The corporate world saw some major changes happening in the past decade. The traditional work culture also took a major leap from the 9 to 5 loop. The advancements in the field of Internet technology opened new avenues for growth, bridged geographical barriers, and made things more flexible for corporates worldwide. As the world became a global village, the gap between employers and employees, have reduced and so has the distance between an employee and a work desk. With this, the world witnessed the rise of a new workforce the remote workers.
Remote workers as the word itself gives you the idea are workers who carry out their chores staying outside the office. They can operate out of anywhere be it their home, a beach, a diner, a coffee shop just name it. Wherever they are they work follows them or you can also say they just carry their work everywhere with them provided they have a good internet connection.
The trend of remote working has become so popular that in a survey it was found that “90% of remote workers plan on working remotely for the rest of their careers, and 94% encourage others to give remote jobs a shot.”
(Source: State of Remote Work 2018)
With remote workers on the rise the main focus of the present day work culture is on achieving the maximum efficiency. Employers are now spending more on nurturing their existing resources and attracting the top talents to meet their desired goals. And for doing the same, organizations are now adopting the practice of employee benefits.
Employee Benefits
Employee benefits are like rewards for employees to appreciate them in return for all their hardships. These benefits can be anything right from sponsored health care packages to paid vacations. Furthermore, office fun activities, company outings and many more also counted in the list of employee benefits.
The importance of employee benefits can be understood by the fact that it gives the employees a sense of gratification. It rejoices the employees by making them feel privileged and respected for all their work. The feeling of getting their work praised in the form of tangible or non-tangible returns by the employers is next to none for any employee. Employee benefits further uplifts, the employees' morale, encouraging them to give their best at work. It also helps the employers to instill a positive outlook of themselves in front of the employees, which is very important for boosting an organizations efficiency and credibility.
Equal benefits for all
Disbursing employee benefits is rather easy in case of regular office going workforce. If you ask why? Then it becomes easy for an employer to identify the needs and aspirations of the workers who are always present in the office. Also, it also lets the employers keep a track on the employees overall productivity. Likewise, with all these facts in mind, an employer can address all the problems and disburse necessary benefits very well.
However, with more and more people flocking towards remote work, things have become quite difficult for employers when it comes to employee benefits for remote workers.
The barriers are usual, lack of communication, the absence of a proper remote working policy, and also sometimes the lack of adequate resources to deal with remote workers. Given the fact, that with the advent in cloud computing, the prime factor behind the rise of remote working culture, some of these barriers are addressed. It’s now possible to disburse similar benefits to the remote workers working for you.
Benefits to Consider for your Remote Workforce
Here are some of the employee benefits best suited for a remote workforce that can be easily dispersed over the internet.
- Employee Perks and Discounts
Helping your employees save money can be a great idea towards building a good workforce relationship. For remote employees perks and discounts in the form of digital gift cards from popular brands or discount coupons are best suited. This may include shopping benefits, discounts on travelling expenses and other privileges like dining, recreational activities. As remote employees work from outside the office often operating from miles away, facilitating gift cards and discount coupons for the aforementioned benefits and privileges becomes very easy.
- Assistance for work setup and other resources
Employing remote workers can help organizations save a lot in tangible resources mostly in office space, furniture and other necessary amenities. But even if remote workers don’t come to the office, they do require a lot of resources to carry out their work in the most efficient way possible. These resources may include software and hardware amenities, work desk accessories, connectivity solutions etc. Having said so, employers can opt for providing their remote workers with the basic amenities for setting up a proper home office.
- Health care benefits
Taking care of your employees to harness the utmost productivity is really beneficial in the long run. Though remote employees have better work-life balance compared to in-office mates, a move from the employers' side to ensure the wellbeing of the employees is much appreciated. Delivering health packages and assisting the employees with suitable insurance plans can do the job here. Again, health care now is much more than just being physically fit. The mental state of remote workers often remains at stack due to workload and the feeling of loneliness working alone. To deal with this, you can workout on providing online consulting programs with mental wellness experts.
- Recognition
Praising your employees for the good work done is very essential for the business to prosper further. Giving recognition to the efforts of an employee adds value to their work and themselves. This very fact, makes them feel privileged and helps boost their morale which reflects back in the form of enhanced productivity. Moreover, when an employee gets recognized at work in front of all the peers, it instills the sense of getting respect. Remote workers are no different than desk oriented employees. Recognizing the efforts of remote workers will not only make them feel part of the team but it’ll also help explore their true potential. Remember, remote workers are known for their result oriented nature and recognition helps employers harness the best results every time from the employees.
- Stock Options
Employee stock purchase programs/plans help the employees gain more control over their financial investments. It gives them a sense of financial security which they can take advantage of at any point in their lives based on their needs. Assigning the same ESPP benefits for remote workers is one of the best ways to gain trust and stay transparent as an organization. With these, the remote workers can be sure they are at the right place and holding stocks will make them feel an integral part of the organization and encourage them to work for the betterment of their company.
- Flexible work hours
Flexible work hours can be counted as one more benefit for remote workers. Enabling remote workers to do their work at any time of the day when they feel being most productive is an ideal choice for employers. It also helps the remote workers focus better on other aspects of their daily lives thus maintaining a good work-life balance.
It benefits the employers too, as having flexible working hours adds to the operational capabilities of an organization.
- Company retreats
Remote workers stay more focused and work longer than usual office schedule as they seldom get distracted or have to commute for work. Moreover, the remote employees hardly get to engage in in-office fun activities and other such offerings. Organizing company retreats give the employers a chance to interact with these employees on a personal level. It also creates a good avenue for all the in-office co-workers to know their remote counterparts and create a healthy collaborative environment back at work.
- Co-working spaces
Facilitating the remote workers with a co-working space for doing their work is a very effective way of bringing out their professionalism. Co-working spaces host all the necessary amenities like connectivity solutions, furniture etc. giving an office like feel. If you want your remote workers to stay away even from homely distractions then co-working space is the best choice.
- Occasional Gifts
Sending out occasional gifts to your remote employees is a very nice way of making them feel good and privileged. Sending gifts also have a much positive impact on the remote employees than just an email with a simple “Thank You”. And gifts with some personal touch such as a coffee mug, T-shirt or anything likewise with the employees’ name on it is much appreciated.
- Career advancements
Professional development is a crucial factor for any employee working in an organization. It is also a prime factor that drives job seekers to take up remote work. Providing employees with adequate resources and time-off to pursue their career and excel professionally in their respective fields is by far the best benefit an employer can give out.
Remote workers are the future ready workforce who know what to do and how to do it better. With more and more people flocking towards remote work daily, employers should now embrace to a strong remote working policy. Here as I have mentioned above some of the best possible ways to ensure benefits for remote workers, it’s now in your hands to choose what would suit your employees’ needs and aspirations.
So if you already got some ideas to keep your employees happy and motivated with various benefits, just don’t wait it’s your turn to make them a positive difference.
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