4 employee benefits that support your remote team

A compelling employee benefit scheme is the holy grail of morale, happiness and job satisfaction. It has to be a set of practices or initiatives that truly support people in the workplace. Gone are the days of a generic strategy, catering for nothing but box-ticking and general reputation.

In today’s work environment, it is businesses that place people at the top of the agenda that are winning - and as the world moves remote and hybrid, here are four employee benefits to support healthier, happier employees. 

‍

‍

Remote learning and Development opportunities

In most cases, studying and learning are done alone. They are activities that require us to think and work out problems independently. For that reason, learning and development in the workplace make for a great addition to your remote employee benefit scheme. 

The rise of technology not only allows for us to work remotely, but E-learning platforms have never been so prevalent - challenging the status quo of traditional learning environments and practices. 

Through platforms like Udemy, Skillshare and the Open University, employees are empowered to become students once again (or for the first time). Most of the courses provided via these platforms are designed to upskill or train people in new and exciting fields. They also prepare students for online tests and exams that once passed provide a digital certificate of completion. 

Ultimately, they can be done in an employee’s own time, at home and away from the work environment. Employers should be looking at the fast pace rise of e-learning as an opportunity to boost remote employee engagement. 

Through learning and development, employees feel as though their careers are being taken seriously; as though leaders have listened to the direction and ambition of employees. After all, most of us foresee a certain future in our career and learning and development support this. 

Why not go one step further? Some degrees can now be done entirely remote, without students ever needing to step foot in a university lecture hall - a great chance for employees to attain a degree while progressing in their career.

‍

Similar read: 7 Considerations before choosing an employee benefits platform

‍

‍

Employee wellbeing platform

Wellbeing has become a buzzword of such in the modern workplace. Leaders are recognising the power of healthier, happier employees; and employees are understanding the importance of leading healthier, happier lives. 

In the aftermath of what can only be described as a couple of challenging years, personal wellbeing is essential and conversations on mental health are at the forefront of all workplaces. Health and wellbeing are more important than ever to people - how leaders support this can say a lot about the workplace and culture. 

Offering some form of wellbeing package or access to an employee wellbeing platform, like Heka can be hugely beneficial for your team. It’s no secret that remote and hybrid work can become very isolating and lonely from time to time. Your remote employee engagement can take a dip. 

Through an employee wellbeing platform, especially one offering a wide range of wellbeing benefits - think life coaching, therapy and mental health specialists -  employees are empowered to improve their health and happiness. 

As reported by the HRdirector at the beginning of 2022, a survey of around 3,500 office workers found that 38% have little or no trust in mental health being a priority of their employer. 

It’s clear more needs to be done to support health and wellbeing in the workplace, and an employee wellbeing platform could help leaders achieve just that. 

Note: If you’d like to discuss the benefits our employee wellbeing platform can have on your workforce, get in touch with our wellbeing experts and book a demo!

‍

Similar read: 23 simple ideas to transform your office environment

‍

Remote working budgets

Nearly all of us have felt the pinch of rising inflation, with rates at their highest level in nearly 40 years. Everyday essentials like gas and electricity to food shopping have skyrocketed in recent months. 

To make matters worse, employees working from home will see energy bills soar with higher usage compared to working in the office. And as inflation shows no sign of slowing down, leaders must find alternative ways to support employees.

Firstly, remote working budgets for things like new stationery, power adaptors, monitors and laptops are a great idea for any remote employee benefit scheme. These are, of course, important for employees to be able to carry out their duties, but they also take the burden off employees to pay for it themselves. 

Additionally, and to go that extra mile, employers should help people create some kind of office environment at home. This means providing the means to buy perhaps some headphones, desk lamps and other non-essential but nice to have items. 

The rising cost of living means supporting employees in any area of life with bills and purchases is an amazing idea. It doesn’t have to break the bank for businesses, but it does need to show that you are serious about helping them work remotely and to their full potential. 

‍

‍

Childcare benefits for parent employees

Finally, let’s talk about the rise of parenting in the workplace (when working from home). According to an article by The Guardian, the UK has the third most expensive childcare in the world, with only Switzerland and Slovakia above the UK. What’s more, Hubble also reported that nearly 30% of those living with children said the work from home experience (WFH) would be improved with childcare. 

While these figures may look slightly different with children returning to a school environment, many parents have chosen to continue juggling childcare and work responsibilities at home into 2022. This is especially true given the rising costs of living, and the impact childcare expenses are likely to have on working parents. 

Ultimately, support around childcare expenses can be huge for parents who continue to work from home in a post-pandemic world. According to Moneyhelper.org.uk, the average cost of sending a child to a nursery in the UK for full-time (50 hours) is £263.81 per week.

Leaders are recognising that employees are unable to perform at their best with the stress of childcare and work responsibilities. Through subsidising childcare expenses, employees can focus more on their work and achieve better results. 

‍

Similar read: 3 employee benefits that support parents in the workplace 

‍

Start building better employee benefits for remote teams

There you have it - four employee benefits that support remote teams! Hopefully, this starts the process of an employee benefits package that includes everyone in the workplace. Each employee leads a different lifestyle, with different prioritises. You must build an employee benefit scheme that supports everyone while avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach. Remote and hybrid work appears to be a game-changer for many businesses and the results look positive. How you adapt to remote working, including your employee benefits scheme is crucial. To round things off, always put people first when it comes to employee benefits, that’s the number one rule.