The Power of Perks

These days, outside-the-box benefits are what keep top talent happy in the workplace.

| 2018 Q1 | story by Tara Trenary | photos by Steven Hertzog

The Power of Perks

Hiring and retaining top talent is one of the most important pieces of any business model. But, it can also be one of the toughest. That’s why many companies choose to make their business enticing to potential employees by offering benefits. These days, traditional benefits are expected but sometimes not enough.

A 2017 article by Business News Daily says that many employers are developing benefits programs that go beyond health care insurance and paid time off to attract the most talented employees. It explains that new research from Glassdoor, a popular jobs and recruiting website, shows perks for new parents, on-site amenities, college tuition and free food are some of the unique benefits offered. “The study found that 57 percent of job seekers said benefits and perks are among their top considerations before taking a new job,” the article explains.

With the diversity, culture and amenities of a large metropolitan city, and the strong sense of community of a smaller college town, many Lawrence businesses are well poised to offer cutting-edge benefits, both traditional and nontraditional, to their employees.

Left to Right: Allison Veeder, Nurse Practitioner; Shannon Jones, Clinical Dietician; Jessica Pedersen, Nurse Practitioner; Megan Jones, Certified Physical Therapist Assistant; Kathie Shump, Nurse Practitioner; Courtney Sachs, Nurse Practitioner

LMH

At Lawrence Memorial Hospital, employees have played a huge role in the culture in which they work. They created a set of six “Cultural Beliefs” as part of the strategic Destination Health plan that employees live by each day: 1) Patient First; 2) Better Together; 3) Speak Up; 4) Be Bold; 5) Own It; 6) In Joy. They are encouraged to recognize one another for displaying those beliefs in their everyday work lives. “We start with the patient and end up in a place we really love to be,” explains Carri Kline, director, Total Rewards. “We’re recruiting a lot of millennials, and they are very mission-motivated. The culture they have built here at LMH reflects that.”

She says at LMH, it’s all about wellness in the workplace and in life. The hospital offers a robust wellness program along with meditation and yoga classes, and “Lunch and Learns,” which offer advice and education to employees while on lunch break. “We’re constantly pushing the envelope to maintain quality-of-life elements, because everybody’s looking for a better work/life balance,” Kline says.

Besides the traditional benefits, including three medical options, dental, vision, prescription, life and disability, and flexible spending, many of the bonus benefits offered reflect the fact that wellness is a top priority at LMH. The hospital has a “very robust nontraditional benefits package,” Kline says, which includes pick-and-choose benefits, pet insurance, critical illness coverage, cancer insurance, medication therapy management and Teladoc (employees can speak to a doctor via Web, phone or app in minutes without leaving home). Tuition reimbursement, dependent care, auto and home insurance, retirement savings, discounts at the gift shop and cafeteria, and a wellness stipend are also included.

LMH’s weight-loss program, “Healthy Living Now,” has helped many employees and City of Lawrence staff lead healthier, happier lives. It’s so popular, there are many on a waiting list to join.

“It’s really important to keep top employees happy,” Kline says. “They’re taking care of our patients and community, so we need to keep them engaged. It boils down to: An engaged staff results in higher-quality care.”

Treanor HL

Treanor HL

When it comes to work/life balance, Treanor HL believes whole-heartedly that family comes first. That’s why flexible schedules are a large part of the nontraditional benefits offered at the interior design and civil engineering firm, explains Amy Bellerive, director of human resources. “Go. Be present at your child’s concert or sporting event; leave the office in time to assist with dinner preparations, and eat as a family; be involved.”

Though the firm has core traditional business hours, many employees arrive and leave at different times to accommodate family obligations such as dropping off kids at school, early dismissals, kids’ games, etc. “Our employees are aware of their deadlines and will meet those requirements,” she says. “We give them the latitude of managing their schedules for what works for them.”

Bellerive says firm leaders recognize their employees need to feed different aspects of their personalities to feel complete, and they encourage that. The generous PTO plan encourages employees to embrace their outside interests, whether it be travel, volunteer work, taking classes, “whatever brings them joy to help them thrive,” she continues.

Full-time employees are offered a traditional benefits package including competitive salary, two choices of health care, dental and vision, 401 (k), PTO and paid holidays, paid life insurance, a telehealth service fully paid for by the firm, short- and long-term disability, flexible spending accounts for medical, dependent care and commuter expenses, professional exam, licensure fees, registrations and memberships fully paid for by the firm, and paid parking.

“Overall, our employees are highly motivated individuals, but they appreciate the tangible and intangible benefits offered,” Bellerive explains.

