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Rethinking Remote Employee Benefits: Are you aware of these perks?

Posted on April 1, 2022April 1, 2022 by naveen

Remote employee benefits include more than just flexible hours and work-from-home opportunities. As companies are adjusting to most of their workforce working remotely, they are offering new benefits to encourage remote employees. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular benefits that new age companies are offering to their employees.

Why are companies incentivizing work from home culture?

A recent Gallup research shows that 59% of the U.S. employees who started working from their home during the coronavirus pandemic would prefer to become remote workers permanently.

To retain the talent and improve employee engagement, companies are offering some amazing benefits. Studies show that 69% of employees believe a wider array of benefits is important to be more loyal to their employer. Furthermore, 78% of employees report benefits programs as the major reason to stay with an employer.

Let’s face it, the pandemic has caused a major shift in how employees perceive job satisfaction. Here’s a list of some of the most popular benefits that new age companies are offering to their employees.

1. Mental health support

It is not surprising that ever since the pandemic hit us, mental health is on peoples’ minds. According to the recent US Census Bureau survey, more than 42% of people surveyed reported mental health issues such as anxiety or depression, an 11% increase from the previous year.

Employers are proactively providing mental health training sessions for remote workers virtually. If you think it’s the same self-guided meditation sessions scattered all over the internet, it’s not. Chevron Corporation is one such employer offering mental health and well-being support to its remote workers through its Employee Assistance and WorkLife Services program. This program provides remote workers access to licensed counselors to help them cope with mental issues.

Remote workers need more of a practical approach to prevent stress and anxiety and fight burnout. This is why companies are onboarding experts to offer support through mental health information sessions. Good mental health training helps remote workers create a more engaged, safer, and productive work environment without feeling isolated.

2. Increased location and schedule flexibility

Companies are increasingly appreciating the flexibility in work schedules and how it benefits both employer and employee. Employers are offering an increased level of flexibility allowing remote workers to take more responsibility for their schedules. This leaves scope to manage any precarious crises that may arise establishing a healthier work-life balance.

Companies are getting comfortable with custom scheduling and longer deadlines. There have never been better opportunities for remote workers to work from any location they want. If you are planning to become a remote employee but are worried about managing your personal and professional life simultaneously, increased flexibility in terms of location and schedule is an incentive that will help you strike a balance.

American Express, the credit card giant has adopted a flexible scheduling model for its workers offering them the flexibility to work from home and manage their timing for a more balanced work and home life.

3. WFH allowance

Monetary compensation is one of the major contributors to job satisfaction. Companies are incentivizing this by offering work from home allowance.

Remote workers often complain about missing the perks culture of being on campus. Employers like Google are building this gap by offering a stipend for buying home-office equipment, paying internet and phone bills, and setting up workstations.

Organizations are seeing the positive impact of moving dollars to the pockets of employees. Since other bills at home go up, adding WFH allowance in the benefits program makes remote workers feel rewarded.

4. Learning and development opportunities

Previously, remote workers were not able to benefit from upskilling programs companies offered to in-house employees. However, that is not true anymore.

As work-from-home culture is becoming the new normal, companies are offering numerous learning and development opportunities. A recent IBM research suggests that employees are 42% more likely to remain at the same company if they are trained to get more skilled and perform at a higher level.

Employers are helping remote workers learn new technologies, enhance their skills and grow professionally by offering an L&D budget. Another way they are encouraging employees to learn while working simultaneously is by partnering with courses on-demand providers such as Udemy and Coursera. Squarespace’s robust L&D program is a good example of how a blend of in-person and virtual classroom development experience can be effective for the self-paced upskilling of remote employees.

Many companies are now offering remote workers the opportunity to access premium online courseware as a benefit.

5. Subsidized insurance plans

Employers are adjusting their strategies to accommodate remote workers from a health benefits perspective. As employees working from home may not be in the same geographical region as the employer’s office, they may not benefit from in-network coverage offered by the company.

Companies are now offering subsidized insurance plans to help remote workers avoid paying higher costs. DuckDuckGo and the cryptocurrency group Ethereum Foundation signed up with SafetyWing, a company offering subscription-based travel and medical insurance for remote workers to provide insurance cover for their employees.

This adds to the sense of financial security of the employees making them more loyal to the organization.

