How Certe is helping businesses improve their employee value proposition

The battle for Australian talent is real. It’s not news that COVID-19 has disrupted the workplace and created a crippling skills shortage by prompting people to leave unfulfilling jobs in search of greater meaning.

In what was already a tight local market, Australian businesses are finding it more challenging than ever before to retain and recruit good people.

Talent wars are not a recent phenomenon. For decades, employers in competitive sectors like legal, financial accounting, and engineering have been vying to attract and engage the best and brightest minds. The difference is now the ‘great resignation’ is forcing businesses across all industries to do the same. This has created additional challenges for people and culture and recruitment professionals, leading them to consider creative ways to attract and retain talent.

To win the battle for talent, businesses need to tap into the needs of employees and offer more attractive and holistic employee value propositions (EVP). A compelling EVP is one that not only rewards but also provides meaningful value to employees across all areas: remuneration, reward, culture, wellbeing, and flexibility.

Traditionally, Certe has specialised in wealth protection advice for individuals and corporates.

We believe tailored employee insurance arrangements are the cornerstone of a comprehensive EVP and risk advice will remain at the core of Certe’s services, however, there is a growing need for businesses to bolster their employee offering.

We recognised this trend early and made it a priority to increase our ability to offer integrated professional services across the employee benefits space.

In July, Certe acquired Genesis Financial Partners (Genesis), a business with a strong reputation for high quality superannuation, investment, and retirement advice. The acquisition has been an exciting growth opportunity, which has enabled Certe to provide even greater services and support to our clients.

We also believe in ‘walking our talk’ at Certe, and recently reviewed our own EVP which now encompasses flexible work arrangements, salary continuance insurance, financial advice, a quarterly recharge day, end of year bonus leave, subsidised gym memberships, and access to a leading UK mental health app, Thrive: Mental Wellbeing.

Certe has an Australian distribution agreement with Thrive, which is used by 3.3 million employees globally and features a range of mental health tools that are effective at helping people develop resilience, improve overall wellbeing, and to strengthen their personal resources to handle life’s curveballs.

Our mission is to be part of the solution by partnering with businesses to create and manage bespoke EVP’s that meet the unique needs of their people. We know a compelling EVP can help businesses attract, retain, and engage people, while also promoting positive mental health and wellbeing. We are very excited to be on this journey, creating new opportunities to help businesses thrive.

Jeremy Boller is the chief executive officer of Certe.