The battle for talent in the workplace has never been so fierce. Job seekers hold all the cards and companies need to think outside the box to stand out from the competition. One added perk many are introducing is employee stipends, hoping extra cash encourages employee loyalty while enticing prospects.
Stipends are an easy way to invest in your employees. They increase job satisfaction, engagement and retention. And with more teams working remotely than ever before, covering home office expenses is more than a perk, it's become a competitive requirement. If you are considering launching a corporate stipends program, read on to learn more about what the market expects and how it can benefit you as an employer.
What Stipend Program is Right for Me?
A stipend is a fixed amount of money you give an employee outside of their usual salary or wages. It can be used to offset expenses or as a fringe benefit. It's a bit of a grey area regarding taxes, so be sure and check with your accountant first to plan accordingly.
Before we get into options and what other shops offer, ask yourself these questions:
What impact do you want your stipend program to have?
Do you want to make sure you're treating your employees fairly or do you want them to feel special?
Do you want to take care of the basics, such as phone and internet, or be creative in using stipends?
There's no right or wrong, but stipends can very much be a culture driver in a "work from home" world.
Stipend Benefits
According to a study by the Social Market Foundation, happy employees are 12-22% more productive. And because stipends are easy to personalize, they illustrate to your team how much you appreciate them as a group and as individuals, making them a great tool for building team unity and creating a healthy culture.
A stipend program also makes it easier to handle special expenses. You don't have to approve every individual purchase or education request. And you don't have to issue individual funds every time an employee is granted a stipend.
In other words, stipends can save you and your team a lot of time handling logistics and eliminating the frustration when things take longer than expected, which is anything longer than right this minute.
Types of Stipends (including some fun ones!)
There's really no limit to how a stipend can be used, so long as you stay within legal and government regulations. Check out these usual suspects and a few creative ones from popular companies.
Common Employee Stipends
Home office expenses
Technology
Professional development
Health & wellness
Education
Housing and moving expenses
Kinda Awesome Employee Stipends
$35/month Beer Stipend (Molson Coors)
$200/month Coffee Stipend (Buffer)
$200/month Dating Stipend (Hinge)
$1,000/year Tuition Stipend (Starbucks)
$1,000/year Vacation Stipend (Evernote)
$2,000/year Travel Stipend (Airbnb)
$1,000 Adopt/Foster a Dog Stipend (Rover)
$10,000 Cost of Adoption Stipend (Goldman Sachs)
Can you believe some of those stipends? Not only cool as hell but also strategic for the businesses.
How Much Should You Invest in Stipends?
How much you should spend really depends on how much of an impact you want to make. Based on a recent conversation in the Bureau Slack, total spending on employee stipends can range from $750 to over $2,000 annually per employee.
Given the battle for talent we're all going through, this seems like an excellent time to increase our investment and raise employee engagement, satisfaction and, quite frankly, give our people awesome things to share.
Let me know how you're using stipends for your team. Or if you're not, share more about that, too. There are always multiple ways to get things done!
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