Long gone are the days when you could keep employees around with promises of a 5% annual raise, a corner office, and a prestigious title. After nearly 15 years of collecting data from a nationwide survey, February’s issue of HR Magazine reported “for the first time, work-life balance surpasses compensation as the number one issue that both candidates - and employees - rank as most important to them.” This is precisely why yesterday’s benefits package is no longer enough. Sure, the great health coverage and retirement plans are still extremely relevant and necessary; but to address changing social norms across generational lines, corporations need to get creative with their specialty benefit offerings: behavioral health services, wellness programs, and the all-important life management solutions.
An excellent example of a corporation that is getting creative with its employee benefits is Google. According to the Google website, their benefits philosophy is as follows, “We realize and celebrate that our employees have diverse needs, and that this diversity requires flexible and individually directed support. Our priority is to offer a customizable program that can be tailored to the specific needs of each individual, whether they enjoy ice climbing in Alaska, want to retire by age 40, or plan to adopt 3 children.” The Google employee benefits certainly go well beyond the basics, including financial assistance for adoption, free lunch and dinner prepared by gourmet chefs, on-site hairstylist, oil change, car wash, dry cleaning, and massage therapy.
Now Google is HUGE, and can certainly afford to provide employees with these amazing perks. But why aren’t more companies – smaller, non-profit, mid-size, and privately-owned – asking themselves, what more can we do to provide a better quality of life for our employees? If people are concerned with the pending labor shortage or attracting and retaining a talented employee population, they need to ask themselves, “Does my corporation foster a culture of work/life balance?” Chances are probably not.
Simple changes can make a major impact. Support for child and elder care is still an excellent benefit for today’s employees – especially the boomers who may be taking care of both children and elders simultaneously. Providing some sort of financial and legal counseling can ease the burden of all those workers stressed out over their retirement, paying for college, housing issues or legal matters. A strong Employee Assistance Program is there to help everyday people with everyday problems: the parents with the over-scheduled kids, the pet lover who needs to find a credible dog sitter, the recent college graduate who just got their identity stolen and doesn’t know where to turn. On-site wellness perks like a walking trail, fruit in the break room, or office yoga can help all those looking for small ways to get healthier. Not everyone can offer what Google offers, but we can all certainly take some small steps in the right direction without breaking the bank.
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