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Shocking Statistics: The State of the Workplace in 2018

2018 has proven to be an exciting year for employee engagement. As we ramp up our efforts to engage and retain more of our workforce, how are we doing?

Here are a few shocking statistics we think you should know about the state of the workplace in 2018 and a number of ways to combat them:

The Shocking Stat:

80% of workers feel stressed on the job.

The Solution: Implement Professional Development Opportunities

While it may seem counterintuitive to add more to an employee’s plate, 48% of employees say that investing in professional development is one of the highest-impact strategies to combating stress that their company can do. Providing opportunities for employees to learn and grow and investing in them as individuals can do wonders for their overall well-being.

Think this seems obvious? Maybe it is, but only 30% of employees say they have someone who encourages their development at work which could be a reason why we’re seeing 80% of the population pulling out their hair.

If you want to do more to encourage professional development at work, start here.

The Shocking Stat:

Of the 5 billion people on the planet, only 1.4 billion have a good job, and just 16% of those are engaged.

The Solution: Offer Competitive Benefits and Perks

Start by considering what makes a good job in the first place. According to 21% of Millennials, a good work environment is defined as one that offers incentives and perks.  Are your benefits competitive? Do your employees constantly stress about their physical or financial health?

Find ways to ease the burden by offering competitive benefits plans and/or a perks program to help employees stretch their paycheck.

The Shocking Stat:

89% of bosses believe employees quit for more money. The truth? Only 12% of employees actually leave for more money.

The Solution: Empower Leadership

If it’s not salary, what is the problem? Studies show that 75% of employees leave their job because of their boss. This could be because 58% of managers today have not received any form of management training.

Professional development should not be limited to lower level employees. Make sure you’re empowering your management teams to lead well. This means focusing on transparency and mentorship among your leaders and again, creating those opportunities for them to learn and grow as well.

The Shocking Stat:

12% of businesses are happy with their current level of employee engagement.

The Solution: Recognize, Reward, Retain

Although 90% of leaders think an engagement strategy would help, less than 25% actually have one. How can we expect to improve employee engagement without setting a real strategy in place?

One of the biggest ways to impact employee satisfaction and retention is with a simple “job well done”. It’s easy to forget to recognize employees’ achievements, but doing so can make or break employee happiness. In fact, 47% of employees say they would like to receive rewards spontaneously.

Creating strategies to reward and recognize employees, like PerkSpot’s recognition program, means making a difference for your employees and your business.

Want to find more solutions for your employee engagement strategies? Chat with us today about how PerkSpot could change the state of your workforce.

5 Things Not to Do for Employee Retention

We all want to keep our top talent. We want to see our companies thrive and grow while rewarding and incentivizing the right people to stay.

But sometimes this simple goal is not that easy to accomplish.

In fact, if you’ve done one of these five things this week, you could be costing your company valuable talent:


Here are five things not to do for employee retention:

Balanced Recognition

It’s easy to recognize the loud, outspoken extroverts for their achievements because they pretty much make themselves known. Although many of these employees may be very deserving of the recognition, introverts are also equally deserving, and in many ways require even more acknowledgement of their success in the workplace. Peer to peer recognition is a great way to help these quiet performers feel valued in the workplace. So the next time you hear someone saying great things about one of these employees, make sure they also say it to their face.

Empty Promises

A sure-fire way to annoy your employees is to promise something and not deliver. This could be as simple as “I’ll set up a meeting to discuss” and not following through. Consistently promising things and not delivering will leave your employees disappointed and will cause them to lose trust in your management or organization. Understanding that things happen, make sure you’re communicating clearly when plans change or you don’t have an answer in the time frame you expected. And, of course, make sure you’re not promising too many things you can’t deliver on in the first place.

Unrealistic or Inaccurate Expectations

Maybe this week an employee completed a project that was NOTHING like you wanted or expected. Again, constant and clear communication is vital to making sure you’re both understanding what is expected for your employee’s role. Make sure if they aren’t delivering, you speak to them and figure out where the misunderstanding happened. Approach the situation with an open mind, being willing to hear their perspective and figure out how you can improve. Of course, if this happens repeatedly, it may be time to evaluate their performance overall.

