What HR Trends are you considering for 2018? Check out Austin Benefits top trends this year.

Unique Benefits Stand Out in a Job Seekers Market

We’re not just talking benefits because it’s what we do and love. Beyond the salary you offer to a candidate, right behind it will always be the value of your benefits package. How do you stand out when everyone is offering a similar suite of benefits, or how can you provide more value in your benefits if a higher salary isn’t an option?

First things first, talk to your broker – it’s their job to provide you with strategic benefit ideas that work for you, use their knowledge! If you don’t have a broker, or you’re not getting ideas that work for your business, you’ve got our number.

Next, be sure not to ogle over flashy perks too much. Pet insurance is great and there are puppies plastered all over their sales pitch, but is it right for your team? How many of them even have pets? Do you know?

Try out some financial or other personal protection options like tuition assistance, no-interest small loans, or identity theft coverage. These are low-cost options that can provide real, measurable benefits and have a higher perceived value.

See also: 101 Creative Benefit Ideas

Taking Wellness Beyond the Office

True workplace wellness means more than just a handful of initiatives or handing out FitBits with no follow-up. HR often has the power to take a proactive role to integrate wellness into employees’ lives in and out of the office.

This year, focus effort on taking a 3-dimensional approach to wellness. Invest in all three aspects of wellness: physical, mental, and financial – and how you can involve employees’ families.

Work-life balance is still at the top of the employee experience, so be sure you evaluate honestly how your company is doing now and what steps you can take this year to improve. One small step is to promote your existing PTO program, give a nudge by requiring a certain amount to be used each year. Also, communicate some general etiquette rules while on PTO, like not checking email or even “blocking” employee emails while there are on extended PTO until they return.

Reeling in Passive Candidates

It’s a job seeker’s market. If you’re not actively going fishing for new talent, someone else is reeling in the best candidates before you!

The best employees are most likely not all out looking for jobs, they may feel mostly satisfied with the current position and employer. However, with trends in employee resignation, it may not be too difficult to snatch up a great candidate who’s not even on the market.

Social media is a great tool for passive candidate outreach, it only takes a quick message to possibly spark interest. The key here is personalization, so don’t mass -message a bunch of qualified individuals. Use the information at your disposal to find those who could find a better position, benefits, or experience at your company.

You can also look outside of traditional job fairs which can become like searching for a needle in a haystack. Look for a networking meeting, conference, or happy hour where you can meet the types of candidates you’re looking for in their element.

Optimizing Remote & Flexible Working Arrangements

Remote and other flexible work arrangements can help your business get more productivity without hiring more team members – when they are used effectively. Offering flexibility benefits your company in many ways, and will continue to be a high-value benefit to future candidates and existing employees.

Summer Fridays, Work from Home Wednesdays, and other arrangements can be customized for your industry and company size. You should also consider how flexible work arrangements can widen your candidate pool by making the commute a lesser factor for applicants.

Be sure that everyone in your company knows what the expectations are when you have flexible work arrangements. Transparency is the best policy to ensure high productivity and employee satisfaction.

An Individual Approach

In all aspects, HR should be considering how to target and support candidates and employees on a more personal level. Pre-boarding, onboarding, training, career development, continuous feedback, and many more areas provide ample opportunity to grow your company’s connection to each member of your team.

Employees and candidates who feel that they can identify how their individual contribution and growth support the company’s goal are the best types of engaged employees. They are more likely to be high producers and inspire innovation for your company’s benefit.

A good place to start is getting into a marketing mindset when considering areas to target with more personalization. Check out the next few trends for the top areas to start considering a more individual approach.

Crafting the Employee Experience

Just like marketers who build brand advocates for their product or service, HR can build brand advocates internally for your company. Implementation of new software and AI technologies make it possible for HR heroes to track your company’s employee experience from candidacy to end.

Now your HR team doesn’t have to choose between focusing their time on building relationships with each employee versus finishing up paperwork. In 2018, people and process become better intertwined.

The right technology lets both candidates and current employees take control of their journey at your company (another way to hit on individual approach!). Through automation, predictive technology, and better benefits, HR will build a more streamlined employee journey that keeps your team happy, growing, and efficient.

Looking Beyond Fixed Jobs

Flexibility isn’t just for work hours, it is also becoming more important in job duties. Not only is flexibility becoming more necessary to your company, it can be more desirable to your employees. Employees want to craft a position that best fits their needs, abilities, and future.

Offering job flexibility or being open to shifts in employees’ tasks (not just adding new responsibilities) is another way to bring a better sense of individuality to your company.

Real-Time Learning

Continuous and on-demand learning is in growing demand across many industries. Employees want to improve themselves to become more invested and take on more responsibility at your company. Stagnation and boredom should be seen as a great enemy to top talent retention.

HR pros can lead the way to overhaul training and career development, considering the lengthening time many Americans will remain in the job market. Both traditional and digital learning options mean employees have access to the right sort of training to fit their needs (ahem, individual approach popping up again, take note!). Keep in mind the benefit of measurable data from digital training methods, which can provide more accurate and faster access to trends or problems in your training program.