Cost-Free Ways to Support Working Parents

Amy Ridder February 5, 2021

In 2019, it was reported that about 41 percent of workers between the ages of 20 and 54 have a child at home. Now, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, that number becomes even more important. It also reflects the number of workers who are juggling work, child care, remote learning, and more. Whether they’re remote, contracted, or essential employees, offering support to the working parents in your organization is incredibly important. The degrees of support you can offer working parents will vary from company to company. It depends on several different factors, including how many parents you employ, what your budget is, and more. However, there are still several options you can provide working parents that fit your budget—keep reading to learn more!

Assess Gaps in Support

To figure out where your organization can start offering better support to working parents, you need to first understand what kind of support you are—and aren’t—offering now. Look for gaps in your company culture, ongoing business processes, and benefits that make it more difficult for working parents to find success in their roles. Additionally, it’s important to understand what type of support your employees are actually looking for. From there, you can more accurately address the needs of your working parent employees.

Offer Flexibility

As a human resources professional, you know the difficulty of searching for, securing, and managing benefits that meet your diverse workforce’s needs. But that shouldn’t get in the way of offering support to the working parents at your organization. Start at the beginning by offering significant flexibility in the aspects of employees’ day-to-day routines.

Work closely with working parents to come up with a schedule that works for them. In addition, try to place less emphasis on the regular “9-5” working day. If your organization relies on strict hours or scheduled time tables, give employees the opportunity to edit their scheduling preferences based on their child-care needs. Above all, remember that an attitude of compassion and empathy is absolutely vital—working parents are juggling two full-time jobs as they care for their children and fulfill their professional obligations. They’ll appreciate your efforts to meet them where they are by providing flexible support.

Promote Vacation Usage

The pandemic seriously impacted the way employees took their vacation days in 2020. In fact, according to a recent survey, 92 percent of Americans said they canceled, postponed, or didn’t book a vacation due to the pandemic. As a result, many employees’ vacation days were left unused. We know that historically, taking breaks from work, whether it was for a mental health day, a vacation, or a stay-cation, was momentously helpful for an employees’ work-life balance and wellness.

While travel isn’t as much of an option these days, it’s still important to encourage and promote the usage of vacation time in your organization. Why? We know it provides a much-needed break. But in addition, it can give working parents the opportunity to spend time with their families and mentally recharge with some of their favorite self-care activities. How can you do this? Send out regular reminders for employees about how many vacation days they have remaining. Teach managers how to notice the signs of an employee, especially a working parent, who looks and feels stressed or burnt out. Take the lead yourself by using your own vacation time. Then, share with coworkers how you were able to relax and recharge during your break!

Encourage Family-Friendly Culture Events and Support Systems

For many working parents, it can feel uncomfortable to bring up their children during working hours. Combat this discomfort by creating an environment that allows working parents to feel comfortable and even encouraged to share about their life outside of work. Is your organization one that often holds company events (including remote ones, given the pandemic)? Brainstorm options that are family-friendly and fun for all ages to participate in. Take PerkSpot, for example. Our holiday celebrations included a magician who performed over Zoom, and parents were encouraged to invite their children to join. If your company relies on virtual communication tools, consider creating a channel or forum where working parents can discuss ideas for remote learning, funny stories, and ways to keep children engaged during working hours.

Offer Financial Aid on Child Care and Children’s Products

Even before the pandemic, a significant portion of working parents’ income went to child-care costs. In fact, the average American couple spends 25.6 percent of their net income on child care alone. These days, financial stress is at an all-time high. It’s important to consider what your organization can do via additional benefits that would provide support for working parents. Discover the cost-free PerkSpot solution—offer your employees exclusive discounts on more than 30,000 products and services. This includes child care from the nation’s top providers, children’s toys, food, clothes, and other important baby gear.

Both working parents and your organization as a whole will benefit from providing the type of aid we’ve listed above. Offering child-care support alone can decrease job turnover by more than 60 percent! Plus, it can inspire improved job satisfaction and loyalty, not to mention a more productive workforce. Give the working parents at your organization the help they need, both during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. If you’re interested in offering exclusive discounts to working parents and your entire workforce, get in touch!

What Perks Do Your Employees Want Right Now?

Amy Ridder September 11, 2020

What we believed to be a short stint of remote working before returning to the office stretched out over several months and may be extended into Q4 and beyond. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies made small adjustments to their benefits to help support their employees. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that bigger, more permanent changes will have to be made to account for the changes we’ve seen taking place in the offices and organizations across the country.

