It takes more than cupcakes.
There are all sorts of creative things we can offer on Employee Appreciation Day to say “I see you.” And certainly, a hand written note and chocolate lava cupcake is a nice gesture.
But as leaders if we want to show our people meaningful support we have to see *and address* the many life complexities they carry. It means creating, documenting and executing policies and benefits that are transparent and consistent to truly prioritize their wellness, success and fulfillment as a person.
Here are 10 ways we show support for people in our benefits:
1) Paid parental leave for all mothers, fathers, guardians, foster and adoptive parents. It's 2023- this is non negotiable.
2) Paid bereavement leave for miscarriage. No process, no proof, no paperwork. Just support.
3) Infants at Work Policy: The choice for parents/caregivers to bring their baby to work (after paid leave) w/ them for continued bonding and support.
4) Caregiver Leave: 4 weeks of additional paid leave for the acute physical or mental care of a loved one or one’s self, an important safety net for those unpredictable and often debilitating situations that arise in life.
5) All employees are eligible for paid leaves immediately- no arbitrary duration is needed to receive the benefits we deem valuable to systematically remove inequalities in the workplace.
6) Flexible work options with an emphasis on individual employee preference for telecommuting and hybrid work arrangements.
7) Generous paid time off. The average first year employee receives 54 organizational paid days off (yes, 54), not counting the additional paid leave policies mentioned above.
8) A commitment to competitive and fair compensation: annual increases in all job grade minimums, and a 3rd party salary audit every 3 years.
9) Work accommodations: from overall workplace flexibility, to short term accommodations (like the impact of the childcare shortage/ waitlists) when life brings unexpected speed bumps we have documented processes in place to work with each employee on the needs they have for flexibility and changes to their roles, hours, or location.
10) A dedicated process and pipeline for the advancement of internal applicants. In past three years, 83% of our Director level and above openings have been filled internally.
These are just some of the ways we work hard to ensure our employees feel seen and valued, and organizationally we continue to experience the benefit of amazing employee engagement and retention. We’re an organization with approximately 60 full time employees and the very real budget constraints of a non profit. We choose to passionately support our team in this way and acknowledge not every policy we have works in every organization. We hope sharing our ideas can inspire and move the needle on the overall wellness of people at work.
#employeeappreciation #hr #benefits #wellnessatwork #innovation #genderequality #retentionstrategies #success