The best way forward

At Talent500, we help companies build, manage, and scale their distributed teams. With our best-in-class benefits, managing a remote team becomes easy with us as your EOR. We leverage a host of community activities, learning and development initiatives, and many more methods to help bolster employee engagement. To know how we can help you achieve this goal, book a consultation online.

6 steps managers can take to enhance the productivity of their distributed teams

Posted on February 16, 2022February 16, 2022 by naveen

Worldwide, the percentage of people working remotely has risen from 17% in 2019 to 32% in 2021. More importantly, 99% of people surveyed in this period chose to work remotely for some part of their week.

However, the shift to location-independent work demands a clear switch in the way managers lead their teams. As the manager of a remote team, how do you ensure productivity when you can no longer check in on your team physically? We’re here to help.

What we have learned

Flexibility is non-negotiable

A whopping 82% of workers surveyed said that that lack of flexibility is their mean reason for not accepting a job offer. 69% of millennials would give up on certain work benefits for a more flexible working space. Want to retain your star performers? You know what to do.

“Flexibility” refers to the ability of an employee to break free from the 9 to 5 window of traditional working hours. There remains little doubt today that the work-life narrative has taken a 180-degree turn post-pandemic.

With this intermingling of personal and professional responsibilities, it is important that every team member has the flexibility to decide how, when, and where they work.

Communication is essential, but so are boundaries

We understand that driving key results and outcomes requires you to stay on top of everything. However, it is equally important to not let the need for quantitative productivity eclipse your team’s quality of life.

Disconnecting from work is one of the biggest challenges faced by remote workers, with employees feeling that they must always be “present”. While it’s a good thing to be available for your team at all times, watch the thin line between “available” and “intruding”.

Our take: We highly recommend following the 9 to 9 rule – restrict all work-related communication between 9 AM to 9 PM.

Here are some steps that managers can take in order to enhance the quality of remote work:

1. Share your vision and goals

After all, there is no better motivation than a shared goal. Sharing your vision about the team’s short and long-term goals is a great way to get buy-in from your team members. It helps your team members find deeper meaning in what they do, and understand how they are contributing to the bigger picture.

We recommend dividing this into two stages:

Sharing the broader vision

By this, we don’t just mean the company’s vision and mission, although that’s a great place to start. Talk to your team members about the problem that you are solving as a company, service, or product. One of the best ways to motivate your team members is by helping them understand how their individual goals are aligned with the company’s goals.

Sharing short-term goals

Having shared the common goal with your team members, the next step is to get them on board with the short-term milestones. Instead of simply assigning tasks, include your team members in the ideation and goal-setting stages. Set realistic timelines after consulting with your team to ensure timely deliverance.

2. Find the right project management tool

From Trello and Asana to Jira and ClickUp, there are over a hundred project management tools today. The trick is to find a project management tool that addresses the specific needs of your team. Jira is considered one of the best tools for agile project management, whereas Trello helps teams break complex deliverables into individual tasks.

Is your team struggling to find an overlap between too many time zones, or facing trouble with collaboration? Understanding the barriers faced by your team will help you identify the tool that is the most effective for you.

3. Encourage asynchronous communication

Managing multiple time zones is a problem faced by most remote teams. Asynchronous communication solves this by giving team members the agency to work according to their own schedules. According to Darren Murph, Head of Remote, Gitlab, “the first steps to maximizing productive remote workflows include understanding and embracing asynchronous work”.

However, leveraging the complete potential of asynchronous communication will require some homework on your part. Documentation is a good place to begin with.

Digital whiteboards like Miro or knowledge management tools like Confluence and Notion enable each team member to participate according to their schedule. Ensure that all relevant details are stored at a central place, available to every stakeholder in the project. Divide all communication into synchronous and asynchronous according to urgency and importance.

4. Cut down on video calls

Remember the good old days, when video calls were a luxury, to be used only for connecting with overseas clients or team members in different branches of the office?

Not every conversation needs to be a meeting, and not every meeting needs to be compulsory. As a rule, try and make attendance optional for all meetings. This enables all key stakeholders to prioritize their day according to their individual requirements instead of forcing them to attend each call.

