In an increasingly competitive job market, where companies have a harder time retaining talent, it's not just the salary that matters. At least not the monetary wage.

Companies have sought to enhance their employer branding, aiming for prominent places among the “best companies to work for”. But while organizations “fight each other” to get the attention of the best professionals, it is in retention that lies the real challenge.

If in the past a high salary and stability were enough to attract and keep a good employee at the company, today it no longer works like that and big companies like: Google, Facebook or Apple have come to change the paradigm with their retention model that includes a set of benefits and rewards hard to ignore, which are also called “emotional wages”.



Money alone cannot fail to be an essential factor, but more than a bank transfer, employees are attracted to an organizational culture that promotes their well-being and personal and professional balance, which can be decisive in choosing a future professional opportunity.

But it is not only up to large multinational companies to mark their employer branding through the attribution of compensation and benefits. In Portugal, too, there seems to be a growing concern for the happiness of workers, especially when it is directly related to commitment, motivation, and thus also to productivity. From large multinational groups to start-ups, in fact, it is in the latter that the preponderance of emotional wages (career plan, flexible hours, informal environment) has been most evident.



What some companies offer in their remuneration package

Career Plan
The market is more competitive than ever, making professionals constantly approached with proposals for new attractive challenges, which can result in high turnover even in companies that bet on talent retention measures. A structured career plan that includes new challenges, training and enhances professional growth may be enough to feed the expectations of the most ambitious and keep employees motivated and committed.

Feedback culture
A culture of continuous and constructive feedback promotes transversal communication and, in addition to allowing employees greater self-knowledge and awareness of strengths and areas for improvement so that they can develop them, it allows the company to have greater knowledge of its employees. On one hand, the existence of an open and bilateral communication allows people to demonstrate what motivates them in the organizational environment, and on the other hand, it allows the employer to be aware of the main factors of satisfaction or dissatisfaction, which may be decisive when deciding to change job or leave the current company.

Purpose
According to Mercer's Global Talent Trends 2018, 75% of respondents said they would be three times more likely to work for companies with a high sense of purpose. In the same study, in general, it was practically consensual the idea that organizations should focus on objectives that contemplate an improvement in society, which reports a growing concern and willingness to work with a “sense of mission”.

Flexibility
FOMO for “Fear of Missing Out” is a concept that arises with the growing desire to enjoy all the important moments in life and that is related to work-life balance. Greater flexibility of schedules (and even home-office) allows employees to make an autonomous and personal management of their day-to-day and therefore, feel happier, increasing their dedication to the organization.

Leisure time
It has been scientifically proven that working eight to ten hours straight is not productive. Moments of relaxation and breaks increase productivity, creativity and motivation of employees.
Many companies are already betting on game rooms, company lunches and dinners, and other celebratory moments that are not only a powerful marketing tool for employer branding, but also enhance team building and bonding.

Vacation Days
Even the most committed and motivated professionals are attracted to more vacation days. Extra days for training, investing in personal projects, or even rest, make people more motivated and productive, which makes their departure less likely.

Focus on physical activity and mental health
From partnerships with gyms to yoga, meditation and mindfullness classes, these are also some of the bets of many companies that want to become more attractive. With the growing concern for a healthier lifestyle, these measures help to break the day-to-day routine and contribute to the physical, but above all mental well-being of those who practice them.

Incentives to birth
Many organizations are concerned about the issue of birth. Nurseries, integrated kindergartens and extended paternity leave and reduced hours, are measures that allow employees to focus on the growth of their family and have stability in this plan, without jeopardizing their career.

Other services
In addition to the latter, there are organizations that provide services such as laundry, hairdressing, medication delivery or consultations, so that their employees are able to make the most of their free time, thus reinforcing their emotional wages.


The combination of monetary wages and emotional wages is increasingly relevant, and these represent some of the components of the remuneration package that organizations that invest in the valorisation of talent can use to attract and retain their teams, from the youngest to the most senior ones.


Rita Veiga