Your Employee Benefits Define Your Culture. Here's How.

69% of employees say having a more comprehensive array of benefits would increase loyalty to their employer. Whether it is flexible work hours, paid time off, or a comprehensive health insurance plan, employee benefits make a difference. 

Take this survey, for example, 48% of employees weigh innovative company benefits and perks (such as including availability of snacks and a flexible schedule) in their decision to find their next job.

With such a strong focus on employee benefits, it’s no surprise that companies try to include as many services as possible to hire and retain the best talent. But what happens when your employee benefits don’t align with your company culture? Does it even matter? Let’s have a look.

Importance of Company Culture

Strong company culture is essential for the success of any organization. Employees who don’t like a company’s culture are 24% more likely to quit. This brings us to our question, ‘why is culture important?’

An employee’s surrounding environment plays a massive role in their productivity, which directly affects your business. If an employee is unhappy with their surroundings and work environment, their productivity will eventually plummet.

The common thread in all these points is the establishment of robust company culture. But how? The simple answer is that you should find a way to blend your culture with employee benefits. 

Here's how your employee benefits and culture are interwoven

1. They show you walk-the-talk.

It’s easy for companies to make tall claims about their work culture mostly because concepts like company culture aren’t quantifiable. 

For instance, a company can have a sports room in their office with a ping-pong table, nap pods, a gaming zone, and more entertainment options, which proves to be lucrative for new hires.

However, their work culture leaves no room for them to enjoy these benefits. Employees have long working hours and no semblance of a work-life balance. Such scenarios fall upon the management to recognize this gap between employee benefits and their work culture and rectify it.

2. They are two sides of the same coin.

Every company has a different culture. Some companies have a hierarchical culture, clan/family culture, etc. Their culture also decides their employee benefits.

For example, in a hierarchical company culture, which is a traditional one, the benefits are usually standardized—for example, limited paid time off, bonuses, etc. The difference between one tier to another is that their coverage usually increases as you go up. 

For instance, a junior-level employee receives a lower bonus than a senior level one. The difference between the coverage of employee benefits keeps increasing as you keep going higher, and it further establishes the company culture via employee benefits.

3. They help you execute the clan culture.

We’ve all heard the phrase, ‘our employees are like one big family’  While most companies struggle to implement this clan culture, which is based on loyalty, tradition, and teamwork, companies like Salesforce show the way.

Salesforce has its ‘Ohana’ work culture that they’ve integrated into their company policies as well. According to a Forbes post, Salesforce demonstrates the power of instilling “the culture and desire in our organizations to build social enterprises that can continue to impact our world for generations to come.”

Just like Salesforce, if your company culture focuses on creating a family-like atmosphere for your employees, your benefits, too, have to reflect that. For instance, you can give your employees benefits that take care of their physical and mental wellness.

You can also provide benefits that range from mental-health days to a comprehensive healthcare program that takes care of their wellness in a holistic way by providing cover for their dependents and gives them an option to choose from various benefits. 

Such employee benefits show employees that their organization is ready to support them when needed, just like a family would. 

4. They let you set a precedent.

Regardless of the culture your company follows, the precedent is set by the management. 

For instance, Houston Methodist has a wellness program where the CEO participates in steps to challenge where the employees have to ‘out-step’ him. This brings in healthy competition, and the employees are more likely to join as they see the CEO being active in the program.

Similarly, Gravity Payments’ CEO, Dan Price, took a cut from his salary to give his 120 employees a minimum salary of $70,000.

In both these cases, the employee benefits of increased wellness and a high salary are interwoven with their company culture. Not just that, the company culture is reinforced by its leaders by setting an example. 

In Conclusion

“Determine what behaviors and beliefs you value as a company, and have everyone live true to them. These behaviors and beliefs should be so essential to your core that you don’t even think of it as a culture”. -Brittany Forsyth

Employee Benefits and company culture go hand-in-hand. The above examples show the framework of how the benefits that your company provides to your employees say a lot about your company culture.

Whether it’s a higher salary bracket, wellness benefits, or even an extra day off, these benefits set the tone for your company culture and work environment. When you’re setting your company culture, you set up an environment that your employees will live in for 8+ hours every day.

Hence, it’s crucial that the benefits you offer to your employees align with your company culture and vice versa.