8 MAY 2024
Are you promoting your College benefits?
Benefits, benefits, benefits!!! Don’t hide them, shout about them!
The recent levelling up premium payment scheme announcement is very welcome within FE. However, this doesn’t apply to all subjects and compared to industry, college salaries remain below market rate.
A recent study by Aviva showed that almost one in five (18%) of UK workers feel that there isn’t enough information available to them about their employer’s staff benefits packages.
While salaries often play a part in drawing candidates into applying for a job vacancy, FE Colleges are in the unique position where their staff benefits are far more generous than those in the private sector. Gym memberships and free car parking add up over the year!
From recent insights with our FE clients and jobseekers, we’ve pulled together the 8 top college benefits most frequently requested in 2024.
Not all of these can be offered by FE Colleges, but there are many benefits colleges give which are not highlighted enough:
1. Flexibility / Hybrid Working
Flexibility is a core benefit that employees look for. Offering a more flexible work schedule can help you widen your talent pool. On top of statutory requirements, colleges often offer enhanced family friendly policies.
Pre pandemic, remote working wasn’t an option for most, however in 2024 it’s now seen as essential perk that many employees put at the top of their wish list. This is usually one of the first questions candidates ask us when enquiring about a non-teaching role. Obviously for some departments this is a tricky option to offer and not always possible. Working on campus, department type, teaching / non teaching can make this difficult. However, some roles can be WFH for part of the week which s big win for potential employees.
2. Pension
With pension contributions of up to 19.1% for support staff and 26.6% for teaching staff – this is a generous offering and must be highlighted!
3. Health & Wellbeing
Healthcare can be expensive and so employer healthcare benefits can provide a competitive edge when trying to land top talent. Most colleges offer fantastic health care insurance cover and life assurance schemes.
Mental health has been a key topic over the last few years and employees now expect employers to take a more active approach in helping them find a healthy work / life balance. Colleges offer free and confidential counselling and employee helplines, on-going support and guidance.
Adding, eyesight tests, gym membership, hair & beauty treatments, and cycle to work schemes. You have a superb package to offer.
4. Holiday Allowance
Many studies show that holidaying is good for wellbeing. The better your staff feel mentally and physically, the more productive they will be at work. Colleges offer some of the best holiday allowances, normally a min of 30 days, plus college term dates &, bank holidays!
Many colleges now offer additional family leave schemes to cover:
- Maternity leave
- Paternity leave
- Adoption leave
- Parental leave
- Carer’s leave
So, shout from the roof tops how good your offering is!
5. Financial Support
Financial wellbeing is a big concern for many employees so offering support through financial advice and resources can help your employees improve their financial wellbeing. Colleges offer support and discount schemes on and off campus, and external partnerships. Benefits such as free car parking, bus and train travel schemes, subsidised food on campus all help.
6. Staff Development Opportunities
Employees are looking for clear progression and growth opportunities. Offering a clear route into CPD will provide motivation and improve employee engagement. Most colleges fund contribution for staff to attain further qualifications and give annual performance reviews.
7. Teacher Training
Many candidates have the life experience and the industry skills, but don’t hold teaching qualifications - if your college offers fully funded training, broadcast this!
8. Free parking
This may sound silly, but it’s a frequent question from potential applicants. Generally, colleges are in bustling areas with limited to no free parking spaces onsite, leaving employees having to fork out for parking costs or inconveniently park further away. Whilst managing parking at colleges can be a complex and challenging task due to the space restrictions, we encourage institutions to consider reserving car parking spaces for members of staff or provide subsidised tariffs as an additional and unique benefit.
It really is essential to be loud & proud about the many exceptional benefits your college offers, many candidates particularly those new to FE have no idea these are available.
List them on your job adverts and highlight them on your careers page.
An excellent example of this is from Kirklees College where they provide a full breakdown of employee benefits on their recruitment portal.
Who are onlyFE?
For the past decade, onlyFE have been on a mission to provide sensible cost-effective solutions to recruitment advertising, exclusively for FE Colleges & Sixth Forms.
We have the knowledge, expertise, and experience to get it right first time.
We have plenty more tips and advice tailored specifically to the FE Sector (it’s all we do!)
Including:
How to stop application drop off.
How to attract a more age diverse audience.
How to approach and hire passive candidates.
How to advertise for support staff – cost effectively.
Sound good? Then please contact us today or book a chat to see how we can help your college.