As the budgeting season draws nearer, it’s important that you’re taking a look at how you’re allocating funds towards employee benefits and how you can continue to do so, taking into account their changing wants and needs. Check out some of the voluntary benefits that are likely to become the most sought after perks for employees.

Childcare

For the parents in your office, a perk related to childcare might be the best thing you could offer. But even prior to the pandemic, childcare was not a commonly provided benefit for employees in need. In 2018, only two percent of employers offered some sort of assistance for the cost of childcare. Now, as employees scramble to remain productive while dealing with their children’s’ care and for some, children’s at-home learning, some kind of support is desperately needed. Consider your budget to determine what type of support you can offer. At the very least, a more flexible schedule for employees can allow them to juggle work and childcare. But if you have the room in your budget, options like partially or fully offsite subsidized childcare, onsite childcare, or back-up care providers are all fantastic ways to support your employees and their families during this difficult time.

Physical and Mental Health and Wellness

We have all dealt with the difficult impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in different ways. For many, the pandemic and its resulting quarantine have been incredibly hard to handle, putting a strain on the mental and physical health and wellness of thousands—including your employees. In recent years, wellness benefits were a popular offering for employees. Now more than ever, it’s important to show you value your employees and empathize with their hardships. How can you do this, given the restraints of a tight budget? Look into various options for providing some kind of wellness benefit. Options like at-home fitness subscriptions, mental health apps, and licensed tele-therapists are all growing in popularity for employers who want to support their employees’ physical and mental wellbeing.

Technological Support

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, approximately 7 million people were already working remotely. While reports covering the full number of employees who have moved to part- or full-time remote working due to the coronavirus haven’t been conducted yet, we can only assume that number is significant. If you’re one of the thousands of companies who have moved to some type of work-from-home situation, it’s important to consider how you’re supporting your employees experiencing this sudden change—not only intangible but also tangible support.

This means things that can increase productivity and make a work-from-home set up more feasible. For example, what kind of technology are your employees outfitted with at home? Do they have a quiet space that encourages them to focus? Is their internet connection strong enough to support the amount of work they’re doing each day? If you’re unsure, one of the best ways to find these details out is through a quick, online survey that your employees can fill out, explaining their needs and how their current working environment helps or hinders them. If you don’t have the capability to outright purchase and lend office supplies and technology to employees, consider offering them a small stipend or discounts for what they need.

Recognition

No matter the budget you’re working with, recognizing your employees is a must. At its core, recognition helps reward those who perform above and beyond what is expected of them. It helps promote your company’s values and creates a culture of appreciation throughout your workplace. But beyond that, recognition doesn’t just exist to reward the highest performing employees. It also works as a tool for communication and compassion. Not to mention, end-of-year bonuses won’t provide the immediate financial support employees need right now, while real-time recognition can. It can produce stronger confidence and higher productivity in an employee’s work, and tying your recognition to a monetary reward is a great way to help those employees dealing with financial stress and instability.

How Can You Offer All These Perks With Your Budget in Mind?

So, you understand the perks your employees want. But you may be asking yourself, how can I possibly manage to fit all of this, plus other unmentioned perks like much-needed financial assistance or fun, healthy snacks like they used to get in the office, into a budget that’s already been tightened thanks to COVID-19? PerkSpot might be the solution you’re looking for.

As an employee discount and recognition program, PerkSpot is a cost-free and effective way to help your employees save money right now, when it really matters most. We offer thousands of discounts in more than 25 categories, allowing employees to save on small purchases, like groceries, meal-delivery, and home entertainment, as well as big-ticket buys, like automobiles, home services, and more. Best of all, as a cost-free program, PerkSpot works with any type of budget. When you sit down to adjust your benefits and determine what portion of your budget should be directed towards new and existing perks and benefits, be sure to keep PerkSpot in mind.

How to Offer Child Care Benefits to Your Employees

Amy Ridder February 13, 2020

In 2018, 71.5 percent of women with a child or children were either looking for work or currently employed. That number goes up to 93.9 percent for fathers with a child or children. Those numbers translate to an incredibly large amount of employees who are juggling the responsibilities of both work and parenting. One of those responsibilities? The high cost of child care. The average American couple spends 25.6 percent of their net income on child care. For a single-parent household, that number more than doubles.

Still wondering whether you should give your employees with a child or children a hand with affordable child care? Here are four reasons why child-care benefits are imperative for your company to offer!