Unspoken Apologies

We’re all human. Including managers. If you realize you have fallen short for your employee this week, find a way to make it right. This could mean not carving out enough time to chat with them about an issue they were having, responding negatively to a certain situation, or not communicating expectations properly. If you screw up, own it, and make it right before your employee begins to harbor bitterness and resentment.

Constructive Criticism

Did you find a way to challenge your employees this week? One of the greatest ways to improve employee retention is to consistently provide feedback on their performance and make sure they are being challenged. Needless to say, not every week is going to be challenging. We all have weeks when we have to focus on the mundane, but necessary tasks at hand. However, if this is becoming the norm for your employee, you can believe that they won’t stick around for long. Give feedback, push them harder, and make sure they are doing work that challenges them in the right ways.

Which of these did you do this week? What will you strive to do better in the future?

4 Ways to Improve Employee Retention

Retaining employees seems to be a never-ending topic of discussion. In a survey of 614 HR leaders, 87% said improving retention is a high or critical priority. Not surprising considering over 3 million Americans quit their job every month.

There is plenty of work to be done when it comes to improving retention rates among these employees, and it all starts with culture.
Here are four ways to improve retention rates that won’t cost a fortune.

Focus on Training and Development

According to a Gallup poll, 93% of Millennials left their job to seek a new role. It seems today’s job seekers feel they need to move on in order to move up. We face similar obstacles at PerkSpot given the small size of our company. One way of combating that was to provide sabbatical opportunities for employees with a small stipend where they can pursue additional training and development opportunities. Employees not only come back refreshed and recharged, but they also have a renewed sense of passion for the work at hand and a few new skills added to their toolbelt. This has been a win-win all around for employee retention and development.

Compensate Fairly

We’ve made another exciting change at PerkSpot this year to improve employee satisfaction and retention. After hearing various feedback from employees, our executive team got together to put a more thorough compensation plan, including individual goals for each employee. Quite possibly nothing is more important than consistently evaluating what and how you’re paying your employees, and including them in the process.

Another Gallup survey revealed “while just 30% of employees strongly agree that their manager involves them in setting their goals at work, those who do… are 3.6 times more likely than other employees to be engaged.” While compensation may seem like a costly part of a retention strategy, bumping up a salary by a small percentage costs way less than hiring a new employee, where the dollar amount for replacing an employee might shock you.

Evaluate Often

While a great compensation plan will set employees up for success, it’s also important to hold consistent performance reviews. Sadly, only a mere 14% of employees feel inspired by their reviews. Remember to ask employees great questions and listen to their pain points. By finding ways to inspire them in their jobs, they’ll leave happier and be more productive in the long haul. Evaluating their compensation should be an obvious part of this conversation, as stated above.

Recognize and Reward

We’d be remiss not to mention rewards and recognition as part of a successful retention plan. Clive Schlee, CEO of restaurants Pret a Manger, discusses with Harvard Business Review the importance of recognition in this short video: “Each employee makes about 5-10,000 decisions a day… how to squeeze a lemon, how to lay the chicken on the sandwich,… these are all decisions that can be done well or can be done badly and how they feel about the company is absolutely critical.”

Meanwhile, only one in three employees say they have received recognition in the past seven days. A critical misstep for companies hoping to retain their high performers. The same report states that 28% of employees feel that the most meaningful recognition comes from their manager, which is why the PerkSpot Rewards and Recognition platform is setup to do just that. Managers recognize their employees in real time, right when they perform an action that aligns with company values.

There are many things you can do to start reducing your turnover and improve your employee retention. Where will you start?

Pet Perks: Bring Your Pup to Work

There’s a reason why instagram handles like @animalsdoingthings and @dogsofinstagram have 1.4 million and 4.1 million followers, respectively. People love their pets. And specifically, millennials love their pets.

