How to Build Your Brand by Better Supporting Your People

The driving force behind your company and its success is reliant on your employees. Their success is driven by how you support and encourage them. 

Employees who feel engaged with and connected to their employers can drive scalability as well as profitability by delivering better sales and service. Gallup reporting has shown that the companies that rank highest for employee engagement outperform their competitors by 21 percent.

How to engage your employees with perks

One method to keep your employees invested is by offering them specific perks that go beyond the standard benefits. These perks should further improve your employees’ lives, and they don’t have to be costly to be meaningful.

In the modern scrolling era, happy employees are one of your best sources of advertising. When they make positive comments or share happy work photos online, everyone can see the strength in your company culture. A healthy and impactful perks program can give your workers fodder for TikTok, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Employee perks providers, like Working Advantage, have been expanding their offerings to make them of more interest to employees, both for usage and clout. For example, when you offer both local and national dining discounts, employees are more likely to get excited about that as opposed to being limited to nationwide chains only.

Employee excitement isn’t just about saving money: It’s about spreading their money throughout the community. By giving your employees the ability to stretch their entertainment dollars, you also give them a way to support local area businesses. 

Over time, these seemingly insignificant visits to local eateries add up to memories for your employees and distribution of money for restaurants. It’s an organic way to build word-of-mouth loyalty and satisfaction without a complex, budget-heavy marketing campaign.

Ultimately, perks can turn into a marketing flywheel. As your employees use their perks (e.g., discounts at their favorite establishments or retailers), they feel like they’re getting a special value from being part of your team. Accordingly, they are more likely to gush about their experience, as well as treat your customers well.

You can’t just pick a couple of perks programs and expect that they’ll supercharge your brand’s scalability, though. You have to be deliberate and take a few pragmatic steps.

1. Align your employee perks with your company values

You’ve probably spent time outlining your company’s values, mission, and vision. Use that information to choose perks that align with the strong culture you want to see.

For instance, retailing giant Chewy offers to reimburse employees who adopt pets. It’s a unique offering that makes sense given Chewy’s place in the pet industry.

What if you can’t find an existing perk program that connects to your values? You could always create one yourself to present a truly one-of-a-kind employee experience for your people.

2. Invite employees to be storytellers

Employees may need a nudge to share “work perk” stories and experiences online. And sharing can bring a welcome spotlight on your company.

For instance, you might want to ask workers to tag your company online every time they use a perk. You could even have a tagging contest to encourage perk usage.

Another way to prompt your employees to talk about perks is to ask your managers to start the ball rolling. When managers actively talk about the perks they’re using, their direct reports might be more willing and eager to follow suit.

3. Put KPIs in place to track perk results

It can be challenging to determine if your perks are working if you’re not tracking them with KPIs. There are several metrics that can be used, including perk usage rates, employee turnover, and employee retention.

If you find that your KPIs aren’t improving, you may need to go back and make sure that your perks reflect your brand’s DNA. It’s better to know right away that a perk isn’t making the grade with your people. The sooner you find out, the sooner you can replace it with a more suitable alternative.

Before you assume that unused perks need to be updated, though, take time to look at the way you’re advertising them. You need to use understandable language. If your wording isn’t clear, your employees may be too confused about how to use the perk (or what it is).

You can’t get bigger if the people running your company are stuck in “grumble” mode. With employee perk programs like those offered by Working Advantage, you can help your workers rediscover their smiles—and share those smiles with your customers.

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