Why You Should Offer Child Care Benefits

Improve Recruitment Efforts

Are you a human resources professional, a recruiter, or simply a manager trying to fill a role on your team? Then you probably know about the difficulty of finding great talent in today’s workforce. With unemployment at uncommonly low rates, the search for the right candidate is growing increasingly competitive. So, how can your company stay in the mix? Offer child-care benefits. A recent report by SHRM found that only 2 percent of American organizations help their employees pay for their child-care costs. Separate yourself from the competition that is hoping to recruit the high-talent candidates you have your eye on by providing them with a meaningful benefit like child care.

Support Your Female Employees

According to a report on motherhood in America, in 2017 there were 25.1 million mothers in today’s workplace. But after having a child, one in every three women chose not to return to work. That means a significant loss in your company’s gender diversity, especially as you look to more senior and executive roles. Yet, we’ve long understood the importance of having women in leadership: a Morgan Stanley report found that it can translate to increased productivity, greater innovation, better products, better decision-making, and higher employee retention and satisfaction. All of that simply means that your bottom line improves when you have gender diversity, especially in leadership. While the modern family dynamic, like two employed parents or a stay-at-home father, is growing in popularity, women are still more likely than their male counterparts to stop working so they can assist with child care. Support them by offering another route for child care that doesn’t lead to them leaving their careers if they don’t voluntarily choose to do so.

Prepare for Millennial Parents

The average age of motherhood is increasing and parents are choosing to delay having children. That means the percentage of Millennial parents, which sat at 48 percent in 2016, will likely increase exponentially in years to come. Even if your current workforce doesn’t consist of multiple parents, that doesn’t mean it won’t. It also doesn’t mean that parenthood isn’t top of mind for many of them. Millennials are aware of their futures and are ready to begin planning for parenthood if they aren’t already doing so. Show them you have an investment in their future, and you want to be an integral part of it! How can you do so? By providing a child-care benefit that they can use in the future.

So, how can you offer child-care benefits without breaking the bank?

According to two separate reports issued by the pro-business US Chamber of Commerce, research shows that when companies provide support for child care, employee absences decrease, job satisfaction increases, and job turnover declines by as much as 60 percent. Clearly, child-care benefits are not only beneficial to the employee, but the employer.

But we understand the difficulty in creating and implementing a child-care benefit program that parents want and your budget can afford. That’s why PerkSpot has added exclusive child-care discounts to the thousands of discounts already offered on our Discount Portal! We know that as new parents return to work and expecting parents begin to prepare, not just child care, but support by their workplace, are at the top of the list of things they look for in an employer. With discounts to top, nationwide child-care providers, you can give discounted tuition for your employees’ children, plus discounts on things like toys, clothes, and other important baby gear.

To learn more about how you can offer exclusive discounts on child care and other categories, click here.

Help Your Employees Keep Their New Year’s Resolutions

Amy Ridder January 8, 2020

After the ball has dropped and the confetti has fallen, it’s time to look forward to 2020. More importantly, it’s time to think about New Year’s resolutions. After all, the start of the year is a great chance to set fresh goals. But studies show that over seventy-five percent of people end up breaking their resolutions after only 30 days! Keep reading to learn how you can make your employees’ resolutions a bit more achievable.

Why Are Employees’ Resolutions Important to You?

But first, you may be wondering why your employees’ resolutions are of any importance to you. If they’re hoping to eat healthier or travel more, why should you worry about whether they actually accomplish it? It doesn’t matter if your employees choose to target personal or professional development in their goals – you’ll be impacted.

A healthier employee is also a more productive, engaged, and committed employee. Furthermore, accomplishing a resolution can give someone a real boost of confidence, which carries over into their work and demeanor. Plus, many of the popular resolutions are based on improving one’s health. You can guarantee that an employee who accomplishes a goal like improving their diet or exercising more often will actually end up costing you less as a company in terms of sick days, better performance, and lower insurance costs. Encouraging and helping an employee will benefit both the company and the employee in the long run! So give your employees an extra hand and help them beat the New Year’s resolution statistics with these easy tips.

4 Ways to Help Your Employees Accomplish Their Resolutions

Create a Clear Goal-Setting Process

To actually achieve a goal, it’s important that employees understand exactly how they plan on doing so. Help your employees model their resolutions after similar goals you’ve already helped them set in the workplace. For example, most professional goals follow the SMART goal setting concept, meaning they’re Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-based. When you apply those qualities to a goal, it’s much more digestible and therefore, more achievable. If you create a resolution, that’s broad or incredibly difficult to achieve, you’re setting yourself up for failure.

