While the most common form of employee benefit is salary, what constitutes benefits for employees goes far beyond this.
Aside from the salary, your company culture, and the work atmosphere, great remote talent also considers the perks and benefits you provide before applying or deciding to work with your company.
That is, staying competitive in the global talent market goes beyond just an excellent salary and a vibrant working environment. As a company, you need to provide extra benefits that will motivate employees and help them upgrade their careers.
In this piece, we take you through some of the best remote employee benefits and perks, the factors to consider when building your benefits package, and the importance of taking such a step.
Here’s what we will cover:
- List of remote employee benefits and perks
- Factors to consider when designing a benefits package for your remote team
- Importance of Remote Employee Benefits and Perks
List of remote employee benefits and perks
Employee benefits and perks are one of the most important aspects of a company. They can make or break the work environment for employees. Remote employee incentives are a great way to attract and retain talent, as well as improve the company culture. Before we take a more detailed look at the benefits and perks, here’s a list of the benefits we’ll cover:
- Employer-provided health insurance
- Paid vacation time (unlimited PTO)
- Home office stipends
- Personal Development Programs
- Childcare Benefits
- Travel and Adventure Perks
- A physical get-together for team members (Company retreats)
- Subscription to digital services
- Co-working space membership
- A reimbursement package
- An employee recognition program
- Work Anniversary/Birthday gift vouchers
Now, let’s take a look at each perk or benefit and its importance to your company.
Employer-provided health insurance
Companies should provide a health insurance package for their employees, regardless of their location. This can be a private or customized health insurance plan for each employee or a group health insurance plan that covers the same type of health issues regardless of the employee’s location.
Paid vacation time (unlimited PTO)
Paid vacation time provides employees with an incentive to take time off from their jobs, which can help them recharge and stay engaged throughout the year. A company that pays for their employees’ vacations would be an attractive opportunity for many remote workers as it would allow them to take the time off they need without feeling guilty or anxious about the consequences of missing work.
Home office stipends
Once you operate a virtual workforce, the homes or apartments of your remote employees become their primary office. Providing a stipend helps employees set up their home office to build a consistent work schedule and maximize productivity.
Personal Development Programs
The fact that employees are working from home doesn’t mean they should be left to their fate when it comes to building their professional lives. One of the best virtual employee benefits is to pay for personal development programs for your remote team. These programs help them level up, develop themselves, and upgrade their productivity.
Childcare Benefits
If you want to make your remote employees happier at work, you need to create the right atmosphere for them to take care of their families. This is where childcare benefits come in. You can create a perk to pay for their babysitter fees or provide gifts for their children once in a while. Doing this helps build lasting relationships between the employees and the company.
Travel and Adventure Perks
A journey to their favorite tourist destination. Whatever the perk is, it will help them feel more valued in the company and keep them motivated to work for your company.
A physical get-together for team members (Company retreats)
Remote employees can feel disconnected and lonely, and they may not have the same sense of camaraderie that comes with working in an office environment.
That’s why it’s important to offer physical get-togethers or retreats as a perk for employees. With this, they can meet once or twice a year anywhere around the world and have fun while brainstorming new ideas.
Subscription to digital services
Whether it’s for entertainment or educational purposes, one great perk is to hook your remote employees up to a digital subscription. Before you take this step, ensure you seek their input on what they want. Some employees may like Apple TV. Others would go for Netflix. Some may not like any, but would rather need a subscription to an online course platform.
Co-working space membership
Remote work is about working from wherever you want, and not just from your home, as some people view it. In order to meet new people and feel a sense of community, some of your employees may prefer working from a co-working space. You can add it as a perk, where you cover their monthly subscriptions to a space near them.
A reimbursement package
While working remotely, employees come across a lot of things that could improve their careers. This could be a book, an upcoming local conference, or a one-day workshop. As a remote company, you can provide a reimbursement package where after attending such events or making a purchase relating to their career growth, employees should provide an invoice so you reimburse all or part of the cost they incurred. This goes a long way to help your company in building strong and resilient teams.
An employee recognition program
One way or the other, we all love to be recognized or praised for the efforts we put into things, be it work, relationships, parenting, or academics. Adding a recognition program where awards are given to the best, punctual, or most active employees is a great way to boost morale and check employee turnover.
Work Anniversary/Birthday gift vouchers
What better perk than helping remote employees celebrate their work anniversaries or birthdays? This is an excellent perk that will give employees a sense of belongingness while helping them deal with the isolation and loneliness that come with remote work.
Factors to consider when designing remote benefits and perks
You can’t offer every perk or benefit under the sun. As teams, we all have our setbacks, whether that is financial, logistics, or any other challenge. So before you offer remote employee incentives, here are the factors to take into consideration.
The size of your company or startup
The virtual employee benefits package your offer should depend on the size and type of your company. Large corporations for instance usually offer benefits like retirement plans, medical insurance, paid vacation days, and paid sick days. Other companies might offer free gym memberships or even a daycare center for their employees’ children.
The location of your employees
Different geographies, varying employment laws, and unique needs and challenges: that’s what a typical remote team is made up of. Before you come up with virtual employee benefits, it’s important to understand the nature of where each employee is located: the employment laws, their unique needs based on their location, and what is accepted or seen as a benefit and a perk.
Give employees the opportunity to choose
The fact that you have some of the best perks and benefits doesn’t mean every employee would love them. It’s important to give employees the opportunity to choose the type of perks and benefits they would love.
Why Remote Employee Benefits and Perks Are Important as a Remote-first Team
Remote Employee Benefits and Perks are important for both the company and the employees. Aside from the fact that they show the company cares about its employees, remote employee incentives controls employee turnover and more. Below, we outline a few of the reasons why any forward-looking company should provide benefits and perks.
A boost in productivity
Remote Employee Benefits and Perks can be a great way to boost your team’s productivity. These perks make them feel like they are appreciated and cared for, and they tend to give their best to whatever task they are assigned.
High morale to work and the company in general
Whatever the perk may be: flexible work hours, company-sponsored events, or on-site amenities, a great perk can boost employee morale. They can also be a way to keep your company’s culture healthy.
Helps attract great talent
Remote Employee Benefits and Perks can be an effective strategy for attracting top talent. It is important that your company has a clear understanding of what the top benefits are for the type of employees you want to attract, and then tailor those benefits accordingly.
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