It’s no secret that successful companies have satisfied employees. In order to build a productive team, you need to cater to your people’s personal interests, not just their conventional workplace needs.
Whether you’re hiring new employees or trying to retain top performers, you need to make them feel valued. The best way to do this is by offering innovative and customized employee perks. Show people that you care about them, and you’ll have better chances of retaining a satisfied and successful team.
You may already be familiar with the different types of employee benefits, which include benefits required by federal and state laws, and fringe benefits. Traditional fringe benefits include health insurance, vacation days, life insurance, and flexible scheduling, among others; however, many people are looking for benefits that go beyond the basics these days. Give your team the freedom to choose unique employee benefits with the following innovative ideas.
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Benefits to Enhance Well-Being
A growing number of companies are offering benefits that address the physical, mental and financial needs of their people.
1. Gym Memberships
There’s a good chance that some of your employees participate in various fitness activities, either in a gym or at home. By providing benefits that pay for monthly fitness classes or offer discounts on fitness fees and home equipment, you’re showing that you value and promote your people’s physical health. Exercise is proven to positively improve work performance, after all.
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2. Mental Health Services
Therapy and mental health services are no longer taboo, thankfully. Support and counseling services are being used more frequently, and your people are increasingly likely to seek out these services. If you offer benefit flexibility, then your employees can find professional help that fits their needs without overstepping any personal boundaries.
3. Financial Well-Being & Investment Training
Investing decisions can be complex, particularly if an employee uses a retirement plan through work and invests as an individual. You can offer courses that educate your people about finances and investing and find independent experts who give advice. Investment education is rarely explored and most younger employees would benefit from learning more about this area.
4. Mentor Programs
Many new employees can benefit from the guidance of a mentor. If you formalize a mentoring process, more people will be able to participate, enriching the lives of mentors and mentees. Search for experienced people in your industry both inside and outside of your business, and ask them to serve as mentors for your new hires.
5. Tuition Reimbursement
Education is expensive. In fact, the national student loan debt is currently at about $1.64 trillion. If you offer tuition reimbursement, you’re bolstering your people and helping them succeed financially while training them to contribute to the well-being of the company.
6. Life Coaching
A life coach can help with both personal and professional life decisions. People use life coaches when going through big changes or when they want to develop professionally. Provide connections to life coaches and help to fund the cost of the coaching to improve the day-to-day life of employees.
7. Master Classes on Industry Subjects
Make professional development more interesting by offering master classes from experts in your industry. A marketing firm can offer a course with an email marketing expert, while a law firm might book a course on intellectual property.
Lifestyle Benefits
Lifestyle benefits are perks that an employee receives outside of their wage or salary that specifically aim at meeting everyday needs — child care, food delivery, mental health. More meaningful benefits will fulfill your employees’ personal interests. What do they enjoy doing outside of work? What types of benefits would they value the most?
8. Pet Care
In 2020, the American Veterinary Medical Foundation estimated that 45% of households own a dog and 26% own a cat. If the majority of your people have worked at home during the pandemic, they’ve spent far more time with their pets — and many may have gotten a pet to keep them company while staying home.
Dog walking or cat sitting is particularly useful if, or when, your employees move back to the office or return to business travel after the pandemic. They’ll want to know their valued companion is cared for when they are no longer around 24⁄7.
9. Recreational Travel
Who doesn’t love time off? Discounts on air, hotel and other travel services can be beneficial for a majority of employees. If your firm uses an outside company to manage your business travel, the same provider may even be able to help your employees with personal travel planning.
10. Dry Cleaning Pickup & Housecleaning
Some benefits may lack the excitement that a vacation provides, but are arguably more useful and valuable. Benefits that free up employee’s time on a daily or weekly basis can allow more time for them to focus on hobbies, relationships or other activities to stimulate their interests. Dry cleaning pickup or a housecleaning service are two great examples that will surprise and please your team.
11. Public Transportation
Commuting to work can be time-consuming and expensive, and you can help reduce those costs with the help of a unique benefit. Discounts on trains, subways and other types of public transportation are a great way to reduce the stress and cost of commuting, especially when your office is located in a city.
Benefits in the Office
If your firm plans on shifting to an in-office setting as the pandemic subsides, you may want to consider benefits that make office life more satisfying.
12. Book Clubs
Workplace connections are a great way to learn about new and interesting books. If members of your staff read the same types of books, they may gain new connections and build relationships that they hadn’t before. You can easily use the Bookclubs online app to start a book club group.
13. In-Office Meals or Snacks
Your staff can save time and money if you offer meals in the office. This is another opportunity to get to know your employees by exploring their food preferences. And it’s always a good idea to supply a break room or office kitchen with coffee, seltzer water, snacks and breakfast items.
14. Getting Outside
If a group needs to meet, consider moving the meeting outside, weather permitting. The fresh air and change of scenery provide a nice break from the office and may even prove to be more productive.
15. Yoga & Other Fitness Classes
As your people return to the office in 2021, you can offer yoga, meditation and other fitness classes in the office. This in-house approach makes classes more convenient and accessible.
16. Relaxed Meeting Spaces With Comfortable Furniture
Make office meetings more comfortable by creating a collaborative space with couches and comfortable chairs. A less formal setting is proven to make meetings more productive, according to Forbes.
Other Innovative Benefits
There are a few additional unique benefits that many companies offer:
- Discounts on company products and services
- Home office furnishing stipend
- Closing the office during holidays
- Subscription boxes
- Streaming services
- Personalized gifts for milestones and anniversaries
Think carefully about your company benefits so that you can appeal to the interests and goals of each and every employee.
Upgrade Your Employee Lifestyle Benefits System
With Fringe, you can reward your valued employees by allowing them to choose which benefits they want, based on their lifestyle and individual interests.
Fringe is an easy-to-use platform that hosts a marketplace of personalized fringe benefits from hundreds of vendors. Each individual person can select the benefits that mean the most to them. Businesses can now offer fringe benefits that support employees — and their families — physically, mentally, emotionally and financially.
Avoid the one-size-fits-all approach and your people will feel more seen, appreciated and supported. Upgrade your employee benefits system with Fringe. Give your people all of these benefits and more with Fringe. Schedule a free demo today!
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