Over the years we’ve seen that millennials are delaying parenthood in order to maintain independence and focus on their careers. But, with a delay in parenthood comes an increase in pet ownership. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals (ASPCA), 44% of Americans own a dog, while 35% have a cat.

If you think pet ownership isn’t affecting the workplace, think again. Here are few reasons to consider offering benefits for pets in the workplace and where to start:

Pets are Part of the Family

According to a survey by Healthy Paws Pet Insurance, 89% of pet parents exercise with their pet regularly, 70% sleep with their pet and 14% manage a Facebook or Instagram account for their pets. As pet owners intertwine their lives more and more with their pets, it should come as no surprise that providing space for pets in the workplace is of high value to these employees.

Pets are Expensive

While pets are a much more affordable alternative to children for many, they still come with a price. Fifty-five percent of pet parents told Healthy Paws they spend over $75 each month on their pets. Employers who choose to help with the burden of these expenses will definitely stand out among job seekers.

Implementing Policies for Pets

PerkSpot client, Banfield Pet Hospital, reported that 7 out of 10 employees and Human Resources decision makers said that allowing pets in the workplace made a positive impact on workplace morale and office dynamics. And while 56% of HR decision makers who don’t currently offer these perks forsee a difficult implementation, only 25% of those who offer pet-friendly policies reported difficulty with implementation. It seems the idea of implementation is scarier than the reality.

While it seems most people love pets, there are always exceptions to this rule. What can be a great perk for some employees might be another’s worst nightmare due to allergies or trauma. Start by hosting a “Bring Your Pet to Work Day” and gauge results using employee surveys and feedback. It’s important to be considerate to those who aren’t pet lovers while still offering benefits and perks for pet parents. One easy way to provide benefits to pet parents, without affecting the non-pet lovers of the world, is by providing pet insurance. This is still a highly coveted perk, requested by 23% of employees in Banfield’s survey. Affecting only those who opt-in to this perk, it’s a great way to determine interest and set your company apart with pet-friendly policies.

Does your company currently offer benefits for pets? Perhaps this is the next move for 2018.

Why You Should Factor in Discounts

Coupons, deals, discounts! These three words might not be ones you normally think of when it comes to employee happiness… but science says, you might want to look closer.
discount science Discount science is an understudied topic, but we think it’s an important one! From keeping employees’ happy to saving them valuable time and money, the evidence is clear.

The History of Coupons

But let’s start from the beginning. Have you ever wondered where coupons started? According to TIME, Coca-cola introduced the first coupon in 1887 with a hand-written ticket offering customers a free taste of their new drink. The success of this campaign is evident in how vast Coca-cola’s reach has been over the last century. Fast-forward to today and more than 700 corporations offer discounts on some type of product or service. It’s no secret that coupons work. But what makes them so successful? And why is it relevant? Only discount science can say!

Discount Science

The Happiness Factor

According to a study in 2012 by Coupons.com, coupon recipients were 11% happier than those who did not receive a coupon. Scientists measured oxytocin levels in participants, the same hormone we experience when we kiss or hug someone. They found that consumers who received a coupon had higher levels by 38%. Scientifically, you could say they were in love with the savings!

The Time Factor

Unfortunately, according to media company Valassis, time is (literally) money for many of today’s employees. In their recent survey, 53 percent of respondents said they spend over two hours a week searching for deals and savings, while 25% of millennials and moms invest over four hours into their search.

The Employer Factor

We believe this is where, as an employer, we can make lives a lot easier for our employees. Employee engagement has gone from a hot topic to a make or break for attracting and retaining top talent. In fact, 4 out of 5 employees would rather receive benefits or perks over a pay raise. By providing discounts, you’re not only putting money back in your employees pockets, but you’re saving them valuable time and energy as well.

It’s easy to offer perks, but are you offering the right ones? Providing discounts can improve happiness among your employees while saving them valuable time and money. The best part is that our discounts are easy to access and easy to use! We’ll save your employees hours each week and put smiles back on their faces.

Contact our team to learn more!

