During the last two years the number of remote jobs has been increasing, and is not just about entry-level positions, but also high-paying jobs are switching rapidly to remote work. Under this scenario, companies are adjusting their benefits packages to fit remote workers´ needs, as a measure to boost motivation and enhance remote work culture and productivity.
If you think about the average working hours and stressful conditions of most remote and on-site workers, it makes sense to move away from monetary benefits and start prioritizing emotional gains to boost motivation and personal and professional development.
Thinking in non-financial gains, Marisa Elizundia, creator of the Emotional Salary Barometer has suggested the following 10 elements to be considered:
- Autonomy
- Belonging
- Creativity
- Direction
- Enjoyment
- Mastery
- Inspiration
- Personal growth
- Professional growth
- Feeling of purpose
Working actively on these elements is going to impact positively on people´s quality of life and productivity. Let´s review what benefits you could include for boosting your team’s emotional welfare.
Offer Professional Development Incentives
Funding their education, through scholarships, and training bonuses, or providing training to develop new skills is a very attractive perk to motivate people to join or stay in your company. Some examples are training seminars, workshops, mentorship, tuition reimbursement, and new job openings to incentive employees’ professional growth. This type of benefit also helps to create a long-term relationship with your employees and shows your appreciation for their personal development.
Promote Employee Recognition
Even remote workers deserve recognition, and implementing some processes to show your appreciation, and highlight their contributions or strengths will help you to keep them motivated and focused. . You can hold periodic reward meetings, create fun campaigns, and contests, or have a periodic newsletter dedicated to celebrating the achievement of your employees.
Team Building Events
Even if we work remotely, communications, networking, and relationship building are important tools to promote engagement. Developing and maintaining a positive work environment while working virtually is a challenge but also an opportunity to keep employees happy. To overcome it, just be creative and implement a set of events for social interaction and team building. You can host virtual meetings to present new team members, and create connections with team-building activities. At Shark Helpers, we host regular meetings or happy hours, including contests, play games, or celebrations. This helps our employees to break isolation, release stress, and be more involved with the company and coworkers.
Offer Opportunities For Community Service
People are eager to add purpose to their lives, and service is an effective way to help others and give back to the community. You can provide your employees extra time and opportunities to participate in volunteer and charity activities, or you can reward top-performing employees by offering donations to their favorite charity or organization.
Goodies and Gifts
Remote workers appreciate receiving a company gift as a reward or for special occasions, such as Christmas and birthdays. Welcome boxes are also a good way to create a bond and show appreciation, you can include T-shirts, notebooks, and other small useful merchandise. Food is always welcome, and sending goodies, pizza, or a food basket is going to make your employees feel happy and recognized.
Conclusion
Emotional salary helps engage employees, create a positive corporate culture and boost motivation and retention, but it can be a challenge for many companies due to a lack of internal resources or knowledge. If this is your case, we can help you scale your teams with talented professionals, and our full-service package includes all the mandatory benefits and emotional salary perks to keep your employees happy and engaged. Schedule a call to discover all the benefits to work with us.