Some of those “intangibles” include flexible schedules, opportunities to work from home, on-site yoga classes, a significant annual professional-development stipend, a low-cost cell phone plan, free counseling sessions for legal, financial and emotional support, destination weekends to connect with employees from all eight offices and recognition for employee contributions. “It will always be something we are monitoring-what can we provide that will be of service to our employees,” she explains.

“Recruiting and training takes a lot of time; so, once you find/hire/train people to create an amazing team, you need to periodically evaluate what you are offering to keep them,” Bellerive continues. “After all, it’s not a one-sided decision. If they find another employer’s benefits or culture more attractive, do what you can to keep them.”

Callahan Creek

Callahan Creek

Dee Reser, human resources director for Callahan Creek, a brand strategy and digital marketing agency, says going beyond traditional benefits makes the company unique, especially when hiring. “It sets us apart. The uniqueness of what we offer is attractive to those interested in working here.”

Those employees who already work for Callahan Creek enjoy traditional benefits, of which the company pays a large portion, such as health, dental and life insurance, 401(k), disability and supplemental insurance, a “cafeteria plan” (tax savings), holiday pay and paid time off (PTO). But, there are other perks when working for the company.

So-called “Creekers” receive discretionary bonuses for exceptional work and are allowed to sell back PTO hours to the company for 75 percent of the value. They are also allowed flex hours and work-from-home days, depending on their specific job duties. And, the company offers extended-illness hours on top of
PTO hours.

For the past 10 years, the company has also given employees the week between Christmas and New Year’s off without them having to use their PTO time. “Employees know the company cares, that it’s doing something special for them. Those things are what keep us going,” Reser explains.

An employee reward program called C Notes, which is structured to empower employees to recognize their coworkers for actions that embody the company mission and values, is implemented at the beginning of each year. This plan includes a book styled like a checkbook with “notes” that employees are encouraged to give to coworkers who have gone above and beyond for them or someone else. Employees who receive notes are recognized at monthly staff meetings and awarded gift cards. “It’s a way for us to acknowledge each other for living the values of the company,” Reser says.

Callahan Creek offers a reduced-rate gym membership and an employee-referral program to help bring in top talent. Company officers organize activities for clients and employees, and hold retreats to bring employees closer together. “We have a good reputation for our culture,” Reser says. “Our employees are great advocates for our company.”

Employees can also bring pets to work, and, on top of traditional benefits, the company has offered life coaches in times of need and gift cards for massage, as well as absorbing the cost of rising health insurance premiums. In the office, employees can take advantage of “The Deep End,” a space designed specifically for peace to be used as needed-no phone, no talk, no meetings, just quiet. It also allows employees to donate PTO to others in need of it.

Callahan Creek holds monthly themed lunches called “David Lunches,” named after a former employee who had cancer and needed assistance. After the employee went into remission, employees decided to keep the lunches going. One employee hosts the lunch monthly, and everyone brings in food for that day according to the theme. Then, employees pay to eat the lunch, and the money is donated to charity, something that is not uncommon with Creekers. “We help each other out a lot; we band together and do that kind of thing for each other and the community,” Reser explains.

The company was also one of the first companies in Lawrence to include gay married couples in its health insurance plans. “That’s what’s so great about Callahan Creek,” Reser says. “It pays attention to the needs of its employees.”

She explains Callahan Creek’s special culture stems from the values set forth by CEO Chris Marshall. Those eight values include: generosity, trust, respect, curiosity, quality, courage, fun and passion.

“We have a culture that inspires our employees,” Reser says. “We also find ways to encourage our employees to grow.”

Zac Hamlin and Rita York Henneke in produce aisle at The Merc

The Merc Co+op

Also with the goal of nourishing the health of the community, The Merc Co+op strives to provide access to local, healthy, organic food and products at reasonable prices, and to help create a robust and sustainable local food economy. While a passion for the community is apparent, The Merc also feels strongly that keeping its employees happy is a priority. “One of the most beautiful things about The Merc Co+op is there is some fluidity to it. Depending on what people see as a good work/life balance, they have the opportunity to pursue that,” explains Zac Hamlin, human resources manager with the co-op.

In this “culture of service and learning,” he says most employees who find themselves working at The Merc Co+op were ultimately looking for professions that spoke to their desires. They were “looking for something they couldn’t find in a traditional setting,” Hamlin says. “We’re in a retail environment that requires reaction to customer flow, but we get to set our own rules.”

