If you’re a business owner or HR professional that cares about your staff and employee retention, this is something you don’t want to miss. The need for good company culture and employee retention are at an all-time high for businesses operating smoothly. You may not see anything wrong with your culture or the perks you provide for employees from your perspective, but be sure you stand in their shoes when thinking about what you can offer them to make their lives easier.

Often times, companies provide perks such as office snacks in the kitchen or a gym membership. Let’s say someone is dieting and they only have time for at-home workout programs that they can do in the morning before the kids wake up. Those so-called “perks†mean nothing to them. Yes, it’s the thought that counts but it’s ineffective. There are tons of other examples of perks that can be offered but it’s merely impossible to personalize them to every individual based on their needs. Unless… drumroll, please… You let them create their own perk. Tada!
What if you gave your employees the freedom and ability to choose how they’d like to receive benefits? Maybe Susan has been wanting to take her grandkids to Disney World but can’t afford the tickets. What if Jared hasn’t been able to visit his family in Oregon in three years because flights are so expensive? And about that gym membership idea… it’s brilliant to encourage health and wellness but for Maria that can’t make it to the local gym during the day, she can get an online workout program or a Peloton to exercise at home once she picks the kids up from school. There are so many options that can be tailored to each person to be a true benefit to them and make their life easier. Here are more examples:

• Student loan payment
• Personal or professional development
• Childcare/babysitting
• Dry cleaning
• Vacation
• Cell phone bill
• Financial Advisor/wellness
• Charitable giving
• Pet insurance/care
• Technology

 
There’s a company called Compt that saw the need for this and provided a solution. It’s essentially a lifestyle spending account or an employee “allowanceâ€, if you will. You decide how much you can afford to give each employee per year as well as what categories or spending they can do. Then they spend the money, submit their receipts & get reimbursed. Easy as pie! (Except pie is actually kind of hard to make… this really is easy, promise.)
The idea is genius and the execution is simple. And the end result is that you get to keep your good employees around long-term and prove to them how valued they are. According to the Employee Engagement Report of 2019, employees who don’t feel valued at work are 34% more likely to leave their companies. And 79% of people that did quit their job said it was due to “lack of appreciationâ€. Don’t be part of that statistic. Now go show some love!