Workers at a garment company in Vĩnh Phúc Province. Good benefits are the key driver of employee engagement as well as a major attractor of talented staff, according to human resource professionals working in Việt Nam.— VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY —  Good benefits are the key driver of employee engagement as well as a major attractor of talented staff, according to human resource professionals working in Việt Nam.

“Benefits help increase employee engagement with their work and forge bonds with their colleagues,” said Nguyễn Tâm Trang, deputy human resources director of Unilever Vietnam. “Increased engagement leads to a lower turnover rate.”

“Investment in benefits to retain employees is cost-effective compared to recruitment costs for new employees,” she added.

She said last week that companies should keep up to date with benefit trends and review their policies regularly to meet employee expectations.

Huỳnh Thụy Mai Phương, human resources director of Sanofi Vietnam, said that benefits should be tailored to specific groups.

“Different ages want different things, so benefit packages should suit different age segments,” Phương said.

Financial security benefits have greater importance for younger workers, whereas older workers care more about pension benefits, she said.

Nguyễn Thị Xuân Hương, human resources director of Akzo Nobel Paints Vietnam, said more job opportunities were available for experienced personnel, which puts pressure on companies to be competitive in their benefits packages.

She said that companies were facing more difficulties to meet the diverse expectations of workers.

Apart from benefits, the quality and competency of the company’s leaders is also a key driver of employee engagement, she said.

“Good benefits, not salary, are the critical attractor across all talent groups," according to Thanh Nguyễn, CEO of Anphabe, the career network of management professionals.

“The top desired driver when choosing an employer now is good benefits,” Thanh said.

According to Anphabe’s Benefit Trend Survey, good benefits outweigh competitive salaries for workers who are choosing an employer.

The survey was conducted online between September and December last year with nearly 22,700 experienced workers from 24 industries nationwide.

More than 62 per cent of polled employees said that good benefits were the most important driver when choosing a company.

A strong management team ranked second in talent attractors with 54 per cent of respondents, followed by fairness & respect (52.8 per cent), professional training and coaching (50.4 per cent), inspiring vision and clear strategy (49.9 per cent) and good health and wellness programmes (48.7 per cent).

Competitive base salary ranked seventh in the top 10 talent attractors, at 42.7 per cent.

Professionalism, successful brands and quality products, and a safe and secure environment followed in the top 10.

In the category of specific benefits, employees ranked health insurance the top priority and for their family second, with 77.6 per cent and 64.6 per cent of polled employees. 

This was followed by more than 57 per cent who said they wanted to have flexible working time and 53.7 per cent, short course sponsorship. Company trips (53 per cent) and awards (46 per cent) were ranked next.  

The average number of benefits that employees want is 11, but companies offer only an average of four, the survey found.

“There is still a significant gap between expectations and actual offerings,” Thanh said.

The five top factors driving employee engagement are employee stock ownership plan, retention scheme, team building and recreation reimbursement, pension scheme and paid vacation. However, these benefits have not been widely applied, she said.— VNS