Human Resources - PerkSpot

Your Top Travel Savings Tips

Max Goldenberg August 26, 2022

If you’ve got Thanksgiving travel plans, whether you’re going by plane or car, gas isn’t cheap these days. Why pay full price on all those flights, rentals and hotels, when you could be saving hundreds every trip? Before you set off to your next destination, here’s some travel pro tips that can help you spend less on getting where you need to go.

Book Rental Cars Online, Not At The Airport

One of the easiest ways to save on rental cars is also one of the simplest – booking well in advance. Rates are much cheaper for rentals booked a few weeks in advance of travel, and especially better than what you’d pay after stepping out of the airport, where you can get hit with a head-spinning number of extra fees. Booking ahead of time also lets you use your online Discount Program, where your membership nabs you 25-35% off from most major car rental companies.

If You’ve Gotta Take a Flight, Get a Good Deal

While an airline loyalty card might save you some money, the real deals are in using a service like Scott’s Cheap Flights to find flights that’ll cost hundreds less. By monitoring fares and compiling the best possible deals, frequent fliers can find tickets for hundreds less. You can access membership to premium flight-discount services like this from your PerkSpot portal, plus find other great deals like 15% off airport parking with ParkNFly from your discount program’s travel center.

Keep Your Eyes Open to Save on Hotels

Even more so than rental cars or flights, you can get great deals on hotels if you know where to look. One of the best ways to get big savings on hotel stays is through your private discount program, where you can regularly find top hotel rooms listed for 30, 40, or even 50% off for both domestic and international travel. Planning your travel around low-occupancy months can also help you save big on hotel stays, though that might not always be possible; but if you can schedule your travels away from tourist season, your wallet will thank you.

While grabbing all these great travel deals can save you hundreds or even thousands on getting around, there’s no denying that compiling the best flights, hotel bundles, and rental cars all in advance to get your savings can be a headache.

Take Advantage of Your Discount Program

If you’ve already got PerkSpot, then your discount marketplace is already working overtime to bring you the best travel deals available anywhere. Instead of running across the internet looking for deals, all you have to do is sign in to your discount portal and navigate to the Travel Discount Center to find the best savings and bundles on hotels, rentals, flights and even cruises in one easy location. Say goodbye to deal hunting and start saving on your travel expenses! And if you don’t already have PerkSpot – well, now that you’ve heard how much you can save on your travel plans, what are you waiting for? Request a demo for free to claim your travel discounts today!

What Does Hybrid Really Mean?

Courtney Shipshock August 2, 2022

In the past few years, the standard work environment has seen changes. Prior to the pandemic, the majority of companies had their roles in-person at their corporate offices. It wasn’t uncommon for employees to relocate to new towns, cities, and even states for their job. However, something changed. During the pandemic, companies were faced with the unique challenge of keeping their employees safe while remaining in business and successful. To do so, a lot of employers switched to a work from home model. Technology had to be updated, expectations were adjusted, and a new work environment was taking shape. After two years of little to no in-person collaboration, employees have started to show interest in returning to the office. That’s where the hybrid model comes in, a mix of both remote and in-person to balance the best of both worlds.

Hybrid Defined

A hybrid work environment can be different depending on the industry, role requirements, or your current technology capabilities. Some companies have a set number of in-person days built into their team’s schedule per week, others have quarterly onsite gatherings to get the team together and collaborate. In general, a hybrid work environment is one made up of both working from home and working in-office for a period of time. Each version has its set of pros and cons and it’s up to you to decide which model works best for your team.

How To Execute

It can be challenging going from a fully in-office model to employees scattered throughout the country. One of the most important pieces to switching over is communicating expectations company-wide. As important as it is that employees feel empowered, it’s just as important that everyone is on the same page. To keep up with the progress, send out a company poll and ask managers to discuss the change with their employees. It will only further the trust between employees and their managers.

The Benefits of a Hybrid Model

There is a reason 74% of companies in the United States are currently using or plan to implement a permanent hybrid work model. The best part about a hybrid model is that employees are able to experience both a remote and in-person environment. A remote environment brings more flexibility, fewer distractions, and even increased productivity. An in-person environment brings increased collaboration, an opportunity for team bonding, and access to office resources. Statistics show that 83% of companies say that collaboration has been as good or better after switching over from a full in-office model to a flexible environment. Additionally, employees are more willing to stay at their jobs when it’s less controlled. Plus they’re able to save money without a daily commute.

