant benefits that are in alignment with core human needs. Benefits that actually bring dignity to your employees, create deep loyalty and effectively retain talent. It has been proven over and over to me that the greatest threat to loyalty is a frivolous and shallow sense of entitlement – and the surest way to enlarge one’s frivolous and shallow sense of entitlement is to appease it. Jeremy Clarke is the director of executive search and recruiting at Zweig Group and the CEO of Emissary Recruiting Solutions. Contact him at jclarke@zweiggroup.com.

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THE ZWEIG LETTER MAY 20, 2024, ISSUE 1538

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