Inspired by Office Manager Extraordinaire, Stacy Sarno
It is commonplace to expect the standard medical/dental benefits when walking into a company.
But times are changing.
To retain top industry talent, a company has to add sprinkles to top off their offer. We all want to work in a place that cares about our needs as individuals. For a company to accomplish this, it has to recognize the lives people lead inside and outside of work.
Our fantabulous Office Manager, Stacy Sarno, and I pulled together our favorite company benefits to inspire other awesome leaders.
Click to skip to a section:
Wellness Reimbursements 🚲
Before coming to DBE, I had no clue that a company could offer a reimbursement for certain wellness expenses. Hot take of my face when I found out:
(True: This job at DBE followed a handful of college internships and part-time jobs, but still an awesome feature even if you have heard of it.)
Stacy Sarno explains: “DBE’s wellness reimbursement is flexible and lets employees choose how they want to use it within guidelines.” Each person on our team is so unique and uses the reimbursement in fun ways! Our team has memberships ranging from golf courses to pool clubs to rock climbing gyms. Others have used it to start their own at-home gym. The path to wellness is much cooler with a company that supports it!
It’s Ya Birthday 🥳
Your friend: Hey, what are you doing for your birthday?
You humbly bragging: I have the day off, so I’m [insert cool activity here].
This is always a fun conversation to have. At DBE, everyone has a day off for their birthday. (And if their birthday falls on a weekend, they get to pick another day closeby.) DBE always takes the time to send the birthday celebrator a gift, too.
Having birthdays off helps employees feel appreciated. This helps solidify their connection and loyalty to the team. And, an employee that is appreciated is 5x as likely to see a path to grow in the organization.
Donation Matching 🤝🏽
Stacy’s neighbor, Ronald Hogas, passed from leukemia at the age of 13. Each year, Stacy donates to his Alex’s Lemonade Stand in honor of him. With the donation-matching benefit, DBE matches how much Stacy gives, up to $500 per year..
“It means so much that DBE matches my donation,” says Stacy. It’s a beautiful notion that your company will support the same causes you do.
With the worldwide business movement to promote environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives, some potential hires and clients exclusively work with conscientious companies. Donation matching is one great way to show them your business cares.
Flexible Schedules 📅
Flexible work emphasizes one core value: trust. If the work gets done correctly, that’s what counts. Here’s how we approach flexible work:
- Flexible 9-5 – Our team generally starts and ends around 9am-5pm ET. Employees can start a little earlier or later depending on the day.
- Quick Errands – Appointments don’t count against PTO, as long as the time is made up.
- Breaks – Our CEO, Niki Fielding, encourages employees to take lunch and walking breaks.
- 3 o’clock Fridays – We started 3 o’clock Fridays one summer and never changed back. As long as your work is finished, you can head off to enjoy the weekend a little early. 😊
Figuring out the right flexible work framework is a trial-and-error process, but once it’s in place, everyone will appreciate it!
Team Appreciation 🎁
Who said you can only appreciate your team on special days? Any day is a good day! Here are some of our favorite ways to do so:
- Excursions – Since we all work from home and live within a few hours of each other, we get together in the warmer months. It could be a simple lunch or a full-day event!
- Themed-surprise gifts – If we don’t get together for the month, Stacy is very creative in thinking of a themed surprise gift. Chocolate-covered strawberries for Valentine’s Day. A grilling spice set for the spring. She’s always got a super thoughtful gift for that time of year!
- Thnks – “Appreciation is a big thing at DBE,” explains Stacy. “Not only do we appreciate our team, but we also appreciate our business network. At DBE, we use Thnks to send gestures of appreciation to our clients and partners. Gifts are typically small gifts like coffee, lunch, books, etc. and are sent with a fun note like “thanks a latte.” The receiver even has the opportunity to donate the gift to a charity. It’s a truly thoughtful business idea!
- Zoomraderies – You’re probably asking “What’s a Zoomraderie?” Our CEO, Niki Fielding, came up with the name Zoomraderie (a combination of Zoom and camaraderie) for our weekly team builders. We talk about these a lot. And there is a good reason for it. We truly enjoy them! Here some types of Zoomraderies we host:
- What’s your favorite? – Many Zoomraderies, we pose questions to get to know each other better. We will all log onto a virtual office platform like Kumospace with a picture and name of our answer to the question. Then, through the chat bar, we guess who is who! Here are some questions we’ve asked before:
- What’s your favorite store?
- What’s your favorite sport?
- What’s your favorite type of music?
- What’s your favorite food?
- Special Events via Zoom – We did gingerbread house decorating, Jenga tower-building, and even a play-doh creation competition… all virtually! You can really get inventive with these.
- Trivia – Everyone livens up when there is a competition involved. We’ve done trivia-, jeopardy-, and family-feud-style games on everything from candy to The Jetsons. Stacy always surprises us with a theme!
Stacy perfectly sums up the Zoomraderie experience:
“Since we are all remote, having a weekly Zoomraderie has allowed us all to get to know each other really well. I feel like I know my virtual team members better than I knew many employees I saw every day when working in an office. Our team knows each other so well that when the Zoomraderie is “What’s your favorite ____?”, employees have been known to choose their 2nd favorite because the team already knows their favorite.”
Implementing a regular “Zoomraderies” has boosted our team morale tremendously. We recommend them to all teams, especially those that are remote!
- Ask for Input – If all else fails, go to your team. What do they want to see?
To Infinity & Beyond… with Your Benefits 🚀
There are so many possibilities to appreciate your team (and even your clients). We hope we’ve sparked some new ideas for you. We know there are so many more creative ways to appreciate a team and we wish you luck as you find the best way your team can do that. 🙂
