The labour market is still extremely competitive and doubly so in the case of retail companies. Workers know that there is interest in them and many of them do not mind changing workplaces frequently. Recruitment of new colleagues is therefore expensive and they often do not warm up for a long time at one workplace and continue elsewhere. However, some companies have found a solution in an unconventional benefit.
Meal vouchers, meal vouchers, pension or life insurance contributions - there are many ways in which companies try to attract new workers and retain them. But in an era of overheated labor markets and today's uncertain times, these widespread benefits are no longer working.
Lagardère Travel Retail also knows about it. On the Czech market, it operates, among other things, a network of Relay stores, Costa Coffee cafes, Paul French bakeries, Masaryčka restaurant and Burger King fast food restaurants.
Although Lgardère Travel Retail increased wages between 2021 and 2022, turnover was still high. Therefore, the company's management was looking for ways to gain an advantage in the highly competitive market with workers.
"With hindsight, it turns out that Advanto was created just in time, because it solves a number of burning problems for employers arising from the lack of people on the labor market. For workers, it is also a valuable safety net against financial problems. And covid, or the current increase in prices, is causing them," says Martin Fortelný, one of the founders of Advanta.
This is confirmed by HR expert and head of the Union of HR Specialists of the Czech Republic Petr Otáhal. "This is a benefit that responds exactly to the most basic need of a huge group of employees. And that's the wage," he says.
The management of Lagardère Travel Retail Advanto was launched in August 2021. "At that time, we were considering other benefits for our employees, but when Advanto approached us, we were immediately intrigued by this possibility. After the introduction of Advanta, it quickly became clear that the payout at any time brought another interesting and, above all, beneficial benefit, which helps us both in recruiting and retaining our existing employees," says Eva Kyselová, HR Director of Lagardere Travel Retail.
According to Kyselová, the turnover rate is consistently low, especially among workers who use Advanto. After a year, more than 87% of them still work for Lagardère Travel Retail, which is an improvement over the time before the introduction of Advanta.
"We are registering greater efficiency and diligence of people across the companies where they use Advanto," says Fortelný. According to him, the explanation is simple, although it may not be obvious at first glance.
"Thanks to the possibility to choose a part of their worked remuneration at any time, people do not avoid the stress associated with financial uncertainty, which is often caused by payouts on one fixed monthly term. A lot of people are much more comfortable budgeting their money on a weekly basis," Fortelný explains.
"In addition, the Advanto app, in which money is added in real time that I can pay out immediately, motivates them to work more hours, for example, by people signing up for an extra shift," he adds.
The fact that an on-demand paycheck can be more valuable than a higher reward once a month is confirmed by HR expert Gerhard Knop from the Leadership synergy group. "Quick reward twice reward," he says.
Brigadiers are not used to waiting for money
Kyselová from Lagardère Travel Retail adds that based on the positive feedback of employees, the company decided to expand Advanto and access to pay at any time even among employees at DPP and DPČ. "We believe that Advanto will be beneficial and popular with our temporary workers," says Kyselová.
Fortelný adds that among recruitment agencies, the payment of remuneration to temporary workers immediately after the work done is standard. "Advanto is a means for companies to compete with recruitment agencies in the labour market with temporary workers," he explains.
Such a strategy among retail companies was chosen by Notino, a well-known seller of perfumes and cosmetics. Advanto was introduced primarily for its temporary workers in the spring of this year.
"At the end of April this year, we gave every temporary worker at DPP or DPČ the opportunity to flexibly dispose of their own, not yet paid earnings. This aroused great interest among temporary workers and ranked it among their most used benefits," says Notina HR Manager Jana Vričanová.
It is precisely because of this positive experience that we would like to extend the possibility of choosing a part of the salary at any time for all employees, starting in September of this year," adds Vričanová.
"We hear more and more from company management that money and quick access to it are beginning to be seen by employees as a new standard. Our mission is to make payday loans, or generally disadvantageous and dangerous loans, disappear from the market. So that people do not need to use them at all," says entrepreneur Martin Fortelný, founder of the Advanto service.
