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Creative benefits
Recently my employer expanded - doubling the workload of the staff. I love my job and bosses... I actually encouraged management to take the risk of expanding. However my optimism isn’t universal and several people are asking for raises.
The owners have been very transparent in regards to the companies finances, so we all know there isn’t money for raises. Instead of financial raises, they’ve offered to “get creative” and work with the staff to create alternative benefits - extra time off, flex schedules, etc. This would have been great pre-COVID but now with everyone working from home, it’s pointless. People already have flex schedules and because we are short staffed, no one has the down time to take vacation.
So I guess I’m looking for ideas around creative benefits. Does anyone have any suggestions that make sense in a post-COVID world? I don’t see use returning to the office any time soon since several people have compromised immune systems.
Laney BalisREALTOR® @ Align Right Realty Riverview
347
09/07/20 at 7:19PM UTC
It sounds like your company is poised for great things. It also sounds like the raise issue is because of the workload increasing. Great ideas, time off is never pointless, especially when working from home.
To expand a bit, I once worked for a company that allowed us to take a half day on Friday if our workload allowed for it. That was great especially on holiday weekends or going away for the weekend.
Working from home has some advantages - no commute means spending less on gas, tolls, etc, less strict attire requirements (think no shoes), but there are also disadvantages - more stressful especially if a spouse or someone else is also working from home, being home but not "being home" - young children don't understand why mommy or daddy is home but can't play or spend more time with them. Especially now it is important to spend time with family and friends because when working from home you can't really be present. That half day may do wonders for mental health.
How about a year membership to a gym, YMCA, Planet Fitness, etc. Especially at the Y the entire family can benefit from that.
Our movie theaters here opened up to a small capacity but they are open, even a gift card to a movie can be beneficial.
There are so many option available, just need to really think outside the box. What about sending a small gift on a work anniversary, birthday or marriage anniversary? There are so many sites that will send small gifts priced pretty well. I'd stay away from flowers but cookies, chocolates or even edible arrangements is a great idea.
What about unpaid interns for the departments that are a bit more overloaded? College kids still need the credit and if it can be worked out virtually I'm sure everyone involved would be relieved for the help.
Monica Sterchi-Lowman
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09/10/20 at 3:54PM UTC
We have several people who go to the same Pilates place - so that’s a great idea.
Asking for a student or intern to pickup some work load would also be great- do you have any ideas on how to find qualified individuals? Our local college (where I would traditionally look for individuals interested in the industry) has discontinued their program that would feed us employees.
Laney BalisREALTOR® @ Align Right Realty Riverview
347
09/10/20 at 6:21PM UTC
Isn’t is still a requirement for college grads to do so many hours of internship before graduation? Wonder how that schools students can fulfill that requirement if they closed that department.
I’d have HR post to LinkedIn. There are a lot of college kids on there. You might be able to find a couple or maybe a local Facebook page for your area?
JenInterdisciplinary Educator
138
09/07/20 at 4:55PM UTC
Below is a collection of a few ideas I've gleaned from other resources or came up with myself.
A $50 gift card to a local restaurant every month-different person and/or restaurant each time.
An organization I worked for needed a steady stream of volunteers and a large corporate company provided many of our volunteers. The company gave all employees 40 hours of paid "volunteer vacation" time. Every person in the company was expected to take time off work and volunteer. This was in addition to their regular vacation.
Pay for a one year subscription/membership fee to a professional development organization in your field.
Cover the cost of a professional development workshop, certificate, or training? Require a short essay to determine if funds will be available.
Stock in the company.
Pay for a short-term class on throwing pottery, going to an art gallery, or something artistic, fun, and totally unrelated to work. Granted, this one is significantly more difficult now because one of the examples I included and had to delete was "pay for the family to go to the movies."
Monica Sterchi-Lowman
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09/10/20 at 3:51PM UTC
I love the idea of paid volunteer time - that gives us a reason to take the time and think about something other than work.
Stock in the company is also a going on my “idea/ask” list.
Heather J Myers, PhDLeads Traitify’s personality assessment team.
128
09/07/20 at 4:50PM UTC
Now might be a good time to focus on team building and fostering the common purpose. Maybe try a group activity like cooking or yoga or a stress management class on Zoom. Also it is really important to make sure that everyone does get some time off no matter how much work there is. Especially now people are very stressed and many of our usual coping mechanisms are not available. One think my company did was tell everyone to take a Friday off on them. If you can't have everyone off on one day then try half of the people one Friday and the other half the next. This really improved everyones mental state at my organization.
Monica Sterchi-Lowman
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09/10/20 at 3:49PM UTC
100 % agree- One thing I’ve noticed since coming aboard is a lack of boundaries, so I’m working hard to encourage the individuals I manage to create and stick to boundaries. We’re lucky because we “have” 1/2 day Fridays but several people work full days to make sure everything gets done.
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