Encourage employees to break down resolutions by time periods, specific measurements, or steps, which will help keep them on track longer, plus it will give them small senses of accomplishment, so they can see results and keep working hard. Email your employees a template that lists out the SMART goal characteristics so they can fill it in themselves, or take it one step further and host a lunch and learn to refresh them on setting SMART goals.

Emphasize a Social Atmosphere

Studies have shown that announcing your goals and receiving positive affirmation and encouragement can trick your brain into already feeling accomplished, thus making you less motivated to work on them. But instead of simply telling your employees to divulge their resolutions to their coworkers or managers, you should work to create a community that offers support and togetherness within your workplace. There’s a good chance that many of your employees will have similar resolutions, both professional and personal, and sharing them with one another can help hold employees accountable and give them fellow coworkers with whom they can share their failures and successes and get tips and tricks for how to stay on track.

For example, consider starting a book club for those hoping to read more often, weekly workout group for the employees who want to hit the gym, or a recipe sharing group for those trying to eat healthier. Plan and encourage employees to participate in office outings to drum up more socialization. Even small things like creating a space in your office where employees can take short breaks and chat together over healthy, office-provided snacks like fruit will help them stick to their resolutions and share them with coworkers! Having someone go at it with you makes your resolutions a million times easier to accomplish.

Bring in the Experts

It’s likely that you’re not a definitive expert on something like fitness, financial wellness, and other popular resolution topics. But fortunately, the experts are out there! The best thing you can do for your employees is to find them and bring them in, so they can share their secrets on the best ways for employees to accomplish their goals. A benefit like this is sure to excite employees who are hoping to keep their resolutions intact, especially if they’re starting to lose their enthusiasm or drive, as it will offer a fresh perspective and give them new motivation to keep going forward.

Give your employees the chance to meet one-on-one or ask questions afterward so they can get tailored advice.

Give Employees a Financial Hand

Some of the most common resolutions include things like “Eat healthier,” “Go to the gym more,” “Travel more,” “Learn a new language,” and “Pick up a new hobby.” While those are all very commendable resolutions to achieve, they have one thing in common. They can tend to have major cost implications. If an employee is hoping to go to the gym more, that will most likely entail a gym membership. Plus, items like apparel and equipment could eventually be needed. If an employee wants to visit new places in 2020, they’ll need to pay for transportation, accommodation, and day-to-day costs. Unfortunately, costs end up playing an important role for many in achieving their resolutions. And even if your company is in the position to offer, for example, a discounted gym membership, you’re still failing to include the employees whose resolutions have nothing to do with that.

That’s why a free perks and discounts benefit might be what you’re looking for. Not only can you offer a discounted gym membership, but you can also offer discounts on travel, food, and more. With a benefit like PerkSpot, you’re not taking any money out of your own company’s pocket. Better yet, you’re still managing to put money back into your employees’ pockets!

There’s a reason that more than seventy-five percent of people who set a New Year’s resolutions eventually give up. They’re hard! Dedicating an entire year to improving yourself can feel like a frightening endeavor to begin, but you can make it that much easier for employees by making your workplace more resolution-friendly. Urge employees to come up with a plan for how they want to achieve their goals, bond over their resolutions, learn from the experts, and give them an extra push in the right direction with a perks and discounts benefit that will help them save on the products and services they need to succeed!

How to Improve Employee Wellness This Winter

Amy Ridder November 7, 2019

We set our clocks back over the weekend, which means the days are shorter, the air feels colder (for most people), and for some, it can be hard to keep both their physical and mental wellness in check.

While employee wellness should be an important subject to keep in mind all year long, there is no time more crucial than the winter. In fact, December and January are two of the three most popular months for employees to call in sick, according to a study by CareerBuilder. Of course, employee health is the top concern when it comes to this problem, but it can also affect other areas of your business. Poor productivity, heightened absenteeism, and a decrease in overall performance are all connected to a dip in employee wellness. Learn how to keep the physical and mental health of your employees a priority during the winter!

Sponsor an Employee Flu Clinic

Do you hear an increase in sniffling or coughing throughout the office? Even though winter hasn’t actually arrived, flu season is already upon us. According to CNBC, its peak hits between December and February. Get ahead of it by offering your employees a flu clinic – the sooner the better! For optimal employee participation, choose a day when most of your employees are in the office or, if your employees are part-time, offer the clinic over the course of a couple of days so they can take advantage of the perk!