Building Your Employer Brand

We’re all familiar with branding as it relates to marketing, but what about how it relates to recruitment? If you think about popular brands like Lyft, Southwest Airlines, and Starbucks, you probably have a good idea of what it’s like to work for these companies. That’s because they’ve integrated branding not only into their marketing strategy but their recruitment strategy as well.

 

An employment brand is the prospective candidates have of what it’s like to work for an organization. According to Glassdoor, 69% of Americans wouldn’t work for a company with a bad reputation, even if they were unemployed. This goes to show that reputation is everything, not just for consumers, but candidates as well.

building employer brand

Make your employer brand stand out with these 4 tips:

1. Focus on your audience.

First things first, consider the type of employee you’re looking to recruit. While diversity is important for an organization, there should be common denominators that unite your brand, such as creative thinking, innovation, and flexibility. While some thrive in a corporate setting, others may perform better in a more flex environment. Consider what makes your company unique and what unifies your current employees. Draw on your strengths to attract new talent.

2. Showcase “A Day In the Life”

When I was applying at PerkSpot, the job description really stuck out to me because it detailed what I could expect my first six months on the job. When candidates are looking for a new position, they need to be able to picture themselves on a day to day basis performing the tasks at hand. There are so many ways you can showcase what daily life is like at your company. From testimonials to videos to the job description, make sure you’re painting a picture for these prospects so they can visualize themselves working for your brand.

3. Incorporate leadership into the process.

A great way to build company culture and a strong employment brand is by getting the CEO and other executives involved in this process. When leadership takes ownership over the recruitment process and the message you are conveying to candidates, this can humanize the organization and build a stronger brand. In fact, according to Employer Branding International, this is one of the top factors in shaping a strong employment brand.

4. Make your message consistent.

If you’re working for a larger company, it can be difficult to create a consistent message across the board. Conduct employee surveys to gauge the current view employees have of your company. Incorporate the mission and values of the company into each department’s function. For example, if innovation is a core value, make sure every department from tech to marketing knows how this value is expressed in their job function. When everyone from the intern to the CEO can list your core values, you have a strong employer brand.

What are some ways you’re building your employer brand? What are the challenges you’ve seen? Let us know in the comments!

Evaluating the Performance Review

Whether you’re reading this as a manager or an employee, chances are you feel the same way: Performance Reviews are the absolute worst. In fact, a report by the Society for Human Resource Management dove into the success of performance management. Their findings showed that more than half (53%) of human resource professional grade their organization between a C+ and a B, another fifth (21%) chose a C, and a mere 2% gave their management an A.

performance review tips

A key to making performance reviews successful is ensuring this isn’t just happening once a year, but that you provide consistent, valuable feedback. In addition, the review should strike a balance between evaluating the past and setting goals for the future. These three components are essential to a healthy, successful performance review that both managers and employees can stand behind.

Consistent and Quantifiable Feedback

SHRM reported that 72% of performance appraisals were done on an annual basis. However, a study by Globoforce reported that 71% of employees prefer to receive feedback ASAP. While this doesn’t mean you should totally eliminate the annual performance review, it does mean you should find ways to provide ongoing feedback throughout the year. Perhaps this means tracking goals in a spreadsheet, or maybe it means writing down current projects and their outcomes every quarter. However the team functions, it’s important to track and record successes and failures and ensure you’re giving feedback immediately and not waiting until the end of the year.

Concrete Evaluation of Previous Performance

The most important thing to remember is that evaluating past performance does not mean focusing on the negative. Studies have shown that positivity has a major impact on work performance. In fact, psychologist Martin Seligman reports that Optimistic salespeople sold 37% more than their pessimist colleagues, who, on the other hand, were twice as likely to leave the company during their first year of employment. Take some time before you meet with the employee to evaluate which goals they’ve met and which you need to revisit. If you’ve been tracking these all along, this should be pretty straightforward. Encourage employees in the areas where they have been successful and challenge them in the areas where they struggled. You may be surprised at the results.