We also recommend cutting down on recurring meetings. Perhaps a project required bi-weekly updates in the beginning but will run perfectly well with a weekly meeting now. Dividing meetings into blocks of 25 and 50 minutes instead of 30 and 60 is another simple, yet effective way to reduce zoom fatigue. Many companies like Citigroup reserve a no-meeting day in the week, where the entire organization does not schedule any video calls.

5. Encourage autonomy and ownership

It is now scientifically proven that an increase in employee autonomy increases productivity. Want a productive team? Resist the urge to micromanage.

Instead of regularly checking in on your employees, define clear goals, milestones, and timelines. Remember that you hired your team due to their experience and skill set, and trust them to drive the results. If a team member has a specific skill or experience that is valuable to a project, encourage them to take the lead. When giving feedback, remember to give constructive, actionable points instead of mere criticism.

Not only does this build trust, it also increases job satisfaction. As a result, companies see a higher employee engagement and retention.

6. Invest in the right tech

Arming your team with the right tech and tools is one of the best ways to boost your team’s productivity. Here are a few ways in which you could empower your team by enabling them:

Home-office setup

The lack of a proper workspace is a big hindrance to productivity. Help your team members overcome this hurdle by giving them access to a home office allowance. Whether it is in the form of an ergonomic chair, uninterrupted power supply, or a better computer, these small steps go a long way in helping your remote team maximize its productivity.

Tech-tools and software

Imagine asking an athlete to run in the wrong shoes. Sounds stupid, doesn’t it? And yet, innumerable managers make the same mistake when they deny their team members access to certain essential paid software or applications. Most tools offer a limited period free trial – use this time to assess the value it can add to your deliverables.

Automation

Today, thanks to the integration of AI & ML into every industry, we have tools to automate the most repetitive and standardized tasks. From invoicing and data entry to inventory management and capturing customer feedback, there are tools to automate most processes. Freeing your workforce from these mundane tasks will enable them to concentrate on more analytical tasks.

In the words of Peter Drucker, the founder of modern management, “Efficiency is doing things right. Effectiveness is doing the right things.”

The way we work might have changed, but what remains constant is the role that good leadership plays in driving productivity in a team. Whether it is in terms of effective communication, taking ownership of tasks, or empowering and investing in your workforce, managers must lead by example.

6 strategies for building a hybrid workforce from CEOs who did it overnight

Posted on February 7, 2022 by shanthamurthy

Data from a study by Upwork’s Chief Economist, Adam Ozimek, is conclusive: the remote revolution is here and accelerating. The 5-year growth rate for fully-remote teams rose from 30% pre-pandemic, to 65% post-pandemic. The figures for work forces that can be called “significantly remote” and “some remote” are similar and favor flexible work.

While nobody was trained to pivot to a cloud-based office overnight, some of the biggest names in the industry have – and increased their markets while doing so too! Read on to learn from 6 companies leading the remote-hybrid work challenge.

Twitter: Flexible work starts with flexible leadership

The attitude a company’s leadership has towards work from home defines how the option is received. For Twitter, the option to work from home “forever” was always on the cards. Back in 2018, Jack Dorsey, then Twitter CEO, had mentioned the idea of Twitter employees being open-minded when it came to flexible work and “optimizing for where people feel their most creative.”

When leaders are positive about remote work, employees can leverage the option to its fullest potential. Employees know that they aren’t going to “miss a promotion”, have to meet certain “expectations”, or have to worry about “micromanagement”.

Jennifer Christie, Chief HR Officer at Twitter, urges Tweeps to #LoveWhereverYouWork. “Opening offices will be our decision, when and if our employees come back, will be theirs,” she says.

Slack: Manager-employee transparency is crucial to success

Slack backed up its decision to offer employees the “option to work remotely on a permanent basis if they choose” with healthy, open conversation.

According to studies, many employees quit for reasons such as:

No clear direction
Poor relationships with managers

Slack avoids these and does an excellent job at engaging employees by bringing future-defining deliberations into the common forum. When employees are made part of the process of change, the buy-in is strong. For instance, while affirming that the company will be more distributed in the future, Slack asks its employees to think about things like:

The challenge of building a culture of belonging
Improving trust amongst employees who have never met in person.

By being open about the hurdles, Slack employees are more likely to share a common vision. Ultimately, Slack has its employees understand that remote work is more than “technology and tools”. It’s about “culture and norms”.

