Digital Recruitment All-Rounders Media/Technology/Marketing/Creative

Benefits Survey for the Digital Industry

Foreword

First of all, I would like to say a huge thank you to all of the companies that have taken the time to complete the survey. It is this valuable input that has made the analysis possible. We plan to continue this survey each year to make the results even more meaningful.

Benefits are an important way for companies to attract and retain the best talent. Furthermore, they can be used to differentiate your business from the competition. I think this survey is a great tool for benchmarking and analysing how your business’ benefits package ranks against others in your industry & your peers.

Please do not hesitate to contact me or anyone at Sphere for more information.

Welcome to the Sphere Digital Recruitment Benefits Survey.

Ben Steer - Financial Controller, Sphere Digital Recruitment

Ben is a qualified accountant with years’ of experience working for big brands such as, Tate & Lyle and Heinz. Ben also has a background in Economics, completing a BSc from the University of Bath and working in Macroeconomic Research. He has also been the main contributor to several Office of National Statistics surveys.

Introduction

1. To provide you with information on the benefits that similar companies provide to their staff

2. To provide you with information on the benefits different companies looking for similar staff offer their employees

3. To provide you with a benchmark to review your benefits against

In addition to this, you can rank your business against other similar business either by size or in the wider "ecosystem". Please note: This will be based on the "profile" of an organisation. We will not release any information about specific businesses.

Why have we done this?

• Employee benefits are an important way to retain and hire people- we want to share this info with you

• We are regularly asked by our clients about benefits packages and want to provide you with credible info

• We want to understand and provide our customers prefer clients with an easy guide to what other businesses offer employees, away from their basic salary, to hire and retain people

• To give you useful information that you can use when making decisions on areas concerning employee benefits and staff retention

Thank you for completing the survey, we got the best response from fast growth companies like ourselves who are looking to grow in a sustainable way and attract the right people to foster this environment.

Our Aim

Views & Reviews on Benefits

• Over 80% of companies surveyed say employee benefits are important

• 40% have no formal review of benefits • Only 20% have a structure in place to

review these benefits • 60% of companies in Digital think

benefits influence the decision to join, despite it being listed as the 3rd most important factor when considering a job after pay and company

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Not Important Neutral Very Important

Are benefits important when retaining and engaging employees?

Total 21- 100 101- 500 501+

Size –

• The survey found that larger companies offer the most

comprehensive benefits package and review benefits

regularly.

• Smaller companies are often more imaginative and

creative in the benefits they offer

Type –

• Agencies are the best all-round companies for benefits,

with LOTS of fringe benefits

• MMA, Ad/Mar Tech think most important (both as part of

package and bringing people in)

• However, review less often than Brand/Client and Media

Owner/ Publisher

Maternity and Paternity • 19% of firms offer above statutory maternity pay, 14% offer paternity • 25% of companies that offer above statutory maternity pay do not do the same for

paternity pay • 20% Brand/Client and Media Owner/ Publisher offer above statutory for maternity and

paternity • 18% MMA and ad/mar tech offer maternity above statutory, only 12% offer paternity.

Therefore a 1/3rd of companies offering above statutory pay do not offer this to Fathers. • Offering anything above statutory pay is usually saved for executive level roles. However

there is a clear difference between paternity and maternity cover with paternity not being as considered as maternity.

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

Above Statutory Above Statutory

Maternity Paternity

Media/ Marketing Agency Advertising or Marketing Technology

Media Owner/ Publisher Brand/ Client

By Company Size Explanation

• Medical and Bonuses or bonus payments are popular • Larger companies offer bigger benefits and a wider range and variety • This includes fringe benefits such as season ticket loans, training and social events • A greater proportion of smaller companies offer recruitment bonuses - perhaps to lower the

costs from recruitment companies N.B. Brand figures show anomalies and therefore are not reflective of brands in general. This is due to big brands not being as

interested as start-ups in completing this survey. However, from our experience what this does reflect is how brands consider

their recruitment, with an attitude towards hiring and recruiters. They have got formal teams in place to review their benefits

packages and as a result of reputation don’t need to do much to hire people.

Benefits Offered

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Bonus/ ShareScheme

Medical Retirement Plans Life Insurance Free/ SubsidisedFood

Season TicketLoan Staff Learning andDevelopment

Social Club/Events

RecruitmentBonus

Media/ Marketing Agency Advertising or Marketing Technology Media Owner/ Publisher Brand/ Client

By Company Type Explanation • The majority offer benefits under £2.5k PA • Bonus and medical insurance cover are consistently the most regularly offered benefits • Value varies a lot between all companies in all sectors (perhaps based on size of

company) • Brand/Client offer lowest benefits • Higher percentage of MMA and Ad/Mar Tech offer a wide range of benefits • 80% of agencies surveyed offer recruitment bonuses

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Bonus/ ShareScheme

Medical Retirement Plans Life Insurance Free/ SubsidisedFood

Season TicketLoan Staff Learning andDevelopment

Social Club/Events

RecruitmentBonus

Media/ Marketing Agency Advertising or Marketing Technology Media Owner/ Publisher Brand/ Client

Benefits Offered

Pensions

• 48% of small companies offer pensions

• 68% of medium sized companies

• 80% of large companies

By Size:

By Type:

• 86% of brands and clients surveyed provided pensions

• 65+% for MMA’s and Advertising/Mar tech

• 80% MOPS

N.B. Pension laws are about to change, in 2017 it will be become compulsory for businesses to provide pensions.

3 Top Line Tips for a company like you…….

• Speak with your MD, employee benefits are important, why is this not being addressed? IS there an issue with the management structure/ attitudes or are you more open minded in the way that you attract, retain and engage employees? Everyone knows that 1 happy employee is worth the work of 5

• Review, review, review – What are you currently offering and where are you against these companies

• Feedback- Whatever your size, anonymous feedback from employees can show you where you can improve, usually simple things like breakfast, sports teams can show a bit more of a caring side and help people mix within different teams

Recommendations & next steps

If you’d like to hear more on how to attract the right people for your business and on how to engage employees please visit our BLOG.

Digital Recruitment All-Rounders Media/Technology/Marketing/Creative

www.spherelondon.co.uk Floor 5, Imperial House, 15–19 Kingsway, London WC2B 6UN

For any information on this survey get in touch.

“The Sphereway”