Part of trend by employers to introduce new workplace perks to get employees back on-site
A financial technology company in Australia is rewarding staff with more leave days in exchange for reporting to work on-site, according to reports, as organisations go all out in getting staff back to workplaces.
ABC News reported the benefit offered by Stake, which brought back more than half of the organisation's 73 local employees to the office. Under the policy, employees get an additional seven days of extra annual leave a year for coming back to the office.
Aline Van Koninckxloo, Stake's global head of people, said the policy came about after the organisation's post-COVID flexible work policy fell short.
"People were coming to the office, but on different days and it didn't enhance any collaboration," she told ABC News.
Through the new policy, Koninckxloo said the organisation gets its desired pre-pandemic office environment, while employees can have time back to spend doing what they love.
In-office benefits offered
Meanwhile, cryptocurrency firm Swyftx is also offering new workplace perks to get employees in the office at least twice a week, according to the ABC News report.
These include an in-house barista, free catered lunches and kombucha on tap. There are also free weekly tennis lessons and a virtual golf course for employees.
Swyftx's in-office perks were designed with employees in mind.
"They love routine and creature comforts… so investing in state-of-the-art office chairs and having perks like catered lunches helps bring people back into the office," Danielle Arrebola, Swyftx's talent acquisition manager, told ABC News.
Middle ground in flexibility
The findings underscore the importance of "finding a middle ground" between flexibility demands and organisational needs, as previously discussed by Catherine Kennedy, managing director of people2people Recruitment.
Kennedy previously pointed out that HR leaders find it hard to balance the needs of the business while also understanding what employees need in terms of flexibility.
"I think what both parties need to bring to the discussion is an understanding that it needs to be mutually agreeable," she previously told HRD.