Upwork: Productivity cannot be tied to a desk, but the office isn’t dead

For freelance platform Upwork, remote work has always been part of their DNA. However, the pandemic led it to a remote-first model. Its CEO, Hayden Brown tweeted, “Going forward, working remotely will be the default for everyone, while teams will also be able to come together—once it’s safe—for intentional collaboration and socialization.”

From the time of the announcement, May 2020, till December 2021, Upwork’s market cap has grown from $1.43 billion to $4.27 billion, and this includes its rising beyond $7 billion on multiple occasions.

Loss of productivity? The figures point to the opposite.

However, instead of shutting all offices, Upwork intends to work with 2 of its 3 workspaces. The reason? “Intentional collaboration and socialization.” Yes, despite the upsides of remote work, Upwork’s approach shows that companies must find space for human connections.

Google: Hybrid work models must be effective and attractive

Tech giant Google seems certain that a fully remote setup cannot be the future for its vast and myriad operations. In-person collaboration is a must. Its approach has been that of encouraging “voluntary return to office”, and secondly of embedding flexibility into Googlers’ work life in multiple ways.

At Google, hybrid work is attractive:

~60% of Googlers will work from office about 3 out of 5 days a week
~20% of Googlers can work from global locations
~20% of Googlers can work remotely
To support holiday travel, Googlers can work from anywhere for about 4 weeks
Employees across Google will enjoy the day off on “reset” days

After tasting the benefits of remote work, many employees seem to need a reason to return to the office. With hybrid work being unchartered territory, companies like Google are envisioning work models that safeguard company culture and goals, as well as allow for employee benefits.

Salesforce: Remote-first works best when coupled with employee-first

In an interview with CNBC, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said he expects 50-60% of his workforce to work from home in the future. This step towards a digital future despite making huge real estate commitments showcases Salesforce’s greater commitment to its people.

For Salesforce, becoming remote-first is a product of being employee-first. When the pandemic struck, the company ran employee wellness surveys to discover employee pain points. The results were revealing.

~50% of employees wanted to come to office only few times each month
80% wanted to remain connected to a physical space

Keeping the results in mind, Salesforce devised a hybrid work plan in which:

Most employees will come to office 1-3 days a week
Some will be fully remote
A small amount will be predominantly office-based

Keeping to its people-centric approach, Salesforce doesn’t compel itself to fit hybrid work into the confines of company culture. Rather, it views the future of work as “the next evolution of its culture.”

Shopify: The home office deserves to be an office

Amid the pandemic, CEO Tobi Lütke announced that Shopify would henceforth be a “digital-by-default company.” “Office-centricity” in his words was “over.”

Shopify had remote employees on their roster well before the pandemic, and the company was proficient at this model. Existing remote workers would know that even if office-centricity was over, the office experience wasn’t. That’s because Shopify considers investments in home office setups a matter of great importance, according to an interview with John Riordan, Director of Support, Ireland. It’s about making work from home sustainable, even enjoyable. Amid the pandemic, Shopify is reported to have offered its employees $1,000 towards their home office setups!

The approaches taken by industry leaders show that when you are open to change, people-first, and intentional with your vision, the transition to hybrid work can happen without major hiccups.

5 sought-after benefits your company needs to invest in

Posted on November 18, 2021November 18, 2021 by surya

The pandemic made it abundantly clear that work and personal life can no longer be treated as isolated parts of an employee’s life. As industries and 5-year plans came crumbling down in a matter of months, companies and employees soon came to realize that it isn’t all about the paycheck.

While employees took action at first sight, quitting jobs even in the midst of one of the hardest times in the year, companies were also quick to catch on. Fidelity Investments, for instance, rolled out a benefit that offered greater support to workers who were also caregivers. This included access to expert care, childcare reimbursement and more.

The trend caught on soon with companies like Google and many others putting employees’ needs first. Fast forward to the present, and employees today expect more from companies, willing to take home less, if it means better quality of life and access to core working benefits. In fact, a study found that 80% of employees shared this sentiment, and would give up a raise for better benefits. Naturally, this didn’t fall on deaf ears, and per the Future of Benefits report, around 98% of US HR leaders and C-suite level decision-makers agreed to invest in workplace perks.

So, what are the most-wanted perks in a modern workplace? More importantly, do companies stand to benefit from this shift? Read on to find out.