Provide Healthy Office Snacks

One of the most popular resolutions people set for themselves each year is to have a healthier diet, but that doesn’t mean you have to wait until January to encourage your employees to eat a bit healthier. In fact, most offices will probably notice an uptick in unhealthy eating as the holidays near, what with leftovers and snacks being passed around. Help your employees get a jump start on their resolutions (and improve their wellness!) by offering nutritious, well-balanced snacks. This can range from simply leaving fruit out to finding a service that caters the snacks to your office! Want an insider tip? Check with your company’s insurance provider. Some will actually offer a discount to your company for providing those healthy snacks.

Start the Mental Health Talk

Physical health isn’t the only part of wellness you should address in your company. Over 3 million people a year are impacted by Seasonal Affective Disorder, some to the point of major depression. Mental health is an incredibly important topic, and it’s vital that you address it as such within your company. Make a point to have open, honest conversations with those who want to participate about what they’re going through. Emphasize the fact that you’re happy to talk privately with anyone who may need to do so. If this problem personally affects you, make sure you keep your health a priority, adjust your goals, and set realistic expectations for your work!

Offer Wellness Discounts

This winter, give your employees’ physical, mental and financial wellness a boost. As winter rolls in, your employees might feel tempted to skip their normal workout, or even cancel their gym memberships due to high costs. A perks and discounts program can help combat this issue. You can offer employees exclusive deals on things like gym memberships and workout equipment! Encourage your employees to utilize their discounts to save money while they focus on their wellness by communicating the program throughout your company. If you’re interested in implementing this program into your benefit suite, click click here !

Winter can be hard on your employees, and it’s easy for their wellness to fall to the wayside. Not only can these tips help improve your employees’ mental and physical health, but they can also improve the overall productivity and performance of your company. It’s a win-win for everyone!

The Data Behind Why an Employee Perks and Discounts Program Works

Amy Ridder September 11, 2019

As an HR professional, there are several areas that are always top of mind. Talent attraction, retention, turnover, employee engagement, and productivity, just to name a few. A perks and discounts program has the potential to improve those areas, and we’ve got the data to prove it. Check out these 5 statistics that prove the ROI on an employee discount program.

Seventy-eight percent of surveyed employees said the employee benefits package is very or extremely important in their decision to accept or reject a job. (EBRI)

The job market has turned so that employers must compete for the best talent they can find for open roles. So, what does this have to do with employee perks and discounts? Quite a bit, actually! When you’re competing for great candidates, it’s important to know what they’re looking for. And it turns out, more than three-quarters of candidates want to see a developed employee benefits package that’s more than your typical run-of-the-mill, traditional benefits. Do this by beefing up your benefits offering with a voluntary benefit like an employee perks and discounts program, and you can use it as an added bonus that comes with any role your company offers!

Eighty-five percent of employees felt their benefits package failed to provide the support and flexibility required to meet current and financial obligations. (Barclay’s)

Consider your current employee benefits package. How does it help support the financial wellness of your employees? If you don’t feel great about your answer, that’s probably because your benefits package doesn’t offer the right options. And unfortunately, it’s not just your employees that are being affected by this. When an employee brings stress over their financial situation into the workplace, it hurts productivity, engagement, and your bottom line. Worrying about finances at work can cost an employer approximately $2,000 per employee. By investing in a free employee perks and discounts program, you can show support for your employees’ financial wellness and help out your bottom line in the meantime.

Ninety-four percent of millennials and 92% of Gen X’ers say nontraditional benefits make employers more attractive. (ICIMS)

Gen X’ers and millennials currently make up the two largest generations in the labor force, so HR professionals should be doubling down on their efforts to attract and retain those candidates. But attracting candidates who are in two dramatically different stages of life is difficult. Whether your employee needs assistance financing their mortgage, helping out an older family member, or saving on a gym membership, they’ll have those options available to them. An employee perks and discounts program makes it possible to provide an attractive benefit that people of all ages, incomes, and career stages can enjoy.

Productivity losses related to personal and family health problems cost US employers $1,685 per employee per year, or $225.8 billion annually. (CDC Foundation)

Perks and discount programs and employee health and wellness might not seem to be very connected. However, there are more connections than you may think. We know how important the health and wellness of an employee is, both to employees themselves and to the company they work for. So important, in fact, that health and wellness initiatives have been on the rise in the past couple of years. Companies are working hard to put an emphasis on the overall wellbeing of their employees. Finding a perks and discounts program (like PerkSpot!) that offers discounts on gym memberships, healthy snacks, and more allows a company to essentially kill two birds with one stone: you can offer a unique benefit and make it easier for your employees to live a healthy lifestyle!