Today’s employees are seeking flexibility with where they work. With 44% of employees preferring a hybrid work model, it might be time to reconsider your current work environment. You might be surprised at the increase in productivity and retention you see when you make the change!

Interested in investing further in your employees? Check out our E-Book, “5 Focus Areas For Building a Better Workplace” to find out how you can create a better working environment for your team.

Scaling Your Culture While Keeping Employees Engaged

Max Goldenberg July 27, 2022

When your organization is growing fast, it’s an exciting thing! New clients, new opportunities, new employees – and often new culture brought with them as your organization adapts. But fast-paced growth also comes with its own set of unique challenges; as organizations become bigger and more difficult to manage, more apathetic employees can easily dilute an energetic company culture, tanking employee engagement – and morale with it. Keeping an increasingly large roster of unique employees actively engaged in company culture is a huge challenge. For a growing enterprise, strong, positive cultures are vital for productivity and retention; so you’ll have to tackle the daunting task of scaling culture.

Bring New Employees Into The Conversation

Organizations of any size, even those with codified values, are filled with unspoken norms. These small quirks and daily standards can’t be communicated in onboardings, but they form the most basic building-block of culture. It’s essential that new employees feel a part of these minor daily routines! An excellent way of achieving this is through a monthly meeting where newer employees can discuss the company’s culture. Alternatively, you can assign newer employees a veteran buddy to talk candidly about your ins and outs.

Use Benefits Levers To Provide A Universally Attractive Foundation

Certain traditions, such as monthly gatherings of all staff, may become logistically unfeasible as your organization grows. To replace them, you can leverage digital tools to instead offer benefits with universal appeal. While attractive benefits are no replacement for bottom-up culture, using levers like PerkSpot’s discount program can help engage growing cultures by giving new employees attractive reasons to approach the office with the same enthusiasm of their veteran colleagues.

Be Flexible to New Quirks

With any influx of new employees, or even just a growing scope of your enterprise, it’s important to remember that the organization is never going to be exactly the same as it was – and that’s okay. Scaling your culture is the perfect time to codify your organization’s core values. You’ve got the unique chance now to really identify what makes your culture strong and successful. These core values should be your guiding torch to handling company-wide decisions and day-to-day interactions alike. With confidence in your example-setting, you can help maintain your organization’s positive cultural traits while also allowing new employees to add a piece of their own to the tapestry of your workspace.

Find Ways For Leadership To Engage Organically

It’s true that it’s a bit more difficult to do water-cooler talk over Zoom. Still, whether remote or in-person, it’s important that your organization’s leadership is accessible and engaged. Encouraging lower-pressure get-togethers, lunches, or similar events for teams or individual offices creates an environment where teams and leadership can come closer together. It’s also the perfect setting to reinforce a positive organizational culture!

Growing any organization is an exciting and fast-paced time to be involved, but it’s also a high-pressure environment. While one side of ensuring employee engagement is to provide enjoyable interaction opportunities, the other is to prevent burnout and disengagement through proper support and resources. As long as you can supply both sides of that equation to your employees, old and new, you’ll find any sort of cultural transition a breeze.

Flexible Benefits – What to Know

Max Goldenberg July 14, 2022

Watch out, traditional options plans, because flexible benefits are making big strides. While traditional benefit models provide specific, flat advantage is extended to the employee by their organization, ‘flexible’ or ‘personalized’ benefits challenge this entire hierarchical structure. These flexible benefits employees with stipends, allowing them to actively pick and choose the benefits they want to engage with.

Building Custom Benefits for Your Workplace

But before we get to asking if flexible benefits might be right for your workplace, we should first figure out just what exactly these ‘personalized’ benefits look like. The most common type of flexible benefit is a benefits spending account. Instead of a direct benefit, employees receive specific stipends in their spending accounts that can be spent across a range of lifestyle benefits. A great example of this is a Lifestyle Spending Account. As opposed to hosting regular mandatory training sessions, employees with an LSA might receive a stipend to attend trainings and seminars that they find interesting or useful from a broader list. Employees might even receive stipends to build their own home office, fitness supplies, or maybe even just groceries!

