The very idea of how a company can support its employees with appreciation programs has evolved rapidly during 2020, as months of generalized COVID lockdown and social distancing guidelines begin to close in on an uncertain holiday season. Now, with more companies driven to remote workforces by the pandemic crisis, the lines between home and work are more blurred than ever. Across the nation, companies are working fast and brainstorming ways to keep their workforces together and cared for as circumstances continue to drive them apart physically. For these seven companies, there’s no question that an employee’s well-being is of bottom-line importance. We asked them each to tell us what continuing, revised, or brand-new employee support and appreciation programs have been implemented since the COVID crisis began.
Can you give us any awesome examples of how HubSpot has developed programs to support employees or demonstrate employee appreciation since Covid-19 began?
Since COVID-19 began, HubSpot’s been constantly finding ways to support employees and show appreciation in both big and small ways. For example, we gave everyone a $1000 stipend to offset remote working expenses, and we introduced daily virtual programming for families, mental health, and opportunities to just have fun, like a remote Q&A with the producer of the Tiger King podcast one Friday afternoon.
Good Trouble Awards: Within our People Operations department, our Chief People Officer introduced the Good Trouble Awards. This recognition was inspired by the late John Lewis, civil rights activist and government rep, who encouraged people to get into “good trouble” in order to drive change against systemic racism in America. This recognition is given to people within our team who are making good trouble to make HubSpot a more diverse and inclusive company. Employees can nominate their peers for being active allies or pushing for change internally.
What have you seen as the result of the employee support/appreciation programs?
Amazing people should be recognized for their impact and commitment to the company. We have a variety of ways we do that at HubSpot including a rare JEDI Award (it stands for ‘Just Effin’ Does It’) which is given to an employee who humbly has had an outsized impact on the company and our customers. Our founders present the winner with a lightsaber as the award. We have quarterly HEART Awards which are company-wide recognitions for people who go above and beyond their role and exemplify our HEART values (Humble, Empathetic, Adaptable, Remarkable, Transparent). We have monthly Champion Awards within departments for people who did remarkable work or introduced a meaningful, recent change. Then, one of our favorites is the Peer Bonus. Every quarter, a HubSpotter can give a $100 bonus to any employee they want who has either helped them in some way or who they think deserves recognition for great work. In Q2 2020, we switched things up for one time and gave employees the option to either give their peer bonus to our Facilities team (who had been working around the clock to open and close our offices due to COVID) or to the Equal Justice Initiative (an organization fighting systemic racism that HubSpot admires and made a corporate donation to as well).
“Every quarter, a HubSpotter can give a $100 bonus to any employee they want who has either helped them in some way or who they think deserves recognition for great work.”
HubSpot employees rated their overall culture an A+.
Check Out Hubspot’s Careers Page Here!
Can you give us any examples of how Whole Foods has developed programs to support employees or demonstrate employee appreciation since Covid-19 began?
Team Member Appreciation Week (TMAW) is Whole Foods Market’s annual celebration of their Team Members and their culture. It’s our chance to, as a company, appreciate everyone that has supported us from within. This year was extra special because it coincided with Whole Foods Market’s 40th Anniversary. Over the past 40 years, the company has grown from a team of 19 to more than 95,000. Here are some of the ways that Whole Foods Market expressed appreciation for its 95,000+ Team Members across the company:
- All Team Members received an extra 10% discount on top of their regular 20-30% Team Member discount throughout the entire week.
- All Team Members received a commemorative tote bag and an extra $10 off a single transaction.
- Each store hosted additional unique events and activities throughout the week for their Team Members.
- Global (Corporate) Team Members participated in virtual events throughout the week that varied by department. Some examples were yoga, learning coffee basics and latte art, soap making, cooking demos, guided meditation, etc.
“It’s our chance to, as a company, appreciate everyone that has supported us from within.”
Whole Foods Market employees rated their overall culture an A-.
Check Out Whole Foods Market’s Careers Page Here!
Are there any awesome examples of how Qualtrics has developed programs to support employees or demonstrate employee appreciation since Covid-19 began?
In 2018, we launched the Qualtrics Experience Bonus program. After spending 12 months with Qualtrics, employees would be eligible to claim their Experience Bonus every year thereafter to use on a true “experience” – a dream that you might not otherwise fulfill on your own. Qualtrics believes in the power of experience, and the Experience Bonus program was designed to ensure anyone on our team could “level up” any experience and see for themselves how powerful experiences can be.
Fast-forward to 2020. Our company saw how the experiences of a pandemic and related stresses were disproportionately impacting them and their families. So our leaders took action. Instead of just being able to fund an experience for themselves, we expanded the Experience Bonus program to allow our people to put their Experience Bonus into use for friends, family, local businesses, and charities.
What have you seen as the result of the employee support/appreciation programs?
We saw the team take to the change immediately. We’ve had dozens of people at Qualtrics help someone in their own circle of friends and family. Others have gotten in touch with their favorite local businesses and bought gift cards or simply donated to help support them through the pandemic. Others have also used their bonuses to donate to charities or shelters for people experiencing homelessness or domestic violence, mental health organizations, BLM, and other related organizations, as well as to 5 For The Fight (our own charitable organization for cancer research). Various Qualtrics employees have relayed back to us how the Experience Bonus allowed them to contribute in ways they may not have otherwise been able to. This was just one way in which our company thought we could show support for our people during COVID-19.