Most sought-after workplace perks and benefits in 2021

Childcare policies

With remote work gradually becoming the norm, the division of household labor also changed. Parents share duties more equitably today and the pandemic made it clear that childcare benefits were among the most crucial of all. In fact, 500 leaders surveyed by the Future of Benefits report also deemed child care among the most essential perks.

Working families faced quite the brunt during the tough months that confined families to their homes, and now employees are doing all they can to safeguard what truly matters. So much so, that family benefits company – Cleo, saw a 167% increase in memberships, with most seeking comprehensive benefits. Companies also bought in, and as per a Sage survey, around 27% of businesses adopted childcare-specific policies.

Going forward, companies looking to go down this path will have to accommodate revised needs. Apart from health, childcare financing, assistance finding daycare, after-school care, tutoring, and other remote solutions can be a step in the right direction.

Flexibility and remote work provisions

The pre-pandemic workplace and model is no longer practical. The enhanced flexibility offered by working from home or remotely is one that employees aren’t ready to part with, and likely never will be. A whopping majority of 96% of workers chose remote working, if not full-time, at least in some capacity, as per a FlexJobs survey. On the other hand, 65% of workers chose remote working as a full-time solution.

The corporate working model has been reimagined and the ‘where’ has relocated to wherever the employee feels most productive. Companies would do well to cater to this need, and many are already on board. The hybrid work model is here to stay. As per a Gartner study, around 80% of employers are prepared to institute policies that allow for the same.

Home office perk program

To keep up with the shifting landscape of the post-pandemic workplace, home-office perk programs, like those launched by Google, Indeed, Shopify, and many others, have proved their efficacy. Since the majority of the corporate workforce wants to ditch the 9-to-5, brick-and-mortar model, this is a solution that offers what employees really need – comfort on their terms. From ergonomic chairs to stipends for setting up a workspace at home, this program can be defined by each company to suit their employee needs.

Better Vacation or PTO policies

Much like the flexibility of remote working, employees today have been vocal about the desire to unplug on their terms. Unwinding is a basic need which benefits productivity and overall performance. However, existing models do leave room for improvement. Companies have adapted to new working models, but the concept of time off is still shackled by archaic chains. However, companies don’t really need to reinvent the wheel to hit the ground running.

Netflix, for instance, has an unlimited vacation policy and allows their employees to take as much time as needed to recharge. This is part of the PTO policy and has proven effective. Another notable mention is Media Temple, a company that strongly advocates for paid sabbaticals. After 3 years, employees here are encouraged to take an entire month and engage in activities that enrich them. Perks like these allow the modern employee to get as much value as possible from their current job, and also attract those who want to grow and enhance their skills.

Health coverage

A study found that employers who invested in wellness and comprehensive health initiatives achieved around 3-to-1 return in money saved. This isn’t surprising as unhealthy employees are more stressed, less productive, and have lower morale. Rising medical inflation combined with exorbitant healthcare costs is difficult to manage without a safety net, which is likely why company-provided coverage is now a demand.

Without proper care, people can’t work, and this doesn’t only apply to physical ailments. Mental health is just as important to the modern employee, with burnout at the top of the list. Employer-led solutions are the key in this case, and some companies have done well at addressing it. In fact, of the Best Workplaces in 2021, around 70% have a provision or policy that allows employees to access mental health care as needed.

Benefits to organizations

The success of many global companies can be credited to their benefits programs. For instance, Media Temple’s PTO policy is a driving factor for attracting top talent. Remote work has been reported to be an equally huge success. As per a Mercer report based on a survey of over 800 employers, productivity was found to stay the same, if not higher in some cases.

These are just a few of the upsides, here’s a larger list and companies stand to gain these other benefits too with better implementation.

Enhanced performance and productivity
Reduced absenteeism
Increased employee engagement
Stronger organizational culture
Access to a more diverse pool of talent
Enhanced loyalty and reduced turnover
Better employee health

While instituting and standardizing nice-to-have policies, benefits, and perk programs does have some bureaucratic involvement, truly progressive companies needn’t wait to pioneer change. The benefits of a happier, more motivated, and more cared for employee far outweighs the cost, and failing to deliver basically ensures turnover. The ball is now in your court, and it may be best if the ‘new normal’ your company defines is nothing like the old.