Augmenting Retail Compensation: Employee Benefits and Rewards in 2023

I our previous article in this series, we discussed how a more attractive package of compensation and benefits can help make the retail business more attractive as a career path to a higher quality of candidate.

Here in the US, additional benefits form a big part of what makes a role attractive or not and can mean the difference between a candidate considering a job offer from your brand or accepting one from a competitor. Additional benefits and rewards need to be carefully crafted to meet the needs of the times in which we live, and that means looking under the hood of the contemporary jobseeker and understanding what is most important to them.

It's also important to remember that benefits are not a replacement for an attractive rate of pay. Your brand needs to be augmenting an attractive wage with additional rewards and benefits – not compensating for a low one.

Benefits People Actually Value

In early 2022, global HR and payroll brand Remote surveyed 10,000 full time workers in the US and Europe to try and work out the kinds of benefits which are most valued by the modern worker.

Remote/flexible working options came in at the number one spot globally. Fueled by the pandemic, we are seeing this benefit become increasingly important to many workers – especially those with children. 52.61% of parents of a single child rated full time remote working as their top priority, with 68.29% and 81.06% valuing part-time remote working and flexible working hours, respectively. 74.2% of participants stated that flexible working would inspire them to change jobs.

Retail is in a unique position when it comes to offering these benefits as, while it is perfectly possible to offer remote working options to back-office staff, it is obviously not something which will work for those on the shop floor. However, one of the main selling points of a retail career can be flexible working options which, within reason, can structure shifts around the needs of staff.

Perhaps unsurprisingly the number one priority for workers in the US was healthcare benefits. With much of the rest of the world having some form of socialized healthcare in place, the US is somewhat unique in this regard and workers in this country want to be sure their private and family health insurance is being taken care of. US workers also value paid time off for self-care and mental health concerns more highly than their European counterparts.

Apple

One example of a big brand which is rethinking its benefits package for the new normal is technology giant, Apple. The iPhone producer is increasing benefits for its US workers to boost its ability to attract and retain hourly workers in its retail stores in an extremely competitive labor market.

Full-time retail workers in Apple Stores will have their paid sick day allocation doubled to twelve days per year, with eligible employees also seeing significant increases to their annual vacation allowance. Part-time staff will also get six paid vacation days as part of the changes. To help meet the challenges faced by working parents, retail employees will also now be eligible for paid parental leave and can access discounted emergency childcare.

"The move indicates that Apple is making changes to attract and retain hourly workers for its retail stores in a tight labor market,” reports CNBC. "The increase in sick days also addresses complaints from retail workers about potentially losing out on pay because of policies stemming from the pandemic and the CDC-recommended isolation period for close contacts or positive tests.”

Apple’s move elegantly addresses two of the top concerns identified in the research above. Whilst stopping short of offering remote working, Apple is meeting the concerns of parents by supporting them with time off and help with childcare costs, as well as offering more time off for sickness and vacation across the board.

Other brands are attempting to attract candidates by increasing the rate of pay they offer. According to CNBC, Amazon offers new hires an average of $18 per hour and recently raised max salaries for its corporate workers. Costco pays its workers $17 per hour. Bank of America has pledged to pay its hourly workers $25 per hour by 2025.

Final Thoughts

With the US Labor Department claiming that, as of December 2021, the number of job openings in the US exceeded the number of unemployed workers by 4.6 million, it really is a buyers’ market right now. Retail brands need to get their benefits packages right if they want to be taken seriously by high quality candidates in this incredibly competitive environment.

You can hear Phil Louridas, SVP, People Strategy & Systems, The RealReal speak on this topic and more at HR Retail 2023, being held in April at the Seattle Marriott Waterfront, WA.

Download the agenda today for more information and insights. I our previous article in this series, we discussed how a more attractive package of compensation and benefits can help make the retail business more attractive as a career path to a higher quality of candidate.
I our previous article in this series, we discussed how a more attractive package of compensation and benefits can help make the retail business more attractive as a career path to a higher quality of candidate.