“Various Qualtrics employees have relayed back to us how the Experience Bonus allowed them to contribute in ways they may not have otherwise been able to.”
HubSpot employees rated their overall culture an A+.
Check Out Qualtrics’ Careers Page Here!
Can you give us an example of how Tophatter has developed programs to support employees or demonstrate employee appreciation since Covid-19 began?
We send our employees monthly care packages with items such as hand sanitizer, food delivery gift cards, and puzzles. We also provided employees with a home-office budget so that they can purchase equipment to make working from home more comfortable.
What have you seen as the result of the employee support/appreciation programs?
Employees are very appreciative of the programs. They feel connected to the company even though we are not physically going into an office.
“We send our employees monthly care packages with items such as hand sanitizer, food delivery gift cards, and puzzles.”
Tophatter employees rated their perks and benefits an A+.
Check Out Tophatter’s Careers Page Here!
In July, 2020 IPC rolled out a Global Employee Reward and Recognition Program. IPC values the importance of recognition as a crucial part of having a great workplace culture and wanted a formal way to acknowledge our employees’ contributions, commitment, dedication, and hard work. This focus on recognition supports an environment where celebrating workplace triumphs is part of our common culture, inspiring employees to aim higher and enabling teams to bond over shared accomplishments.
Given the current environment with many of us working remotely due to COVID-19, maintaining a level of personal connection is more essential than ever. As the IPC community navigates this “new normal,” taking the time to make our connections genuine and authentic will have a lasting impact on each of our professional journeys. Recognitions as part of this overall program come in many forms, including shout-outs at Town Hall gatherings, a call from a Senior Leader, a handwritten note of praise, recognition on social media, or a one-time special payment. These recognitions can also highlight team triumphs, fuel comradery, collaboration, and a sense of a winning team.
All of our recognitions are tied to IPC’s Core 4 Values:
- “Inspire…. Aim Higher”
- “Work Smarter”
- “Be the Best you to Create the Best Us”
- “Embrace the Customer and the Change they Create”
These highlight our dedication to philanthropy, superior customer delivery, inclusivity for our employees and communities, and desire for continued innovation.
What have you seen as the result of the employee support/appreciation programs?
Since implementing our Recognition Program, the HR team has received accolades from employees appreciating IPC’s drive to build and sustain a positive workplace culture. Managers have praised that the program is fostering a deeper collaborative work environment which in turn is helping our employees feel more satisfaction about their contributions. As we continue to recognize additional employees globally for their individual contributions, we hope to further spread the message of “Be the Best you to Create the Best Us.”
“This focus on recognition supports an environment where celebrating workplace triumphs is part of our common culture, inspiring employees to aim higher and enabling teams to bond over shared accomplishments.”
IPC Systems employees rated their overall culture an A+.
Check Out The IPC Sytems Careers Page Here!
Can you give us one awesome example of how Workfront has developed programs to support employees or demonstrate employee appreciation since Covid-19 began?
Company-wide recharge days.
What have you seen as the result of the employee support/appreciation programs?
While Workfront continues to appreciate our employees’ work, we recognize that the hours and days spent communicating on Zoom, Slack, email, and the demands of daily life can cause people to feel overly busy and taxed. The Company-wide recharge days allow our employees to unplug their devices, recharge, and rest.
“Company-wide recharge days allow our employees to unplug their devices, recharge, and rest.”
Workfront employees rated their overall culture an A+.
Check Out Workfront’s Careers Page Here!
Give us an example of how A Cloud Guru has developed programs to support employees or demonstrate employee appreciation since Covid-19 began?
As the COVID situation escalated, it became increasingly clear that the biggest anxiety employees had was what it would mean for them & their families financially if they became unwell. The idea of being sick and only getting paid for the sick leave they had remaining was a scary prospect for people. To ensure employees they would be taken care of, we added the policy: if you fall ill from COVID, you have 6 weeks additional fully paid sick leave.
65% of our employee population went from being in-office to fully remote literally overnight. In many cases, our employees didn’t have a proper setup to work comfortably from home. Some people were working on their bed, or on a couch with a meal tray as the base for their laptop. We don’t want people ending up with bad backs or bad eyes as a result of working from home. Given that we decided to keep our offices closed for the remainder of the year, it was important to make sure people were able to invest in their workspaces. We rolled out a $500USD office stipend to help people set themselves up properly while working from home. I saw it as an investment in their health and wellbeing.
What have you seen as the result of the employee support/appreciation programs?
It was great to see the overwhelming sense of joy people felt. When we announced the perks via Zoom, the chat window just went off with love hearts, claps, and thank yous. We had a couple of people that said they had gotten a good sense of what the culture was like at A Cloud Guru, but were really taken by what they felt like was generosity.
“We rolled out a $500USD office stipend to help people set themselves up properly while working from home. I saw it as an investment in their health and wellbeing.”
A Cloud Guru employees rated their overall culture an A+.
Check Out A Cloud Guru’s Careers Page Here!