What makes flexible benefits so special – and so often highly well-received by employees – is right in the name; the tremendous level of flexibility they offer. Increasingly diverse workforces have similarly diverse needs, so a ‘flat’ benefit that might be a great boon for one employee – for instance, paternity leave for a new parent – isn’t going to help an employee with no plans of having a kid. By offering flexibility and personalization in benefits through stipends, your new parent might be able to spend his benefits on childcare supplies, while the child-free employee instead books a vacation!

Flexibility and Discount Programs

Although stipends are the most common, discount programs also fall into the category of highly customizable flexible benefits. Much like how a lifestyle stipend gives employees complete flexibility to purchase new gym equipment, bird-watching binoculars, or anything in between, having access to thousands of discounts means that employees have the freedom to pick out just the savings that matter to them – no matter their hobbies, situation, or identity.

Diversity and flexibility go hand in hand; diverse workplace situations require flexible mindsets, whether it’s in accounting for the needs of both in-person and remote employees or offering benefits attractive to individuals at entirely different life stages. By their very nature, no matter how unique your industry or employees, flexible benefits can fit right in.

That’s why you might want to consider PerkSpot for your company’s benefits suite. Not only does PerkSpot offer the adaptability of flexible benefits so that every employee can find something they’ll love – it’s also a no-cost solution, being completely free to add to your organization. Whether you’re looking for a cost-effective way to beef up your benefits or just a perk that everyone can enjoy, let’s talk about how PerkSpot’s discount program could be just the thing you need.

The Importance of Pride Month in the Workplace

Courtney Shipshock June 8, 2022

Pride Month is a time for LGBTQ+ communities and allies to come together to celebrate the freedom to be yourself. With decades of struggles with prejudice and acceptance, this month is crucial. It is a time when cities hold parades, celebrations, rallies, parties, workshops, and much more to recognize the fight for equality. As important as it is to celebrate Pride Month outside of work, it’s just as important to celebrate this monumental month in the workplace. We’ve gathered a few different ways you can raise your rainbow flag and join the movement today.

A Brief History

In 1969, police stormed into the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwhich Village, New York. Customers were being removed from the bar but tensions quickly rose. Patrons began resisting arrest and bystanders started throwing bottles and coins at the officers. Following the incident, the gay community was fed up after decades of harassment and took to the streets to riot for three days straight. After the riots, the Gay Liberation Front and the Gay Activists Alliance were formed. One year later, the nation’s first Gay Pride parades were held.

Why Celebrate?

There are many reasons why diversity is important in the workplace. A few include differing perspectives, new ideas, improved creativity, and better problem-solving. As the leaders in your organization, it’s critical to showcase the stories that make people unique and celebrate the diverse voices throughout the company. It is important to remember that the first Pride was not a celebration, it was a riot led by queer people of color.

How To Recognize In The Workplace

There are plenty of ways to show your allyship and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community in your workplace, whether you’re remote or in-person. A few of our favorites are below!

Support LGBTQ+ Causes

There are dozens of different organizations and causes you can donate to. It’s important to mention, it doesn’t have to be a monetary donation. Donating your time, voice, and energy is just as important!

Update Your Company Branding

Businesses around the world have shown their allyship in different ways. For example, you can update your Zoom background, add your pronouns to your email signature and LinkedIn page, and send out some pride swag for your employees to show off.

Educate Your Employees

A lot of employees are familiar with Pride Month, but they may not know the history behind it. Use this month to sit down with your teammates for an open discussion or provide resources for employees.

Pride Month is a time to celebrate how far we have come with LGBTQ+ rights, but it’s also a time to continue to fight for equality and recognize the struggles the community has faced. This month, take the time to celebrate and recognize the accomplishments of the gay rights movement and the brave LGBTQ+ advocates and allies standing up for equality.