Seventy-three percent of employees say that customized benefits increase their loyalty. (MetLife)

Every HR professional knows that a loyal employee is an employee they want in their workforce. With concerns like retention and turnover being so high, loyalty in an employee is a quality that can’t be beat. What’s more, a disloyal employee can end up costing a company more than you’d think. To replace an employee, a company usually must expend an average of thirty-three percent of that employee’s salary. Instead of focusing on how to replace the employees you’ve lost, work on retaining the ones you currently have! Incorporate an employee perks and discounts program into your voluntary benefits and improve the loyalty of your employees.

These statistics clearly show the benefits of an employee perks and discounts program. If you’re interested in learning more about how an employee discount program could work for your company, click here!

The Key To Recruiting Top Candidates

Amy Ridder July 25, 2019

We all know how important recruitment is for a company. The core of any company is its employees, so a good recruitment process is key to a successful company. But finding the right candidates isn’t as easy as it sounds. In fact, HR Dive reported a talent shortage was one of the top concerns of organizations going into 2019, and by the looks of it, that concern has remained strong as the year enters its half-way point.

So how can recruiters be successful as they seek out talented candidates for their open roles? We think we know one solution – and it’s easier than you think! A perks and discount program is one tool you can leverage during your recruitment to acquire the best talent possible. Check out why!

1. Demonstrates an Investment in Employee Financial Wellness

Did you know 85 percent of employees admitted to feeling anxious about their personal finances, which often interferes with their work? On top of that, 33 percent of respondents said they worry about their finances more than once a week! For almost any employee – and candidate – finances can be a stressful subject. But not all companies can invest in their employees’ financial wellness through monetary benefits, like a bonus or raise in salary. An easier and less expensive solution is a free perks and discounts program that finds other ways for employees to save, namely in the important purchases they’re making on things like cars, vacations, and everyday items. Showing your candidates an investment in their financial wellness will help increase their attraction to your organization!

2. Encourages Employee Work/Life Balance

Almost half of HR leaders say between 20-50 percent of their employee turnover is due to workplace burnout. And when job seekers begin looking for a new job, what is one of the top qualities they look for? A recent Glassdoor study found that 47 percent of respondents said a work-life balance is a top-selling point for organizations they’re considering. But that balance is a difficult thing to strike for employers. Believe it or not, a perks and discounts program can help with this. When employers encourage employees to use a program that offers discounts in categories like travel, health and wellness, and personal hobbies, they’re thus encouraging their employees to pursue their interests outside of work that will keep them healthy and offer a source of relief from the stress that can come from the workplace.

3. Keeps Company Competitive in Recruitment Efforts

With such a strong talent shortage taking place in the recruitment field, finding a way to remain competitive in the hunt for talented candidates feels like a never-ending battle. Companies can easily tout a great work culture or a development program. In fact, we firmly believe all companies should do so! But how can you separate your organization from the crowd? Offer a competitive voluntary benefits suite, perks and discounts program included, that helps round out an already enticing offer for your top candidates. Over half of respondents to a Glassdoor survey said they strongly consider the perks and benefits included in a job offer before accepting. Guarantee a positive response to your next offer letter by including a benefit like perks and discounts in the voluntary benefits you provide!

Every organization knows the importance of recruitment, both to their culture and their bottom line. If you’re looking to improve your employee recruitment, especially during a time when it’s becoming increasingly difficult to secure the best candidates, start leveraging your perks and discounts program as a recruitment tool! And if you don’t offer a perks and discounts program, now is the time to start. Click here to learn more about PerkSpot’s perks and discounts program.

Why Aren’t My Employees Using Their Benefits?

Amy Ridder July 11, 2019

Odds are, if you’re an HR professional, you’ve asked yourself this question once or twice (or maybe several times) before. Unfortunately, you’re not alone. According to a 2017 report by Chestnut Global Partners, an international provider of Employee Assistance Programs, less than 7% of employees use their benefit programs to their fullest extent. Yet, a recent Glassdoor survey found that 80% of employees said they would prefer additional benefits over increased compensation. Obviously, benefits have an incredibly strong impact on employees – they just don’t know how to use them properly.

As an HR professional, you’ve likely spent hours crafting what you believe to be the perfect employee benefits suite. So, why don’t your employees use them all? We think we know the answer. Check out the 3 most common reasons why employees don’t use their benefits. More importantly, learn how you can solve the problem!

