Brought to you by Insightful:
Remote work changed the perception of the workplace and became a preferred work option for many employees, changing employees’ needs forever. Since employees can work from different locations, traditional office perks like free coffee and team lunches with pool tables in playrooms have lost their appeal.
If you’ve embraced the remote work model to retain top talent, you need to rewrite your benefits list to meet the changing needs of your remote teams. Here are the top remote employee perks you must focus on in 2023.
Provide Remote Office Equipment and Technology
One of the fears that prevent many employers from allowing their employees to work remotely is that their productivity would decrease in remote settings.
If you want your employees to be as productive in some other location as they were while working from the office, provide them with equipment and apps to recreate the office at home. Invest in laptops, Internet access, office desks and chairs, and various apps that can help you boost work at home productivity.
Prioritize Mental Health Care
Remote workers can often feel isolated or cut off from the rest of the team. They can also often feel unseen, thinking that their bosses rarely notice their work efforts and results. The feeling of loneliness and isolation can lead to increased anxiety or even depression, and overworking can lead to burnout, a severe condition that affects employees’ health and performance.
This is why you need to prioritize employees’ mental health and support those who are going through hard times. Try to organize actionable workshops where professionals can offer your employees mechanisms to cope with various negative feelings or issues. Or you can allow them to take a “mental health day” when they feel the need.
Designate a Budget for Employee Wellbeing
Remote work has gained justifiable popularity because it offers much-needed work-life balance and allows employees to focus more on their well-being and the things they love to do. And while the absence of commuting is an absolute positive, decreased mobility is one of the downsides of remote work.
According to a study, a remote worker makes 16 steps a day on average to get from their bed to their home office. This daunting data calls for immediate action. You can help to improve your employees’ well-being and physical condition by defining a well-being budget that employees can spend on various self-care options, like fitness apps, monthly spa vouchers, and similar perks.
Additional Childcare Support
While remote work offers more flexibility and increased work-life balance, working from home can be challenging for parents with small children. They often have to juggle work and childcare during work hours.
No matter how hard your remote workers may try to fulfill their children’s needs while working from home and attempt to draw a clear line between “the office” and family time, they may need additional support.
You can help your remote workers overcome this challenge by offering flexible work schedules and paid time off policies, as well as paying for a portion of daycare expenses.
Offer More a Generous PTO Package
According to numerous studies, employees would rather have more paid time off than higher salaries. This insight shows how important this benefit is to remote employees, especially during the life-threatening pandemic. This serious health crisis incited employees to question their priorities and focus more on their well-being and self care.
For these reasons, you need to reconsider your PTO policies and improve them by listing more diverse justified reasons for paid time off. Some of these reasons include mental health days, a child’s first day at school, or paternal leave. The decision is yours.
