It is not uncommon for companies to find themselves struggling with attracting the ideal candidates. Sometimes, finding the right person to fulfill a given position isn’t as simple as it should. Thus, many businesses and managers opt for offering a hiring bonus to candidates, hoping to attract more and better applicants. The concept of hiring bonuses is not new, yet many companies hesitate before deciding to offer one.
Before deciding to offer a hiring bonus, we need to consider some aspects that can’t be ignored. First, we should be completely aware of what the purpose of these bonuses is. We should also think of the advantages that come from a hiring bonus. However, we must balance this out considering the disadvantages that might come.
What Is the Purpose of a Hiring Bonus?
Many companies and businesses offer different types of employee incentives in order to achieve several goals. Improving their employer brand, increasing employees’ morale and performance, and many others. However, offering a hiring bonus might have a slightly different purpose.
When a company struggles with the quality or commitment from recent hires, hiring bonuses can be an alternative. This way, they want to attract more and better applicants. Offering sign-bonuses, three-month, even six-month bonuses can be a great way to motivate new hires to meet the needs of a company, in a dynamic that benefits both parties.
Advantages of Hiring Bonuses
Regardless of the particular purpose we are considering, offering hiring bonuses does imply several advantages. As we mentioned above, these incentives help you improve your employer brand, which is more important than ever nowadays. Since a hiring bonus is a one-time payment, it is a cost-effective way to invest the company’s funds.
Hiring bonuses are a great way to close the pay-benefit gap that every company has. If you’re running a small business, financing continuous raises might not be possible. However, offering a hiring bonus can be a great way to balance the perks that your company offers. This will make your business stand out from your competitors, and candidates will know that.
Disadvantages of Hiring Bonuses
Even when, in theory, hiring bonuses sound great, they bring some disadvantages to the game. To begin with, a hiring bonus means more immediate investment of funds. When we are starting our business, being able to afford such expenses can be hard. Also, companies who offer these incentives as a standard might get known only because of such bonuses. This might attract short-term candidates only looking for extra money without committing.
As a result, offering a hiring bonus might not always work the way we want them to. Before deciding to add these employee incentives to our list of benefits, we should be careful. Having a clear and well-defined strategy always helps. Consider if you want to set it as a standard benefit, if it will be seasonal, or only work as a sporadic bonus. This way we’ll make sure it doesn’t backfire and ends up damaging our company more than it hurt it.