Although the Merc Co+op trails the market on supervisory and management pay, it has very few issues with turnover. So if it’s not pay, “There must be some other reason people are sticking around,” Hamlin says. “The culture, the benefits, the mission, the unique nature of our work is such that top folks only leave if they’re leaving to go do this work somewhere else or if they are done working.”

The Merc Co+op offers many of the traditional benefits most employees these days require: medical, dental, vision, PTO, employee discounts, 401(k), life insurance. But, it also offers many alternative benefits.

The Pay-for-Play program allows employees to liquidate a week of vacation to provide cash for whatever they choose. The Employee Voucher program allows employees vouchers to attend four educational classes per year in the Community Classroom free of charge. The MercAid program is a self-insurance program for hardship started by employees and managed by an employee board.

ECO (Employee Community Outreach) Hours is a community-outreach program for co-op employees to volunteer in the community, with one hour required but up to eight paid. “It’s to see what our work looks like outside of the store and to create a deeper connection to the community,” Hamlin says.

The HAS (humans, animals and soil) program is The Merc’s Co+op’s strategy on food waste. Hamlin explains that if food can’t be sold for whatever reason, the co-op tries to get it to humans first, then animals, then the soil. To date, The Merc Co+op has donated tens of thousands of pounds of food through this program, he says.

Growing Food, Growing Health Student Gardens is a program that was started in 2010 and, by 2012, had spread to all public schools in Lawrence. The program “teaches youth that food doesn’t come from the grocery store, it comes from the sun, water, dirt and hard work,” Hamlin explains. “It provides hope. You see how it impacts actual people. That’s an awesome benefit.”

Many other nontraditional benefits offered by The Merc Co+op include a living wage, a social-media platform used to keep employees and supervisors in direct communication, educational training, an employee charge account, wellness partnerships with local providers, breast-feeding support for families, profit-sharing, employee recognition, PTO, bereavement and jury duty pay, a salary advance option and a flexible spending account.

“Co-ops at their core have a responsibility to reflect the community they exist inside of,” he says. “We exist in the Midwest, so we automatically want to be as kind as possible. That culture was predicated on cooperation.”

Playing pool in the Grandstand in-house pub

Grandstand

At Grandstand Glassware + Apparel, the motto is “Work Hard, Play Hard.” The company, purchased by Chris Piper in 1988, prides itself on providing superior quality products, glassware, apparel and promotional items that are competitively priced with the quickest possible turnaround. “Our unique and relaxed culture is inviting to those seeking a challenging yet rewarding opportunity,” says Gwen Denton, director of human resources at Grandstand. “We believe the traditional benefits are important and basically required in today’s environment in order to attract and retain top employees, but employees are also looking for nontraditional benefits to assist in meeting their personal needs.”

On the traditional side, Grandstand offers three different health, dental and vision plans from which to choose, PTO, paid holidays, 401(k), life insurance, a health savings account, and medical-spending and dependent-care accounts for full-time employees. Part-time employees are offered similar benefits.

But, to keep employees, companies must also keep employees engaged. Offering a challenging environment and then recognizing and rewarding employee accomplishments is key, Denton says. This is why Grandstand offers an “Employee of the Month” award to those who go above and beyond the norm in their positions.

The company also has a wellness committee that organizes monthly wellness activities and presentations for employees, and a “Best Places To Work” committee that organizes family events and creates community outreach and sponsorship activities. Additional life and accidental death and dismemberment, as well as critical-care insurance and short-term disability, are also offered.

For those Grandstand employees looking for real outside-the-box offerings, Grandstand has an in-house pub for customers and employees who like to unwind at the end of a long day. It also offers basketball and bocce ball courts, and exercise equipment for those who like to stay active on breaks before and after work. A landscaped patio welcomes those employees who like to get outside, and a food truck offers indoor meals bimonthly. There are also options for free financial counseling and retirement advice, and the company offers an Employee Assistance Program for those employees who need help in situations so they are able to balance work and life.

Denton says the large population of artistically talented and creative employees is one of the reasons Grandstand is so successful. “We have a unique culture due to the customized nature of our work business. Music helps in relation to the repetitive tasks which provide a ‘tone’ of improved mood.” Therefore, many employees are allowed to listen to music throughout the workday.

“Adding the nontraditional benefits reflects that the organization truly cares about our employees,” Denton says.

Although traditional benefits have long been expected by potential employees, these days, “perks” tend to be expected, as well. And, for companies to pull in the best of the best when it comes to talent, they have to keep up with this trend.

Nontraditional benefits help to attract and retain the most sought-after employees. “It’s impossible to give better service to a guest or customer than you have received yourself,” The Merc’s Hamlin says. “We owe it to our staff to always be on the lookout for what they need.”