Did you know that 608,000+ people per month do a Google search on this type of phrase: “[name of employer] benefits”? (Assurant, Walmart, Costco are the top 3 by the way). Candidates want to know the list of perks and benefits that big (and small) companies are offering.
Did you also know that each benefit you include on your job ad increases the apply rate 1% to 5% (see this Appcast study)?
That’s why a shame that so many job ads don’t mention a single benefit.
Ouch!
Stating your benefits clearly is so important that Ongig’s Text Analyzer software now flags job descriptions that don’t mention any benefits.
If you already do offer a list of benefits in your job ads, make sure that it’s more than this normal type of list.
- 401K
- Paid vacation
- Medical/Dental
- etc.
Those are solid employee benefits. But try including at least 1 or 2 additional benefits to stand out.
Here is a list of 20 benefits you might consider adding to your job ads. Some are quite affordable and even free. Others are more expensive but could (alone) get the right candidate to apply.
Either way, any one of these benefits might help your job ad stand out and get a higher apply rate from top talent.
A List of 20 Employee Benefits You Might Have Missed
- Shared Leave — This benefit allows an employee to donate sick/vacation time to another employee in need. Shared Leave (sometimes called Leave Share) programs sometimes put the time donations into a pool. The University of Washington offers this.
- Adoption/Fertility Insurance — For some candidates and their partners, having a child is their #1 challenge/stress. Bank of America and Spotify offer unlimited IVF support (see Companies Offer Fertility Employee Benefits) — Starbucks, Intel, and Pinterest are other employers offering such benefits.
- CPR Training — What a great skill to offer your employees that can help them save a life of a fellow employee, loved one or complete stranger. And some local companies will do this for free.
- Gender Reassignment Insurance — Goldman Sachs, Facebook, Netflix, and Accenture now offer this. Some reports are that just a dozen per 100,000 employees take advantage of this. But it’s a powerful message that you’re inclusive.
- Stipend for professional/personal development — A-Players want to grow. Tech startup Buffer gives $20 per month for learning and development. Buffer also gives a free Kindle and unlimited books.
- Volunteer PTO — It says a lot if you offer up paid time off for volunteer work.
- Casual Dress — You might already support this every day (or just on Fridays). Adding this to your job ad is an easy way to say that you don’t take yourselves too seriously (unless you do!)
- Lunch and Learns — You might also already support “lunch and learns” — a lunch that’s paid for by your company in which you have an outsider come in and teach you something. Most vendors/suppliers will come in and do this for you for free! Ongig surely will. 🙂
- Healthy Vending Machine — Doritos and Snickers are yummy but a lot of people are looking to stay (or get) lean. I first heard about Healthy Vending Machines from the amazing founders of Snacknation.
- Bring your pet to work day — 68% of households have a pet. How about welcoming them into the office periodically.
- Pet insurance — Insurance is already the #1 benefit that employees value. But some candidates are closer to their Fido than they are to their family. Pet insurance will lure them in.
- Carpool/Bus/Train Incentive — This is both a real cost for candidates and also shows that you’re helping the fight against climate change.
- Relocation Assistance — Perhaps you’re tapped out on local candidates. Mentioning relocation in your job ad helps attract out-of-town talent.
- Employee Referral Bonus — Many of you have employee referral bonuses. If you do, you might consider adding it to your job ads. If you don’t offer referrals, you’re likely missing out on the highest quality source of candidate pipeline!
- Financial Wellness Training — Prudential Genentech, Eastmen Chemical and other employers offer to help their employees with financial coaching.
- Open Office — If you have an open office, mention it — candidates should know what they’re getting into (whether they prefer open offices or closed offices).
- Massage Therapist –Some companies have a simple massage therapist come in at a dedicated time each month and it’s first come, first serve for signup. Then there’s Google which has a Massage Program Manager that manages massage therapists coming and going 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.
- Improv Classes — Twitter is famous for offering this.
- Car wash, Haircut, Childcare, Mobile Spa, Dentist — Genentech offers all of these and more (see GENE’s list of employee benefits).
- Free health trackers — The Dayton Regional Transit Authority saved $23 million in employer cost savings by giving Fitbit trackers to all their employees.
We might offer up a more comprehensive list of employee benefits and perks in a future post. We’ve seen at least 200 of them in our clients’ job ads.
Why I wrote this?
Adding employee benefits to job ads is a proven way to increase your apply rate. If you’d like to see how Ongig’s Text Analyzer helps you use benefits and other content to improve your job postings, please click the demo request button on this page!