Clear Goal-Setting for the Future

A huge success factor for performance appraisals is tying the employee’s goals with the company’s mission and goals overall. According to Globoforce, 70% of employees say the point of performance reviews is to help them develop and grow. By tying their personal achievements to company successes, this helps to not only give them clarity around their responsibilities, but also increase motivation in the future. These goals should be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely. Encourage employees to write down their goals and put them in a place where they will see them throughout the day. After all, goals are pointless if you forget what they are.

Need help getting started? Here are a few useful phrases to ramp up your performance reviews.

Promoting Mindfulness at Work

Mindfulness, as defined by Merriam-Webster,  is “the practice of maintaining a nonjudgmental state of heightened or complete awareness of one’s thoughts, emotions, or experiences on a moment-to-moment basis”.

promoting mindfulness at work

While the Eastern hemisphere has practiced mindfulness for years, the Western world is slowly coming around to the idea. Perhaps with the increase of technology and constant distraction, mindfulness is becoming more important as a practice. In fact, a recent report showed how schools have implemented mindfulness as a replacement for detention and the results have been staggering. We’re also seeing yoga and meditation rooms popping up in offices and airports all over the U.S.. What was once confined to monasteries is now flowing into our everyday lives.

Practicing mindfulness can change your perspective, your leadership, and your mind:

Mindfulness changes your perspective

A fascinating article by Psychology Today goes through the various ways that mindfulness molds the mind. From making us more empathetic and compassionate to decreasing fear and anxiety, mindfulness can truly change your point of view. Instead of fixating on the problems that surround you, mindfulness gives you the opportunity to clear your mind and think more positively. By stopping, breathing and focusing on more positive things, you can turn your whole day around.

Mindfulness makes you a better leader

To lead others well, it’s important to first take care of yourself. Maybe that’s why companies like Google, Ford, Target and Goldman Sachs have all initiated programs to promote mindfulness. As leaders sit down to empty their minds, they are able to make better decisions. Don’t just take our word for it. Mindfulness can help leaders de-stress and focus on the tasks at hand. And studies show that happier leaders, lead to happier employees. Want to engage your employees? Try mindfulness on for size.

Mindfulness is great for the mind

It’s no surprise that mindfulness also impacts our mind. Inside the brain is a region known as the hippocampus which is composed of grey matter that is essential for our functions of memory, learning, emotions, and motor skills. This grey matter is largely affected by our age, drug use, and even poverty. While all of these “stress factors” are known to reduce the amount of grey matter, practicing mindfulness has been proven to have the opposite effect. In a Harvard study, participants who engaged in an average of 27 minutes a day in meditation, showed an increase in grey matter in just eight weeks. Who knew getting smarter was so easy?  

Want to implement more mindfulness practices into your office? Here are five tips for where to start.

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Corporate Philanthropy: Serve a Good Cause, Make a Lasting Effect

Corporate philanthropy is “the act of a corporation or business promoting the welfare of others, generally via charitable donations of funds or time.”

Over the years, corporate giving and employee volunteering has provided tremendous value not only to businesses but to society as whole.

There are various ways your business can provide philanthropic efforts:

  • Company-wide service day
  • Corporate giving (everyone receives $X to give to the charity of their choice)
  • Volunteer competitions
  • Matching gift programs
  • Volunteer grants

corporate-philanthropy-impacts-employee-engagement

No matter what type of philanthropy you choose, here are a few ways giving back can increase employee retention and engagement:

Employees Learn Something New:

Looking for new and creative ways to develop your employees? This is it. Through volunteering, employees are provided opportunities to not only give back, but also learn something along the way. From improving their leadership skills to physically building a house, there are a variety of ways employees can serve their community and continue their professional development. By pushing them to give back, employees feel valued and trust that their employer is invested in their future.

Employees Feel Supported:

According to a Robert Half survey, 41% of employees are already volunteering in some capacity. In fact, many employers find that by either matching their existing donations or giving them the day off to participate in volunteer efforts they can show their support for activities and passions employees may already have. Consequently it’s an excellent way to see great talent doing great things.

