# How to attract employees with the right benefits

> A competitive salary gets you in the conversation. What actually closes the deal, and keeps people once they're in, is a benefits package that means something.

By Joey Krosch. Published 2024-06-20, updated 2026-08-17.

Salary opens the door, but it rarely closes it anymore. Candidates weighing
two similar offers increasingly decide based on the benefits package, and
what a company does or does not offer says something real about how it
treats the people already there. Getting this right matters for hiring, and
it matters just as much for keeping the people you already have.

## Start with what actually appeals

The benefits candidates value most tend to be substantive rather than
decorative: private health insurance contributions, superannuation above
the mandatory minimum, genuine flexibility over where and when work happens,
paid parental leave, and real mental health support. Professional
development and additional leave options round these out. None of these are
exotic, but together they signal a company that has thought seriously about
what people actually need.

## Build the package around your own workforce

The best benefits packages are surveyed, not guessed. Ask your team what
they would actually value before assuming you know. Stay current, hybrid
and remote options are now closer to standard than exception, and keep the
package inclusive of the different life stages and needs across your team
rather than designed around a single typical employee.

## Favour substance over gimmicks

A ping pong table says less about a workplace than most companies think it
does. Meaningful benefits, mental health support, genuine flexibility,
tangible investment in career growth, do more to signal that a company means
what it says than a novelty perk ever will. That said, a well-run [in-house
barista service](/workplace) sits in a different category: done properly, it
becomes daily, visible infrastructure rather than a one-off gesture.

> **Where coffee fits:**
> An in-house barista service is one of the few benefits people interact with
> every single day. That daily visibility is exactly why it punches above its
> apparent size as a perk.

## Distinguish the essential from the optional

Some benefits are close to expected now, and skipping them reads as a
company falling behind rather than keeping costs lean. Others are genuinely
optional and differentiate a package rather than define its floor. Knowing
which is which for your industry and your candidate pool keeps the budget
focused on what actually moves a decision.

## Communicate what you offer, clearly

A strong benefits package that nobody knows about does no work. Benchmark
against comparable employers, communicate the package clearly during
recruitment rather than burying it in a PDF, and keep gathering feedback so
the offering evolves with what the team actually needs. Employee
testimonials in job postings do more to convey a real benefit than a bullet
list ever will.

## The takeaway

Attracting people with benefits is no longer just about matching salary. A
package built around genuine, substantive support, communicated clearly and
tailored to your actual workforce, is what turns a competitive offer into
one people choose without hesitation.