New Benefits Employees Will Love You For

When employees consider viable job options, factors like fair, commensurate pay, and work environment are immediate and top-of-mind. However, the tipping point in deciding which company to commit to is largely due to the unique benefits a company is ready to offer. 

Benefits not only attract new talent to a business but also strengthen the retention of talent as well. 

While it’s true that not all employee benefits are created equally and may vary across many different companies and industries, most companies around the world have been reviewing what new benefits their employees want and need. 

This recalibration of employee benefits was no doubt accelerated by COVID-19, which has irrevocably changed the way we work and perform daily tasks. Employers have now become more conscious and aware of what their employees want.

In this article, we take a look at some unique employee benefits being deployed in other countries and how these can inspire you to consider innovative ways to reward your talent.

But first let’s take a brief refresher on the current and mandatory benefits here in the Philippines:

Under the Labor Code of the Philippines, all employers hold a moral and legal responsibility to provide their employees with employee benefits. 

Government-mandated benefits ensure that all employees receive minimum wage, 13th-month pay, and overtime pay. 

Apart from these first three mandates, employers in the Philippines are required to enroll their employees to become members of the PAG-IBIG fund, PhilHealth, and SSS.

It is the responsibility of employers to remit monthly contributions of their employees to these government agencies. Employees’ monthly contributions ensure that they have access to:

• Affordable and livable housing options

• Health care benefits and insurance

• Social security

After COVID-19 hit the Philippines, many companies and businesses responded by reviewing office policies to address growing concerns regarding their employees’ safety, as well as their overall health and wellbeing. In fact, seven out of ten employers in the Philippines eyed revamping their employee benefits package to focus on employees’ mental well-being, as a result of the pandemic.

As businesses start easing into the post-pandemic workplace, it would be wise for employers not only to retain many of these benefits for their employees but to reinforce new ones to address changing needs.

Below are some top examples of what employers in the Philippines could add to their employee benefits packages that are guaranteed to be welcomed by those who work for them. 

Greater Flexibility in US Companies

According to a study conducted by the Harvard Business Review, there is an overwhelming need for flexibility in the workplace. Their study showed that employees need location-based flexibility and flexibility around work hours to support “small, spontaneous adjustments to their schedule.” 

You can provide similar flexibility for your employees by adjusting their time shifts. Give them some leg room to re-organize working hours to optimize their productivity. Perhaps more consideration can be given to those with rigid commute schedules as well as employees who live considerably far from the office location. Look into what works best so they can travel to and from work at reasonable hours. 

Find out how you can maximize “microagility”. This means empowering your employees to step away for small windows of time during work hours to attend to emergencies or personal business. By allowing them a few hours off and letting them make up for it at a later time, you increase flexibility and improve their work-life balance. 

A Shorter Work Week in New Zealand

In July 2018, a company in New Zealand experimented with a four-day workweek, with employees getting paid for a full five-day workweek. The results were overwhelmingly positive. They found that “reduced hours for same pay increased successful work-life management, cut stress levels and boosted commitment.”

Sounds good, doesn’t it? 

Mentorship Programs

According to a study done by Deloitte in 2016, many millennials consider mentorship programs almost as important as healthcare benefits. Working in the digital age has opened a lot of job opportunities that did not exist ten or even five years ago. Many of these careers are complex, multi-tiered, and require a more diverse skills-set. 

You can offer mentorship that grants qualified employees to work alongside an industry leader within the organization. The opportunity to learn directly from career inspirations can do so much for employees.

Mental Health Care

Mental health is something that needs to be taken more seriously to ensure fitter, better, and happier employees in the workplace. 

Removing the stigma around accessing mental health care is important. Access to mental health resources such as counseling and in some cases, even medication need to be normalized in workplaces. 

You can take that a step further by providing qualified employees with paid time off or sabbaticals. These are investments made toward invaluable members of your organization. 

Freedom Fridays and No-meeting Wednesdays

Oftentimes, it’s the little things that add up to the big, important things. Some companies in the U.S. have adopted what they call “Summer Fridays”, where employees are given certain Fridays off during the summer. 

Adapting the same concept locally shouldn’t be such a stretch, especially when we consider months when we are hit with never-ending monsoon rains and typhoons. Commuting to and from work becomes a virtual hell. 

How about looking into more humane work-week schedules that are based on climate realities? Remember the majority of the workforce do not own a private car and may live in areas where flooding is frequent. A benefit like this will be more than welcome. 

“No-meeting Wednesdays” is also a concept that some companies have chosen to adopt to bring back employee focus during the workday. “Zoom fatigue” is real. 

Choose kindness by implementing “no-meeting” days so workers can concentrate on deliverables and tasks rather than sitting through meetings that could be condensed in an email thread. This will be most appreciated. 

The Benefits of Offering These Employee Benefits

When you empower your employees through the benefits and the perks they receive, you benefit back by gaining better productivity, improved engagement, and increased commitment from their workforce.

Build a more empowered team today by finding the best candidate for the job through Talent Search. For more expert insights related to your industry, head over to Inspirations.