Employees (Especially Millennials) Feel Good about Their Work:

The Millennial generation has a strong desire to make an impact in the world. Idealism? Maybe. But we can’t fault them for wanting to do meaningful work. For this reason, many companies are seeing employee engagement spike as they empower their employees to make a difference. In fact, one report states that over 90% of companies that participate in community involvement found positive correlations between volunteer participation and employee engagement.

Employees Bond with Each Other:

An obvious side effect of employees engaging in volunteer activities is that they learn to work together in a team. For many companies, cross-departmental cooperation doesn’t happen on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis. Volunteering can be a great time to learn how others in the company work and improve communication as a whole among departments.

Because we’re all about the perks, and corporate philanthropy is just one of many easy and inexpensive ways to engage and retain employees. Therefore by commissioning employees to give back, you’ll show them you’re invested in their well-being and their passions.

Retention Before Recruitment

retention before recruitment

According to JB Training Solutions, “91% of Millennials expect to stay in a job for less than 3 years”. And with Millennials making up the largest part of the workforce, we definitely have our work cut out for us when it comes to retaining these individuals. As younger employees begin switching jobs more frequently, the effects are costly and quite frankly, exhausting. In fact, a study by the SHRM foundation states finding a direct replacement for an employee can cost the company anywhere from 50% to 60% of the person’s annual salary. So let’s say you are looking to replace an executive earning $80,000. Finding a replacement could cost your company anywhere from $40,000 to $48,000, not to mention the loss of productivity in the meantime.
So how can we beat these odds and ensure our employees stick around for the long haul?

Employee retention begins before the very first interview.

The best way to keep employees satisfied is to fully understand what they’re looking for. Gone are the days when a high salary and great compensation package was enough to entice an interviewee. Millennials long for purpose and direction in their career. Don’t misunderstand, while some are seeking a C-level title, the majority aren’t necessarily looking for a lofty position. The overall goal of a millennial is to learn, grow and be developed in their position.

Start by putting a plan in place for their career path. Think about where you’d like to see them take their role in the next three, five, or even ten years. Having this plan in place shows you’re investing in them as an individual and their career with the company. Maybe you don’t know exactly what type of position they’ll hold in five years, but you can show them the things they will learn. Discuss educational seminars they will attend or new skills they will develop while on the job. This is guaranteed to go further than a corner office would.

Recruitment and retention strategies are two sides of the same coin.

While setting them up for success is important, also keep in mind not everyone is going to be a great fit. In addition to thinking about what millennials want, also think about your company needs and the overall culture. The best way to ensure an employee sticks around is to determine if they are a great fit in the first place. I’ve seen this in my own experience when a job wasn’t exactly how it was laid out to me, I eventually got burnt out and left unhappy and confused.

You can prevent your employees from experiencing this new hire whiplash by making transparency an essential element of your interview process. When I left to seek a new position, PerkSpot stood out to me in one of the most obvious ways: the job description. Instead of the usual bullet points outlining the position in obscure terms, the description was familiar and informal. It painted an excellent picture of what my days in the office would look like. The transparency from the words on the screen to the face-to-face interviews ensured that from day one, nothing was ever a surprise. Within the first few days I knew the job was exactly what I had wanted and expected from the interview process.

Retention, by definition, is a continuous practice.

Beyond a new hire’s first week, remember that on-boarding is not an event that happens on the first day. When thinking about what millennials want, remember two of the most highly sought after aspects of a career for them are mentorship and development. You should already have your plan in place for where you want your new hire to take their career. Now, you just have to enable them to get there.

Keeping employees engaged isn’t a “set it and forget it” strategy. They need to know the specific goals you’ve set in place and receive feedback on their performance. Find a mentor who can meet with them in a comfortable, open environment. This is not only to provide necessary feedback, but also help them develop the skills they need to reach their goals. Millennials are eager to learn, but they can’t do it alone.

As employees long for job stability and your company profits from a secure workforce, don’t let employee retention become an afterthought. Think strategically about how to keep employees engaged. Remember that retention is an ongoing process that starts before, during and after the recruitment stages. Think of what you could do with that extra $48,000 when you don’t have to spend it on recruitment.

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