Additional Resources:

Providing Benefits to a Multigenerational Workforce

Max Goldenberg June 3, 2022

Having a wide diversity of ages in your organization comes with a lot of benefits. As with many other kinds of diversity, a wide range of generational representation is a driver of innovation, offering varied perspectives on issues by combining older generation’s specialist knowledge with younger professional’s innate understanding of modern technologies and changes. Benefits aside, a multigenerational workforce multiple generations represented in the workforce is a near unavoidable reality as baby boomers begin to step back from top-level positions.

But multi-generational workforces also come with their own challenges, including:

A wide range of values and beliefs can cause differences in priorities
Significantly disparate communication styles and preferences
Wide gaps in desired perks and benefits

Diverse Generations with Diverse Values

Differing perspectives and values means different needs, and what a young professional is looking for from their benefits package is vastly different from what more senior employees need; knowing the difference and being able to account for the diverse needs of multiple generations of employees is key to crafting an employee-centric benefits experience.

The benefits valued by older generations tend towards traditional cornerstones such as 401k matching and supplemental health insurance. Younger generations, such as Millennials and Gen-Z, tend to value wellness initiatives and benefits that give them time back in the day. But there’s a surprising degree of overlap between emerging benefits that workers of every age are pining for, such as flexible work options, training and development opportunities, and smaller, personalized perks, from shuttle services to discounts on dry-cleaning.

The generation gap isn’t as steep as it might appear. When you get right down to it, it’s about people. Your employees are distinct individuals with individual needs that simply can’t be standardized.

The Employee-Centric Benefits Experience

Fortunately, you don’t have to standardize at all. Instead, account for differences by focusing on benefits personalization. Employees of all ages agree that flexible work options that allow them to work on their own schedules are critical; and you can take your multigenerational benefits a step further by partnering with PerkSpot. Our breadth of potential savings is uniquely positioned to cater to diverse workforces, with thousands of discounts available across dozens of industries! We offer meaningful benefits targeted at and personalized to the unique needs of every individual employee.

And that’s the core of an employee-centric benefits experience; offering the perks that each individual really cares about, no matter how unique! By focusing on perk personalization, you can provide an employee-centric experience. Personalized offerings will help celebrate the rich diversity of your workforce – generational or otherwise. From flexible work options to regular wellness initiatives, you’ll want to target your benefits around your workforce’s distinct concerns. As you do, PerkSpot can help get started with a benefits experience centered that’s unique to your equally unique employees; Request a Demo to learn more today!

How To Prioritize Mental Health In The Workplace

Courtney Shipshock May 12, 2022

Mental health is an incredibly important part of our overall health that unfortunately is commonly overlooked. In recent years, stresses from the pandemic, inflation, along with many other contributing factors have led to further deterioration. To recognize Mental Health Awareness Month, we have gathered different ways you can prioritize the health of your employees this month and beyond.

Ensure Employees Are Taking Time Away From Work

In 2021, Americans took the fewest number of PTO days out of everyone on the planet. In 2019, research conducted by the U.S. Travel Association found that 55% of Americans did not use all of their paid time off. So why are people leaving vacation on the table and letting their health suffer from burnout? Vacation guilt and worries about work are common reasons. It’s crucial that employees are given the needed time to unplug and recharge, and a lack thereof can be detrimental to their overall health. Encourage paid time off and ensure employees are fully disconnected while out of office.

Train Your Leaders To Help

It’s important to increase awareness so people in the workplace can notice when a coworker is struggling with their mental health. Offering managers the opportunity to attend trainings focused on the subject equips them with the skills to support those with mental illness as well as help the well-being of the rest of their teammates. Each illness is different and it’s important that managers approach each employee as an individual.

Provide Mental Health Benefits

Mercer’s 2021 Health on Demand Report found that of 14,000 employees across 13 countries, 44% of employees, who didn’t have access to mental health benefits, felt unsupported by their employers. Benefits can include a wide range of offerings, from weekly meditation to discounts on therapy sessions. It’s important to provide a tiered benefit program that offers a variety of different options that can benefit each individual’s unique needs.

Fight The Stigma

A stigma causes people to feel ashamed for something that is out of their control. There are plenty of ways to fight the mental health stigma, including open communication, education, compassion, along with many others. In addition to providing options, it’s important to communicate with your employees the different opportunities available and offer a safe space for discussion. Let your employees know the importance in your workplace and encourage open communication.