1. They don’t understand them.

Let’s face it, employee benefits can be difficult to comprehend. Perhaps it’s your employee’s first job, and they’re navigating the complex waters of employee benefits for the first time. Maybe your employee feels just downright confused, but doesn’t know where to go to clear things up. Whatever it is, it hurts employees who don’t understand how to utilize their employee benefits package best. So, how can you solve this problem?

Improve the way you educate your employees about their benefits. If this solution sounds simple, that’s because it is! We recommend creating a short, anonymous survey and encouraging your employees to be completely honest when they fill it out. Emphasize the fact that their responses will be used to create a better plan for explaining their benefits. Then, do just that. Figure out where the gaps are in knowledge about your current benefits offerings, and then work to fill those gaps with better and more useful information about the different options available and how they would apply to each employee.

2. They don’t know they exist.

When it comes to employee benefits, chances are your employees know about your run-of-the-mill offerings like medical insurance. However, a new trend is creating a suite of voluntary benefits to attract new employees and keep current ones. Unfortunately, many companies haven’t perfected their communication strategy for these benefits. This causes a problem for companies, as voluntary benefits are one of the best ways to recruit, hire and retain employees. But obviously, employees need to know about their voluntary benefits for them to be meaningful. So, how can you solve this problem?

Expand the way you communicate your benefits. Take a look at how you currently communicate the employee benefits you offer. And don’t just limit yourself to one or two communication strategies. Not only should you be utilizing popular methods like physical flyers, emails, and your company’s intranet, but try some outside of the box ideas as well! Hold a quarterly workshop to walk employees through your benefit suite, and offer a small incentive like lunch or a fun raffle for attendance to the workshop. Give ample warning open enrollment is beginning and work on creating answers to questions you frequently get. It will take some experimentation in the beginning, but when you finally find the right amount of communication that works for your employees, their active utilization of benefits will be well worth it!

3. They think they’re only for high-cost items.

Another common misconception about employee benefits is they are only useful for expensive or high-cost items, like health, dental or vision insurance. Even voluntary benefits like a perks and discounts program are commonly thought of to only have deals for costly items, but it’s actually quite the opposite! Most voluntary benefits have offerings that range from more expensive items to deals on your day-to-day products that any employee can afford – and more importantly, will want! So, how can you solve this problem?

Provide your employees with concrete evidence that their benefits work. When you present solid proof like savings numbers or anecdotes from fellow coworkers about how they’ve saved, it makes it much easier for employees to understand that their benefits, including voluntary, are extremely useful and valuable for them. For example, with PerkSpot, you will regularly receive helpful data about how much your employees are saving through their Employee Discount Program, plus which categories and discounts they’re loving!

We know employee benefit programs have an incredibly positive effect on employees. They offer assistance and security for employees, which, in turn, promotes feelings of happiness. As most managers and HR professionals alike know, a happy employee is a productive, engaged, and attentive employee. If you’re struggling to see full participation in your employee benefits package, it’s likely that your employees don’t understand it, don’t know what it fully entails, or they have misconceptions about it. Solve that problem with one of these easy solutions! If you’re interested in learning about new ways to communicate and educate your employees about their Employee Discount Program, click here!

How Employee Discount Programs Support Generational Diversity in the Workplace

Amy Ridder June 19, 2019

Diversity in the workplace is no longer a hot topic. Rather, it’s an important and permanent topic that should continue to be talked about and built upon. As a new generation enters the workplace, there’s a facet of diversity that we want to discuss: generational diversity. More importantly, how can you improve it in your workplace? We think we know one solution – a perks and discount program.

We know what you’re thinking. What’s the connection between a workplace and a voluntary benefit like perks and discounts? More than you think! In today’s day and age, there can be up to four generations of employees working closely together in different departments or on different projects, and this is a great thing for the company. Not only does this mean you’re getting the benefit of different perspectives, opinions, and beliefs, but studies say the revenue of a business can increase by 19% when that business enjoys diversity. But that’s not as easy as it sounds. More often than not, employees want to go where they feel comfortable. Eventually, they end up working with people who look, think, and sound like them, creating a disparity in diversity for your workplace.

So what can you do to fix this? Obviously, a perks and discounts program is not a cover-all solution to a large problem like a lack of generational diversity in your workplace. However, it is a fantastic place to start. Here are three important reasons why:

1. Perks and Discounts Programs Offer Discounts for All Financial Situations

There’s no getting around the fact that different generations have different needs. Those differences, while great for creating a sense of generational diversity and inclusion in the workplace, can also make it difficult to find a solution that appeases all employees. The beauty of a perks and discounts program is that it manages to do just that! By providing an array of discounts in a variety of categories, every employee is able to find a discount they find valuable and useful to them individually.

