Lifestyle benefits programme for employees

With mental and physical health and work-life balance now being a high priority for employees, offering a competitive employee benefit programme will help your business stand out to prospective hires and help retain your current workforce. A lifestyle benefits programme can include the following options:

• flexible hours;
• working remotely;
• dental and vision care;
• gym membership and wellness schemes;
• childcare and parental leave;
• help with repayment of student loans;
• professional development schemes.

How to offer employees opportunities to work remotely as part of a lifestyle benefits package

There is more than one way for your employees to work remotely. You might find that what works best for your business will be different to what does so for another company. Therefore, it is useful to look through the different options available. You may find that trial and error works best in helping you find what options suit your employees. Here are a few possibilities for you to consider:

Creating coworking spaces

A popular option for remote working is to create a coworking space so that your employees can still maintain some social contact, network with other workers and maintain a strong level of productivity. You may decide to rent out the space or give employees the option to rent the space themselves.

A coworking space can look a lot like office space, but it is less traditional in the sense that your team may work alongside other businesses, and many coworking spaces also offer perks like a café, networking days or pizza on Fridays. Coworking spaces give both you and your employees the chance to network with others in your industry, and across industries. This is a great way to gain access to a wider pool of talent.

Work and travel opportunities

With workforces becoming increasingly global, you might want to offer your employees or freelance clients work and travel opportunities. This is a brilliant way to offer those who work with you the chance to challenge themselves, become more confident and connect with communities on a larger scale.

You can leverage this scheme to be of great benefit to you, as it means that employees can attend networking or conference events in other locations, which in turn helps spread the word about your brand or company to new candidates, customers and clients.

Reasons to offer remote working to your employees

Your reasons for offering opportunities for employees to work remotely may also differ from that of other businesses. Employees in your company may be spread out around the world, or you may be trying to save costs of hiring office space. If you are undecided about whether remote working is right for your business, consider the points below.

Increased wellbeing and work-life balance

Flexible hours and remote working have the potential to benefit employee wellbeing, but this depends on your employee’s living situation. A UK government overview suggests that remote working is most likely to benefit workers living outside of London or major UK cities, creating job openings for workers who otherwise have limited opportunities to grow in their field. Remote working also reduces work-family tensions, therefore increasing work-life balance . However, workers with families may feel additional pressure when juggling work and family life, with female employees often expected to handle additional care responsibilities. To help keep remote worker morale high, consider having one-on-one discussions with employees to find out what works best for them.

Increased productivity

You may be wondering if working remotely reduces productivity in employees since you aren’t there to supervise them. However, one study showed that remote working helps to increase productivity; innovation increases by 63%, work engagement by 75% and not only that, 93% of employees feel more included. This is especially interesting to take into account if any of your employees are mothers; the same study showed that women with childcare responsibilities are 32% less likely to leave a remote position.

Opportunities for you, your business and employees to grow personally and professionally through working around the world

Employees with no fixed office will potentially be able to work around the world. Whether this is right for your company will depend on whether you wish your employees to attend in-person team meetings or networking events.

However, a globalised workforce has huge benefits. You will have access to quality candidates globally, which is especially useful if your employees require specialist knowledge and skill-sets. It also gives you and your employees opportunities to network on a larger scale, creating more awareness of your company or brand.

Saving expenses of hiring a permanent office space

With staff working from home or in a coworking space, you can cut back on costs like rent and furnishings for your office. That being said, you may wish to offer your remote working staff a complimentary laptop or phone as a perk, if they are required for the role.

More engaged employees

Employee engagement involves retaining staff and making them feel valued as part of your team. Therefore, it is worth listening to employees’ thoughts about remote working. A YouGov poll showed that one in five workers in the UK wished to work from home full-time, and 57% of workers in total want to be able to work from home following the pandemic.

How to make sure that there are no issues with remote working

Every employee has a different way of tackling a remote working role. To make sure that your team’s workflow continues to run smoothly, it is important to keep an open line of communication with your employees.

Consider doing this through business communication and video teleconferencing apps, scheduling regular meetings with teams, training and one-to-one chats to make sure that everyone is keeping on top of their work, understands their responsibilities, and is happy with their workload.

As a manager, you can help support staff and prevent burnout by maintaining regular communication with them. It is worth considering learning to listen empathetically to employees, even if there is the added element of distance between you created through a remote working environment. Also consider providing training for time management skills, if you would like your employees to manage their deadlines and workload well. You may find that your more senior employees who are familiar with the role will be more comfortable with managing their workflows, and their teams without much supervision from a line manager.

False conceptions about remote working

When you are not working in the same space as your employees, it is easy to become concerned about whether they will be working as hard. You may also wonder if they will appropriately communicate their needs. However, the ideas that employees do not work as hard, or are poor communicators when remote working, are all misconceptions. A UK government survey shows growing evidence from businesses that offering remote working increases productivity. If you are concerned about employee time management due to remote working, you can help train them in the following strategies:

• building a routine around workflows;
• blocking distracting apps for set periods;
• ensuring that all employees have access to the apps and IT that they require to complete tasks and that they have received the right training for them;
• keeping upbeat and motivated while working alone, such as through music or workout breaks;
• creating a digital calendar of meetings, targets and deadlines;
• managing screen time and planning regular breaks.

Remote working is an appealing option for both you and your employees if you are looking to create a healthy work-life balance , or simply want to allow your team to have a change of scene through work-travel opportunities.

It is worth being mindful of time management strategies and communication, but ultimately remote working is a mostly positive step forward for businesses. Thanks to this guide, you may now have a good understanding of what it takes to make the shift to remote working. It may also help you to sell the concept of remote working to your whole team. Further reading: Unlimited Vacation Policy: Why Employers Should Consider It How to Manage Employees