From free snacks to employee wellness

Traditional company benefits and perks have lost their relevance among the pandemic-induced changes of 2020. It's time to rethink what is truly beneficial and appreciated by employees

- MARTHIN DE BEER

A year ago, when people thought of company benefits, they were often considered niceties that made a day at the office a bit more comfortable—whether it was a stocked kitchen, a game room with ping pong tables or early closure on Fridays. Consider that in 2019 companies were spending roughly $15k per month on office snacks and beverages—with 33 percent willing to spend more, according to one survey by ZeroCater.

Fast forward to today and those offices are empty, the ping pong tables are collecting dust and early-out Fridays don’t matter much when you’re starting and ending your work day at home.

Very few of the traditional office perks and benefits matter in the pandemic-induced remote work environment—and yet, retaining talent has never been more crucial. Losing and replacing a valued employee can cost a company 16-20 percent of the employee’s annual salary. For an employee earning $100,000 per year, the cost could be more than $16,000 for just one employee! In this environment, HR is scrambling to determine the benefits that help maintain employee engagement and overcome the remote work challenges of this pandemic.

More important than we might think

Benefits truly matter to today’s employees and have proven valuable in making employees feel recognized, cared for and appreciated. According to the American Institute of CPAs, 80 percent of US employees would prefer to stay in a job with benefits, than take one that offered more pay but no benefits.