Work perks are changing — and that’s a good thing

Catered lunches. Gym memberships. Meditation rooms. Work from home Fridays. 

These are a few of the perks tech companies commonly dangle in front of current and prospective employees. In a COVID-19 world, however, budgets are being cut, people are being laid off and these shiny office perks are no longer within reach. 

Shelter-in-place orders have accelerated the adoption of remote work by years but it also leveled the playing field to eliminate the work perks that are costly and unimpactful.

So instead, here are some steps I feel companies’ leadership should take to ensure their employees are taken care of in an impactful way. 

Evaluate current perks, go back to the basics and build from there 

Right now, according to several work-from-guides, having a dedicated workspace at home for remote work is key to setting up employees for success.

Companies like Twitter and Shopify have already provided a stipend or have reimbursed employees for home office equipment, which as career coach Julie Kratz described to CNBC, doing so helps build loyalty among employees. 

As a CEO, I believe this as well so at TravelBank we implemented a work from home expense policy where all employees are allowed to expense up to $150 each month. The allowance can be used for home office setups, or for those that already have one they can expense groceries, meal deliveries, their internet bill, or other expenses described within the policy. 

In the first month of this new policy, employees have used 100% of their funds which has contributed to employee happiness and further enabled a level of transparency and appreciation within the company.  

Furthermore, costly perks that are nice-to-haves but aren’t being maximized should be reevaluated. For example, gym memberships to physical locations. This is the perfect time to scale back and offer access to digital fitness apps. 

The Peloton app is very popular among our employees and there are other alternatives Fitbod, which uses a training algorithm to build a personalized workout plan, or Aaptiv, which provides unlimited access to thousands of workouts, that can be used on a trial basis.

By using this time to test out more affordable alternatives companies can get a better view into their spend and analyze the use of perks like these and their impact on culture.  

Perks have always been a way to invest in employee retention and happiness. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are typically spent on such efforts but it doesn’t always work out. With budgets being tight and hiring at a freeze at most companies, this is also the perfect time for HR and culture leaders to survey employees about what’s missing and how the company can improve.  

Work-life balance is going to become even more important — listen to your team 

Fortune 500 companies like Google and Facebook have already expressed that they’re expecting to work from home the rest of the year and per a recent IBM survey more than 75%, of the 25,000 US participants, indicate they would “like to continue to work remotely at least occasionally, while more than half would like this to be their primary way of working.” 

A significant portion of small-to-mid-sized businesses won’t be able to transform into a completely remote operation but there will be a more truthful and open discussion about what work-life balance can look like moving forward. Some companies, for example, might adopt WFH Mondays and Fridays while others test out core work hours, like 9am to 3pm to give employees the flexibility they’re looking for. 

At TravelBank we’ve already taken a step forward by eliminating our physical office space and allowing our employees to take home their desks and monitors. 

Another way companies can invest in work-life balance for their employees is by offering digital mental health resources. Employees are not exempt from burning out, even if they are working from home. Offering meditation apps like Calm as a perk shows your team that you care. A small gesture, like sending a plant, also goes a long way. 

According to our own data, startups are using services like Urbanstems to send their employees succulents, which are popular in office spaces and can positively contribute to an employee’s working environment — from simply brightening up their at home offices and improving their focus to enhancing memory.  

More changes are on the horizon 

Companies are not rushing back to setup offices anytime soon; physical office spaces, company culture and on-site benefits are going to look drastically different. Right now, the future of work is being completely reenvisioned. Companies relied on office perks to attract and keep employees happy and productive. Now, with a permanent shift to working from home, employees are going to be looking at companies that provide that level of flexibility. 

According to the previously noted IBM study, more than 40% feel that their employer should provide opt-in remote work options when returning to normal operations, and it’s very likely that a significant number of more companies will jump on board. With these new shifts, expect a boom in more remote indie work tools and others that focus on the employee life at home.