Service offerings can significantly increase employee motivation
One in three employees is no longer able to draw a clear line between work and private life and feels increasingly stressed as a result. Employers can mitigate this effect by offering special services. This is the result of a workplace study commissioned by the facility services provider Sodexo.
Checking e-mails quickly in the evening, being available on vacation, or playing sports with colleagues after work: Modern everyday life hardly separates work and private life. In the future, employees expect this effect, known as "work-life blending," to increase (45 percent). More than half of them (54 percent) view this development negatively. Around two-thirds (65 percent) of those surveyed consider it important for employers to offer flexible options that take account of employees' individual life situations. Employees under the age of 30 in particular expect such offers. Companies that help their workforce to cope with the demands of everyday life benefit by having significantly more motivated employees who are more willing to perform. These and other findings were made in the study "Employer offers: a lever for motivation, performance and satisfaction" conducted by the opinion research institute Kantar Emnid on behalf of Sodexo Services.
Nutrition and fitness popular, childcare still rare
The merging of work and private life causes noticeable stress. Employer offers can only change this to a limited extent. However, they do have a major influence on employee motivation and the general well-being of employees. Companies also benefit from the provision of such offerings in that higher job satisfaction also ensures that they are perceived as an attractive employer and recommended to others. Especially in the battle for employees, companies can thus secure valuable advantages. However, what people want from their employer can vary greatly depending on their age, gender or individual life situation. The study examined four areas of additional company offerings:
- Nutrition (company restaurant, food vouchers, ordering via apps, etc.)
- Fitness and wellness (ergonomic workplace, massages, gym, etc.)
- Concierge services (cleaning service, parcel delivery, luggage storage, etc.)
- Child care services (Support in finding a daycare center, arranging babysitters, childcare, etc.)
According to the survey, the most popular benefits are an ergonomic workplace, a company restaurant and food vouchers, followed by health checks, massage offers and access to fitness studios. Younger employees in particular attach great importance to food and nutrition services. Among them, eating together on company premises is significantly more popular (35 percent) than among employees over 50 (23 percent). More than half of all respondents (56 percent) believe that these services have a high impact on their personal well-being.
Gender-specific needs for higher employee motivation
Women particularly value health-related offerings. They expect a positive effect on their personal well-being (67 percent) and their own work performance (60 percent). Concierge services are comparatively less common: 25 percent of respondents receive such services from their employer. Around one in five regularly use these services (19 percent).
In the area of childcare, the personal life situation plays a significant role in what employees want from their employer: Employees with children under the age of twelve see company childcare services as promoting satisfaction, motivation and performance. In addition, their willingness to recommend the company as an attractive employer is high. At the same time, however, they use corresponding services only to a small extent (7 percent). The most common obstacle is that the childcare services are not coordinated with parents' working hours.
Own offerings are important competitive advantage
Consequently, a work-life balance is achieved when the specific usage interests of men, women, younger people, older people, parents and childless people are taken into account. For example, men would be more likely to want to use a company restaurant than women (38 versus 25 percent), while massage services, on the other hand, would appeal more to women (34 versus 19 percent of men). Employer-provided health checks would be taken up by one in three employees over 50, but only one in five of those under 30. For the younger employees, a visit to the company restaurant or the use of a company-organized cleaning service would be considered instead. Employees with younger children, on the other hand, attach more importance to company childcare services.
The stress that employees feel as a result of the merging of work and private life will not become less in the future. However, the results of the study make it clear that company offerings can increase well-being and employee motivation. Companies that offer their workforce services adapted to their respective life situations can benefit threefold: through reputational gains thanks to employees' increased willingness to recommend them to others, through an improvement in the working atmosphere, and through the motivational gains and the associated work performance of the individual employee.
Source: Sodexo