2. Perks and Discounts Programs Help Support Financial Security

Yes, each generation is different. However, virtually every member of the four generations that make up your workforce has at least one thing in common, and that is a desire to be more financially secure. Whether it’s dealing with expensive student loans, a mortgage on a new house, or an ailing family member, most employees have at least one area in their life that causes financial stress in their lives. Fortunately, a perks and discounts program can offer some help here as well. Saving through exclusive perks and discounts relieves some of the financial pressure your employees, no matter their generation, are experiencing every day. This can help with a number of things; their productivity, stress levels, and sense of financial security, to name a few!

3. Perks and Discounts Programs Attract and Retain Talent of All Ages

Generational diversity is one thing that should always be on your mind when it comes to both hiring new employees and retaining your current employees. Let your perks and discounts program be your best friend when it comes to these areas of your business. A recent Glassdoor survey found that 79% of employees prefer new or additional benefits to a pay raise. Broken down even further, the survey found 89% of employees aged 18-34, 84% of employees aged 35-44, 70% of employees aged 45-54, and 66% of employees aged 55-64 said they would prefer those perks and benefits to a pay raise. Factoring those preferences in, a perks and discounts program seems like the perfect addition to your benefits offering to both attract and retain new and existing employees of all ages.

We know how important diversity is to a company. It can improve your company’s productivity, efficiency, and overall success. But achieving it can seem like an impossible goal. Start on the right foot by implementing a perks and discounts program that supports a movement of generational diversity in your workplace. Click here to learn more about PerkSpot’s Perks and Discounts program and get started today!

Why You Should Encourage Your Employees to Travel

Amy Ridder June 6, 2019

There is no better feeling than setting that “Out of Office” automatic email response and saying one last “Hasta la vista” to your coworkers before you take off for a fun vacation. For most people, travel creates a sense of excitement and anticipation that’s hard to find anywhere else. But traveling does more than just drum up excitement. It can actually improve your health and wellbeing, according to a recent Forbes article. Plus, for employers, there are even more added benefits on the line. Check out why we think it’s imperative that a company encourages its employees to travel – and how to do it!

Decreases Burnout and Stress

According to a recent Gallup study, over two-thirds of employees asked said they felt burnt out at work either very often or sometimes. While employee burnout obviously affects the employee the most, it can also severely hurt the employer. A burnt out employee underperforms, struggles to focus on his or her work, and feels tired all the time. They might even be one of the one million employees calling in sick to work because of stress. One answer to this concerning problem is travel, which can actually alleviate stress. While travel can’t completely heal employee burn out, there is no doubt it can offer temporary aid. Whether your employee prefers a relaxing vacation on the beach, a trip full of sightseeing and museums, or a little bit of both, they’ll experience increased productivity and decreased stress as a result of their time out of the office!

Increases Employee Loyalty

These days, employee retention is a top concern of most HR professionals. As employers seek out strategies that can help them both attract new talent and retain their current, high-performing employees, travel benefits have become a popular choice for many companies. A company that offers a benefit related to travel, like great discounts, a more flexible PTO, or travel incentives, can set them apart from the competition. Plus, it encourages current employees to feel more comfortable actually taking their vacation days and guarantees they’ll come back relaxed and ready to work with a renewed loyalty to the company that just helped them take a great trip.

Improves Professional Skills

Not all travel is created equal. However, no matter where your employees choose to get away to, there’s a good chance that they’ll get something out of it that can translate to important professional skills in the office. For example, experiencing a new culture can expand perspective and help them see their old surroundings with new eyes. Traveling to a country where you don’t speak the language helps you develop crucial communication skills that an employee can demonstrate to his or her team or manager. Dealing with stressful transportation, whether it’s a missed flight connection, a flat tire, or a lost bag, forces a traveler to strengthen their flexibility in a tough situation. Skills acquired during travel are ones that can easily be used in the professional setting.

It’s one thing to simply encourage your employees to travel. It’s another thing to actually offer ways to make travel more accessible to your employees. Here at PerkSpot, we love using our Travel Discount Center to find the best deals on travel! Employees have been able to travel far and wide and save money while doing so. Click here to learn more about our Travel Discount Center and how a perks and discounts program can benefit your employees! What methods do you use to encourage your employees to travel?