Top Creative Benefits To Offer Employees
Smart companies know that investing in employee benefits is integral to their success.
Offering employees standard, status-quo benefits is no longer a way to attract or retain your high-performing employees. Not only do companies need to get creative about the benefits they are offering, but also about the way that benefits are selected. Rather than the standard, one-size-fits-all approach to benefits, companies should tailor benefits to fit employees needs, interests and lifestyles. The breakdown of “creative” benefits is in offering non-traditional benefits that speak to employee needs and positive outcomes.
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Encourage Play
Regardless of what industry you’re in, encouraging a healthy amount of play for employees is an important aspect of the benefits package that you offer.
Many companies are integrating their company values or product into providing downtime for employees to enough life outside of their policies. For examples, a ski company in Denver gives employees “snow days,” where they are free to take the day off and head to the slopes with their company-purchased season ski passes. As companies continue to understand the importance of having happy employees that do their best work, integrating and encouraging play within the workplace (and work hours) will become an increasingly popular (and advantageous) benefit to offer.
Flexible Work
Offering flexible work schedules and locations is not necessary a “new” benefit to offer, but is one that is gaining traction as an extremely popular benefit for employees and a beneficial one for companies. Allowing employees to adapt their work schedules to fit their lifestyle (kids, sports, energy levels, etc.) as well as allowing them to flexibility to work where they do their best work, is a radical structure that is slowly becoming commonplace.
A few companies have implemented a practice called “Duvet Days,” which allows employees to work from home last minute for whatever reason they decide. The idea behind this practice is to eliminate the amount of sick days employees take (either for illness or undisclosed other reasons) and promote flexibility of place for employees.
Volunteer Hours
Paid time to volunteer is a surprisingly high priority for employees of this generation, with 84 percent of millennials surveyed saying that making a positive difference in the world was more important than professional recognition.
Encouraging employees to volunteer is a double benefit; employees feel their needs are being addressed while positively impacting your company’s reputation. At the same time, giving back is proven to boost overall happiness. Any smart business knows that happy employees are the key to a company’s success.
Complete Wellness
You can’t afford not to create vibrant, healthy work environments. Serious health problems seriously cost companies. Today’s workplace wellness goes beyond offering healthy snacks or starting a “steps” competition at work. Workplace wellness should target each individual employee’s wellness as a whole. A one-size-fits-all approach to wellness is no longer acceptable for employees or for promoting the potential of your workplace. Some great ways to implement complete wellness in your workplace is through:
- Encourage short breaks throughout the day
- Bring nature into the office
- Give employees time off
- Encourage healthy lifestyle choices like
- Self Reflection
- Sleep
- Nutrition
- Movement
Travel opportunities
Encouraging employees to travel extends beyond giving a generous PTO allowance, and is an innovative way to spark personal development. Exploring new places, cultures and experiences has generally shown to boost creativity and bring fresh perspectives back to the office. For a creative benefit that also promotes creativity of your team, encourage employees to travel.
Offering creative benefits that speak to employees’ needs, interests and lifestyles is one of the best ways you can keep the talent you have, attract the talent you want, and improve the workplace culture of your company. Benefits work best when they’re aligned to company culture and growth goals. Learn more at beni.fit.