1.3m UK SMEs have lost talent in 2022 because employees feel undervalued.
Twenty-four percent of UK SMEs have lost undervalued talent in the past 4-6 months, according to research commissioned by digital gifting company Prezzee.
The research also revealed that in organisations of more than 250 staff, 4 in 10 HR Directors have changed or are looking at different ways to reward staff – regardless of where their staff work.
Even with the Great Resignation, 35% of SMEs admitted that employees get the same rewards, regardless of location, job title, or other contributing factors. This, despite differing hobbies and passions. Furthermore, the budget for rewarding staff isn’t used to its full potential as 66% said their team didn’t attend events or rewards weren’t received how they would like.
When looking at why so many employees don’t engage with reward schemes and events, the research showed that 80% of HR Directors don’t understand their employees’ interests well enough.
The data also showed that there is too much pressure solely on the shoulders of HR Directors to get this right. For example, only 16% of SMEs have created teams of employees at multiple levels to decide the rewards and incentive strategy to increase happiness and staff retention.
James Malia, UK MD of Prezzee, said: “When times are tough, as they undoubtedly have been over the past two years, reward and incentive strategies are more important than ever. They’re a clear way to showcase how highly a company values its staff and as our data reveals, when not done well it directly results in people leaving for greener pastures.
“It’s therefore important that businesses are doing everything they can to support employees during the cost of living crisis. It doesn’t need to be a huge change in strategy either, the trick is to offer personalised rewards and incentives regularly – rather than making people wait a year for bonuses. It’s then that people will realise quite how highly businesses value them, especially when these incentives come at a time when money is tight, as it is for many during the current cost of living crisis.
“Times of financial difficulties can be hard to open-up about, especially within the place of work, so HR and line managers need to be one step ahead of their employees.
Indeed, the future of loyalty incentives should revolve around personalised, thoughtful rewards that highlight how much businesses care about their employees. Those companies which change their ways now will find themselves in a much stronger position come 2023.”