The mental health of your employees is more important now than ever. This month, take the necessary steps to support, recognize, and positively impact the mental health of your employees. They will thank you!

Mental Health Resources:

SAMHSA’s National Helpline

Help For Mental Illnesses

Financial Wellness A Top Priority For Younger Generations

Courtney Shipshock April 15, 2022

Free coffee, paid lunch, ping pong tables, and office snacks are no longer going to cut it.

Financial wellness is at the top of the list of benefits younger generations are searching for. According to SHRM, “Many workers over the last decade have been frustrated by stagnant wage growth. Younger workers may be particularly focused on compensation as they pay off college loans and try to establish their savings so they can purchase homes and start families.”

Below are a few different ways you can support your employees’ financial wellness while improving overall retention and morale.

Provide Retirement Planning & Contributions

Although a traditional benefit offering for most, retirement contributions will always be an important financial benefit for employees. Employers that offer a retirement contribution or matching plan tend to have improved employee morale and loyalty. It’s also a great way to attract top-notch talent and interest in your company. In addition, a company sponsored retirement plan can help employees with little knowledge on the topic save for their future. To take it even further, offer your employees automatic payroll deductions for even easier saving.

Offer A Financial Stipend

To further assist employees with their finances, employee sponsored stipends tend to go a long way with younger generations. Onset by the pandemic, employers have begun providing reimbursements for things related to work from home environments. Examples of essentials include office equipment, high speed internet, and other role specific tools to improve productivity. Other opportunities for financial stipends are commuting, parking assistance, and professional development, among many others. Financial stipends are a great way to show employees the value their role brings to the company and reduce employee turnover.

Grant Access to An Employee Discount Program

Daily life expenses can add up, especially with the current challenge of rising inflation. A simple way to offer your employees an impactful benefit is to offer a discount program. What is a discount program? An employee discount program is a marketplace of exclusive discounts, negotiated by a team of experts, from top brands and local businesses. PerkSpot is the industry leader in negotiating, managing, and supporting member discounts programs. We’ve built our platform to help your members save when and where it matters to them by showing the most relevant and meaningful offers. From local deals to nationwide brands, there’s something for everyone.

Younger generations may be eager for financial wellness benefits, but all generations would appreciate the added monetary assistance. There are plenty of opportunities available to lend a helping hand financially, and it will only have a positive impact with your employees.

Ready to start providing financial wellness help to your employees? Get started today with a demo.

Dealing with Burnout as an HR Professional

Max Goldenberg April 7, 2022

In today’s competitive candidate market, life as an HR professional has never been quite so exhausting. Being forced to chase after candidates in the age of work from home and tremendous employee freedom has meant a difficult balancing act between providing appealing, top-quality benefits, managing cost efficiency, and negotiating employee concerns – all while dealing with the fallout of a global pandemic. It’s no wonder that burnout is skyrocketing at HR departments all over the country – but there is a better way. And with World Health Day officially starting today on April 7th, there’s never been a better time to help your department get physically and mentally healthy!

42% of Human Resources teams report feeling overburdened with projects and responsibilities. And on one hand, this is something that should be taken up with management; when HR teams are simply too small or too overworked, there needs to be discussion about expanding Human Resources or offloading responsibilities. But a second, equally important aspect of this equation is learning to deal with burnout individually. And for that, we should first understand what “burnout” really means.

When we talk about burnout, we’re talking about the feelings of dread and exhaustion that rise up when we’re forced to do demanding, repetitive work. It’s the sense of doing tasks purely out of obligation, no longer believing they have any real impact. And the first step in re-gaining your passion is to re-gain control over your schedule.

Set Boundaries

The first step of assessing burnout is setting boundaries. It’s important both personally and professionally to be able to step away from work communications; for instance, turning off Slack and email past six-o-clock. Sticking to a routine that clearly separates work from life is fundamental to having a good work-life balance. Even if you’re on-call for emergencies, emergency should never mean every night, and if they are, then that’s a conversation you need to have with management.

