A well-designed employee benefits package isn’t just for show. It should offer practical benefits that contribute to achieving strategic business goals, helping your team to become happier, healthier and more productive. This is especially important for the construction equipment manufacturing industry, which is currently grappling with a skill shortage and rising mental illness within the workforce.
The challenges facing the construction equipment industry, which employee benefits can help to solve, are real. According to a CEA survey of our members, 64% struggle to recruit top talent, and 36% struggle to retain it.
74% of manufacturers reported to the British Chamber of Commerce that they were struggling with skills shortages, with essential technical, engineering and construction skills disappearing from the UK workforce as large parts of our ageing population choose to retire.
It's a huge concern for employers in the construction equipment industry. One of the main reasons cited for the difficulties was the retention of younger workers, as it was not uncommon for recruits to receive training only to leave a couple of years later.
So, what should employers do? Offering comprehensive employee benefits can go a long way toward meeting employees’ needs and expectations, which in turn helps with recruitment and retention. The evidence certainly supports this.
WTW’s Global Benefits Attitudes Survey found that 37% of employees chose their current employer based on their benefits package, 44% said that they stayed with their employer for the same reason. 39% said they would change employers if they found a better benefits package. Separately, a study by Oxford Brookes University found that mental health support was one of the top priorities for Gen Z workers.
When it comes to the construction equipment industry, our CEA member survey found that 85% of employees prioritise healthcare benefits, which again shows why employers need to offer support for both physical and mental well-being.
Additionally, 73% of CEA members reported struggling to keep pace with salary trends due to the cost-of-living crisis. On top of this, the CIPD found that 59% of employees believe it is important that their present employer has a policy to support and improve their financial wellbeing. Employee benefits can do just this by offering alternatives to salary increases through features such as retail discounts, financial support, and salary sacrifice schemes.
Good mental health and well-being are essential for every workforce. Still, those working within construction equipment manufacturing face distinct pressures that can lead to stress, anxiety and other forms of mental, or even physical, illness.
Research published by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) found that mental health and wellbeing issues were common in the whole construction supply chain, including those working in manufacturing.
Statistics recently published by the HSE on manufacturing industry safety found that 91K workers experienced work-related ill health, with 41% of cases relating to mental health and 40% related to musculoskeletal disorders.
Engineers face similar challenges, with an Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) report finding that 77.8% of engineers report that their work is stressful, and 53.7% specifically attribute workplace stress to an adverse effect on their mental health and wellbeing.
The CITB report also found that, of those surveyed, just over half (58%) of manufacturers working in the construction industry offered employee assistance programmes (EAP) and counselling as part of their employee benefits package.
While this is encouraging, it means that a significant number of companies in the sector still don’t offer wellbeing benefits, despite ongoing talent shortages.
Offering a comprehensive employee benefits package that gives meaningful support is a vital step towards tackling recruitment and retention challenges. If businesses want to take these issues seriously, they need to improve their provision for health and well-being.
The evidence surrounding employee benefits is clear, with several detailed studies showing that they not only improve employee happiness but also enhance retention, recruitment, business productivity, and even profitability. Here’s what the studies say:
The CEA is committed to addressing the skills and recruitment challenges faced by the construction equipment industry, which is why we’ve formed a partnership with Personal Group to offer our members a range of benefits to support with mental, physical, social and financial wellbeing. These benefits include retail discounts, salary sacrifice schemes, insurance, wellbeing support and more.
Find out how to improve employee wellbeing and engagement for your workforce.