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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Companies Get Creative in Boosting Worker Morale

At the Westlake Village Inn, Director of Human Resources Roxanne Stevenson said that her employees who work with the company’s new vineyard are taught how to press olive oil. Also, the entire staff is taken to the sister facility at Santa Ynez. “We try to combine growth and development with fun,” Stevenson said. “It is a retention strategy. It has been and it always will be. We’re not corporate so we can be a little more creative.” For companies like the Westlake Village Inn, retention of employees might be challenging for companies in the current economy. This is because traditional pay increases as employee incentives may not be an option. We spoke to President of the L.A. Affiliate of the National Human Relations Association (NHRA) Joshua Spitz about different types of creative strategies companies are using to retain employees in the current economic climate. We also interviewed The Westlake Village Inn, Royal Staffing in Sherman Oaks and College of the Canyons to find out how they are providing incentives to their employees. According to Spitz, the largest trend he has seen with employee retention is employers “blending personal perks with the professional.” Examples he gave of this were flex hours and job sharing, which would allow employees more flexible schedules, meals through companies and health and wellness programs. Other areas Spitz mentioned are increased training and development in customer service, industry designations and expanding knowledge to have bigger growth. “Compensation benefits try to absorb premiums included and keep health insurance at current levels and there is a better chance of retaining employees,” Spitz said. Similarly some companies are bringing in voluntary benefit companies such as Aflac or Colonial supplementary insurance. Free lunch Other than the employee training and development already offered, Stevenson also offers free lunch to her employees on a daily basis. However, she says this is a benefit extended by most employers in the hospitality industry and has been around since before the recession. Also, management gets a reduced rate on eating in restaurants. Health insurance at the Westlake Village Inn has been kept at the same amount despite the rising costs of healthcare, according to Stevenson. Their providers are a choice of either Blue Cross or Kaiser. “The owners took on the financial burden [of the rate hike],” Stevenson said. Speaking of insurance, supplemental life insurance provider Colonial life makes visits to the Inn, and employees come to speak to the employees during work. Incentives unique to the Westlake Village Inn included dry cleaning and gift certificate programs. The dry cleaning is in large discounts. Local dry cleaners pick it up at the hotel and it is taken out of paychecks, Stevenson said. Their other unique incentive is that when paychecks are being distributed, Stevenson personally asks the employees questions about the company and if they answer correctly they can get certificates to In and Out and the movies. “We even go to the dishwashers and landscapers and as long as they can recite the answers in English or Spanish they are rewarded. It makes them feel a part of the property,” Stevenson said. “The most important incentive is respect. When you involve and give them respect and give them something there’s a sense of ownership and you feel critical to its success. The goal is to know just how important they are.” Vice President of Human Resources Claudia Niss of Royal Staffing says that her job sector is unique because temporary employees may be loyal but in general they “want to go where the job is.” “If I don’t have a job for them they’re not going to keep coming back,” Niss said. “They’re in survival mode right now. Motivations are different in our industry. I can give career advice and resume advice and they can enroll in the company 401(K).” The five full-time employees at the company have vacation pay, 401K and medical insurance. For supplemental insurance, Royal Staffing has Aflac with an insurance and wellness benefit. As far as smaller types of incentives, movie tickets are offered as discount recreation to all temps. Director of Human Resources at College of the Canyons in Valencia, Donna Voogt, emphasized that her school does not intentionally do employee retention, but it’s included as part of the culture. “It’s not a new retention strategy,” Voogt said. Part of these ongoing benefits and perks include a professional development program that has been offered for 41 years that includes the teaching of computer skills. Workshops include time, body, mind and wellness. “We had an employee that passed away and so we had a grief counseling workshop,” Voogt said. In the health and wellness category the college offers a workshop about how to manage life in a healthy way. “There are assessments for people before and after the workshop,” Voogt said. “The have to commit to a certain number of changes. Eat well, be active and feel good is the motto.” For health insurance premium increases, The College of the Canyons has absorbed 100 percent of the costs of premium increases for employees with HMO coverage, Voogt said. Voogt said this is the majority of employees. “Those with PPOs have additional costs that have continued to rise,” Voogt said. Although the company does not officially have flex hours professors has flexibility built into their jobs and office faculty can work out similar programs where they can come in a little earlier or later, as long as it on a set schedule, Voogt said. In addition they offer gap supplemental insurance with representatives that visit the campus twice yearly. In addition they offer Flexible Spending Accounts both for healthcare and separately FSAs for childcare. “These are things that we continue to do that are continued reasons that people want to stay here. Perks aren’t people’s aim at the end of the day [here]. People still want additional salary.”

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