Build Strong Communication Habits

Fostering good communication with management and the executive team at your workplace is another important aspect of managing burnout. That’s because burnout isn’t all about stress, but also lacking a sense of agency and value in what you do. When you feel you’re doing “meaningless” work, or don’t have control over your own schedule, burnout is far more intense. Prioritizing valuable work and setting firm boundaries on your own schedule is often a necessary step in managing burnout.

Break your Routines

More than boundaries, you’ll also want to start breaking your routines. While routines can provide a comforting sense of normalcy in our lives, they can also become trapping. If you notice you’re performing the same tasks in the same way over and over again, then it’s time to find something new. Maybe it’s as simple as switching up your morning routine, maybe it’s taking a new route around town, or maybe it’s shifting into a new aspect of your department’s operations.

Discover Personal Stress Management Solutions

Finally, there’s the most traditional (but still very important!) part of dealing with burnout – personal stress management. Exercise and meditation are the two most common methods, but it’s important to find what works for you; whether it’s walking your dog, paddling down canoe trails, or simply taking five dedicated minutes to focus. By understanding your stress and mentally moving on, you can take control back from your emotions.

Properly managing burnout requires breaking negative feedback loops, getting excited about work, and learning to manage stress. While that’ll require a lot of personal initiative, there are some tools that can help manage burnout stress.

One area you can cut down on stressful micromanagement is with PerkSpot’s single stop benefits platform, which offers countless diverse benefits for your diverse employees. With a suite of discounts at their fingertips, PerkSpot provides employees with the resources they need to cope with stress and burnout – whether it’s deals on ergonomic office chairs and gym memberships or complete getaway vacations to exotic destinations at a discount, schedule a demo today to learn more about the ways that PerkSpot can be a powerful burnout-burning resource for your organization this World Health Day.

4 Ways to Help Employees Stay Grounded This Winter

Courtney Shipshock February 14, 2022

The winter months often are accompanied by decreased motivation, a lull in energy, and a lot less sunshine. During this season, it’s crucial to keep employees’ wellness at the forefront and provide opportunities to increase morale. Below are easy to implement, meaningful opportunities to help your employees stay grounded this winter.

Encourage Incorporating Movement Into Every Day

Staying active in the cooler months can be a daunting task. Luckily, there are plenty of options available to promote adding movement into your employees’ daily routine. For example, movement can be as simple as taking breaks from your desk or as complex as structuring a cycling class into each day. According to LiveStrong, one way that exercise can help boost productivity at work is through alertness. When you exercise, you are also increasing blood flow to the brain, which can help sharpen your awareness and make you more ready to tackle your next big project. With PerkSpot, employees have access to exclusive perks geared toward a variety of fitness activities that can assist in achieving movement.

Support Employees Taking Advantage of Time Off

What better time to plan ahead than during the winter season! Encourage your employees to leverage their time off benefits and spend time away from their daily work routine. Time off can range from a day here and there to a week-long vacation. Either way, time away will play a positive role in helping employees avoid burnout. In addition, having something to look forward to oftentimes will also boost your employees’ morale and keep motivation steady.

Prioritize Downtime

It can be easy to get caught up in the hustle of everyday life. Downtime during the workday provides employees the necessary time to reflect and come back to tasks with an open mind. Prioritizing employees’ downtime can include things like implementing meeting-free hours, encouraging lunch breaks, or promoting adding pauses directly to their calendar. Psychology Today found that taking breaks refreshes the mind, replenishes your mental resources, and helps you become more creative. Taking the necessary downtime to refresh and regroup is a critical factor for staying grounded this winter.

Inspire Employees to Invest In a New Hobby

With less activities taking place during the winter months, it’s still a good time for investing in a new hobby. Some examples of ways to inspire hobbies virtually or in-person in the workplace include: hosting a monthly book club, gathering for a routine meditation class, bringing teammates together for a cooking competition, amongst many others. A discount program through PerkSpot makes finding new hobbies to enjoy together simple, with categorized savings from Home & Garden to Outdoors & Recreation.

This winter, grasp the opportunity to improve your employees’ overall wellness. Not only will staying grounded improve overall health, it will lead to an increase in determination, improved wellbeing, and a happier team.

Check out more of the perks that PerkSpot has available for your employees. Let’s work together to beat the winter blues!