As a parent, especially with younger children, returning to work can be tricky. There’s a degree of adaptation and flexibility that you need to have in order to ensure you have the right work/life balance and get to work and parent as effectively as possible.
Many companies use various means to help inspire, motivate and engage their staff. These could be the benefits that each staff member is offered, or they could be incentives designed to drive better performance. These are often schemes run by third parties, such as corporaterewards.co.uk, but how can these benefits and incentives be geared towards helping parents?
Employee benefits
When you’re returning to work, either after maternity leave or looking for a new job, it is worth looking at what employee benefits an employer offers that can help families.
Look for things that make life as a parent easier, such as:
- Flexi-time
- Ability to work remotely
- Childcare vouchers
- Employee Healthcare
These are all benefits an employer can provide that could be a massive help to families. From being able to work flexibly and remotely to cover gaps in childcare or sudden illness, to childcare vouchers to help look after the kids while you’re at work and healthcare to take care of your whole family.
Don’t just focus on the salary that an employer offers, in some situations you might be better off looking at the other parts of an employment package which can make life easier.
This also shows that an employer has taken the time to think about what their employees needs are and find ways to help accommodate different requirements.
Incentive Trips
Many companies will offer rewards to the top performing salespeople. In many situations the prizes in an incentive might be a trip of some kind.
This could be something simple like vouchers for a family to visit a popular attraction such a museum, theme park or zoo. Or the prize could be something much larger, such as a holiday abroad.
A trip overseas tends to be awarded to a number of people and treated like a way to reward the top performing staff from across a business, however in some situations you might be able to take your family with you. This can help you to really treat your family and feel like your effort at work has been acknowledged and rewarded in a much more special and meaningful way.
This benefits families as suddenly your job is providing you with activities to do with your family as a reward for being a well performing employee. From a budgeting standpoint something like this gives you access to a family day out for a fraction of the cost as entry is covered or discounted by the prize.
Incentive Rewards
Some incentives involve discounts and rewards that are more tangible, from high street vouchers to iPads, games consoles and hampers.
These give you something that can be used to treat the family. From a reward for good behaviour, to a night out or even a rare opportunity to relax or treat yourself.
Incentives create a sense of competition in the workplace, designed to keep staff engaged with their role and drive a higher level of performance. It’s always nice to be rewarded for your efforts, especially if you can share the rewards with family.
It’s important to recognise that incentives differ from your employee benefits. Unlike benefits, which are defined by the employer, incentives run over set periods of time, and will often vary in what the reward is. While employee benefits can help guide a choice on where you choose to work, incentives should be less of a focus in your decision-making process.
Businesses offer a lot of different options to help get the best out of their teams. Offering benefits and incentives that help make life as a parent slightly easier, while also providing a way to treat the family is a great way to ensure staff stay engaged, motivated and willing to work.
As a parent you should look for ways of working that allow you the ability to be flexible and maintain a healthy work life balance. Beyond that having incentives in place that excite and engage you are a fantastic way to give yourself extra motivation at work, especially if that motivation pays off in a way that lets you reward the family.
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