It can be hard to know what exactly a good company culture looks like, but it isn’t too hard to see what a bad one looks like: you walk into the office, and it’s as if everyone has just disappeared. Were we all working from home today and I just missed the memo? You turn the corner, however, and see people in their offices. No one says good morning—just walks quietly with mug in hand toward the coffee machine in the break room. Everything just feels a little bit off.
If that description sounds a little too much like what your morning just looked like, don’t stress: you’re not alone. At Payday HCM, we’ve seen several companies battling this issue, wondering what it takes to improve their company culture. It can be a troubling task, but it’s one we’ve helped many different companies face. And, oftentimes, one of the best first steps lies in something as simple as your company’s benefits package.
In this article, we’ll go over four benefits that will help to improve your company culture. These benefits include:
- A Robust and Flexible PTO Policy
- Hybrid Work Options
- Mental Health Support Options
- Student Loan Repayment or Tuition Reimbursement
By the end, you’ll have all the tools you’ll need to ensure your company’s culture is as solid as ever.
#1: A Robust and Flexible PTO Policy
Combating burnout is a big step in improving company culture. Offering a solid PTO policy to your employees is a great way to ensure they never feel burnt out.
A PTO Policy for Everyone
The best kinds of PTO policies are the ones that work best for your company’s needs. When it comes to PTO, there are three different types of policies that you can offer: banked, earned, and unlimited.
Banked and earned PTO are essentially the same—employees are given a set amount of PTO to use for the year. However, one offers that amount up front (banked), and the other is distributed over time (earned). Unlimited PTO provides employees with an unlimited amount of PTO to use.
When looking at PTO policies that can improve company culture, unlimited PTO is an attractive option. According to MetLife, around 80 percent of millennials, 70 percent of Gen-Z, and 63 percent of baby boomers list unlimited PTO as a desirable benefit.
Flexibility Triumphs All
The most important thing to keep in mind when creating your PTO policy, though, is flexibility. You don’t want your employees to feel like their personal lives have to conform to their work lives. This can lead to a poor perception of their job and harm company culture.
While an unlimited PTO policy provides the most flexibility for your employees, you can still achieve a good level of flexibility with banked or earned policies by combining sick, medical, family, and personal leave all under one PTO banner. It’s also best to minimize the amount of information required of employees to submit a time off request—after all, trust does go a long way.
#2: Hybrid Work Options
This may seem counterintuitive—taking people out of the office in which you’re trying to improve the culture—but hybrid work options can play a key role in giving employees the freedom to work how they want to.
If It Can Be Done Remotely, Let It
According to Gallup, around 5 in 10 jobs in the U.S. can be performed remotely, with 6 in 10 employees with said remote-capable jobs wanting hybrid work arrangements. It’s not hard here to see the connection between what employees want and company culture.
Ultimately, company culture can be bogged down by forcing employees to be in the office when they don’t need to be. Hybrid work arrangements are also a great way to attract new talent.
Once Again, Flexibility is Key
In today’s culture, flexibility and understanding are really the two most important things to keep in mind when it comes to company culture. Both of these things ultimately come back to trust—all essential qualities in making hybrid work arrangements work.
Providing your employees with the ability to work from home indicates that you trust them. Not only that, but it also demonstrates that you understand they have a life outside of work. These two things, more than anything, can make employees feel valued and bolster company morale overall.
#3: Mental Health Support Options
Company culture and morale are heavily intertwined with how your employees are feeling. Providing your employees with the proper resources to take care of their mental health can be a great first step in improving your company culture.
Employee Assistance and Wellness Programs
Two benefits that you can implement in your benefits package to provide your employees with mental health support are employee assistance programs (EAPs) and wellness programs. EAPs provide employees with access to mental health resources like counseling, either in-house or outsourced.
An employee wellness program provides employees with things like a gym membership as part of their benefits package. According to the National Library of Medicine, regular exercise can be a key component in improving one’s mental health.
Creating a Culture of Support
When it comes to mental health in the workplace, the most important thing you can do is make your employees feel supported. This means making sure you provide your employees with the proper resources to help them through whatever it is that they may be going through.
When it comes to the healthcare plan in your company’s benefits package, you want to make sure it includes coverage for things like counseling, psychiatric treatment, and substance abuse treatment. Regular breaks, respecting work-life boundaries, and reducing stress are great ways to support your employees’ mental health outside of the benefits package.
#4: Student Loan Repayment or Tuition Reimbursement
A somewhat uncommon benefit, student loan repayment and tuition reimbursement is another great method for improving your company’s culture through your benefits package.
What is Student Loan Repayment?
Employers have the option of helping their employees pay back their student loans through different payment programs. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, student loan repayment benefits can either operate as direct repayment programs or as discretionary programs in which a company’s discretionary benefit dollars can be used toward repayment.
In practice, this benefit can take on a few different forms. Employees can opt to “cash in” unused PTO at the end of the year to use towards repayment; you can set up a program similar to a 401(k) where you and the employee each contribute a matching percentage toward the repayment; or you can simply set up recurring payments each month.
Student Loan Repayment and Company Culture
It may not be immediately clear what kind of impact a student loan repayment benefit might have on your company culture. However, offering this kind of benefit can be another way to show your appreciation for your employees, boosting morale and company loyalty.
More importantly, though, a student loan repayment program can help to alleviate the financial burden your employees might feel from their student loans. This can be a huge help in alleviating external stress for your employees. Not only that, but it demonstrates that your company is interested in their development and growth as a person.
Benefits That Benefit Your Company’s Culture
We all know a bad company culture when we see it. When you’re in it, it can be hard to see a way out. Maybe the office is just like this? Luckily, this isn’t the case. A good benefits package can often be a great first step in improving your company’s culture.
Feeling ready to incorporate some of these benefits into your benefits package, and take your company culture to the next level? Learn more about how Payday HCM can help you create the best benefits solution for your company.
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