Most companies believe that benefits can help attract talent
Companies bet more on benefits to attract talent. The home office is a growing trend and project managers are the most requested professionals, reveals an Aon survey.
The benefits are increasingly important to attract and retain talent in organizations, but there seems to be an inequality in the bet on promoting physical and mental well-being. In many cases, benefit plans are still out of step with workers' real needs and life contexts, although more flexible programs, such as the home office, are beginning to emerge.
These are some of the conclusions of the study "Nearshore in Portugal: Trends in talent management”, developed by Aon, in partnership with the Association for the Development of Communications and Experis. The survey included 30 "nearshore” companies in Portugal - representing a universe of 40,000 employees - to reveal the main challenges in people management and how they look to the future of talent, recruitment, retention, and compensation in their organizations.
Unflexible benefits
Eight out of ten wellness programs implemented have a strong focus on the physical component, leaving a gap with regard to mental health in companies in this sector. Despite this evidence, less than half (40%) of the surveyed companies offer risk protection, such as life insurance and personal accidents.
Approximately 88% of companies offer health insurance, with a quarter of these still requiring co-financing of premiums to ensure the maintenance of guarantees and capital in contracts. The same percentage guarantees to provide meal allowances of, on average, 7.5 euros. Only 31% of the companies offer a pension plan to workers, 44% say they share in the payment of gym and 30% on extra vacation days.
With regard to compensation schemes, only 20% of companies offer flexible benefits, which shows that, in most cases, these plans are out of step with the real needs of workers. This is due to the "lack of clear regulation on this type of plans and the fear, often unfounded, of the increase in administrative complexity associated with the offer of choices and the regular management of all options”, the report reads.
The home office is one of the areas of benefits that have grown, both in terms of offering and implementing remote work policies and in terms of valuing employees. Almost 70% of the companies participating in this study offer the possibility of working from home, a percentage that is above the market average - 50% - and which can be justified by the strong digital component of these companies and the demographic characteristics of their population.
Benefits to attract and retain talent
Approximately 75% of the companies interviewed consider that measures of well-being and reinforcement of worker involvement are the main tool for retaining talent. For 50% of companies, benefits are essential to retain talent and build a "common purpose” within the organization.
According to the study, the retention tools most valued by employers in this sector are tax flexibility and optimization, global programs, and benefit plans.
With regard to environmental responsibility, the numbers are expressive: 94% of the companies bet on this type of actions, with emphasis on the promotion of ecological and social volunteering actions (81%), use of ecological consumables in the office (63%) and organization of digital campaigns and internal employee awareness initiatives (43%).
Project managers are the most sought after
The most sought after profiles by these companies are, in order of importance, project managers, data analytics specialists, and cloud computing specialists. In terms of soft skills, companies seem to value skills such as customer orientation, problem-solving skills, and teamwork.
The study warns that the digital revolution will also bring challenges and companies should stimulate innovation, the vision of personal and professional growth, especially in the younger strata.
More than eight out of 10 companies do direct recruitment in the market and, to recruit, companies continue to use recruitment companies, social media ads, and university initiatives. In the future, recruitment faces three challenges: ensuring competitiveness in the market, the ability to reach and communicate with the desired profiles, and managing expectations of candidates, in relation to what the company can offer.
With regard to human resources within the company, the study shows that there is still a gap between what companies need and the resources they have available on their staff. The solution will involve investing in effective internal mobility policies, analysis of existing skills, and effective reskill and upskill programs.
