Author Archives: CorpStrat News

8 Things to Include in Your Work From Home Benefits Plan

If your team has gone remote due to COVID-19, you already know how difficult it can be to make sure employees are feeling valued and appreciated. Even though employees are saving time on their commute, studies have shown that, on average, the lockdown workday is 48.5 minutes longer. Which means it’s more important than ever for employers to get creative when it comes to commending their team’s hard work. Including a Work From Home Plan as part of your benefits package can help you make sure your remote employees are being rewarded for their efforts.

Here are 8 things to include in your Work From Home Benefits Plan:

1. Monthly Lunch Stipend for Managers

Pre-COVID, many companies would have perks like free lunches a few times a month. Company-wide lunches aren’t feasible in the current climate however, giving managers a monthly lunch stipend to treat their team to take-out or delivery meals is a great way to ensure team members feel appreciated.

2. Delivery Lunch for Employee of the Month

In the same vein, you may not be able to take your star employees out for a one-on-one meal but you could surprise them with a Postmates or UberEats gift card so they can treat themselves.

3. Monthly Coffee & Tea Stipend

Gearing up for the day by sipping on coffee with your co-workers is a delightful aspect of working in an office. Keep the caffeinated delight going by sending employees monthly credit to a coffee shop or coffee bean subscription service.

4. Virtual Gym Membership

It’s easy to get so overloaded when working from home that employees aren’t incentivized to move, which can be detrimental to their overall health. Since most gyms are currently closed or limited, offering a virtual gym membership can help keep your team healthy and happy. Hosting a group Zoom class with a certified instructor could be a fun way to keep each other motivated and give employees permission to step away from their emails in order to work out.

5. Mental Health App Subscription

Lockdown can be especially difficult for people who are living alone—people across the country are struggling with feeling isolated and depressed. Long-term, this can mean employees feel unmotivated, listless, and less productive. Including a mental health app like TalkSpace for therapy or Headspace for meditation in your Work From Home plan will help employees stay on top of their mental health.

6. Telemedicine and Wellness Checks

Telemedicine has been growing in popularity the past few years, for good reason—it can reduce medical costs and save patients a trip to the clinic or hospital. Now with the pandemic in full swing in the US, telemedicine has exploded in popularity and it’s helping people across the country keep hospital waiting rooms clear for COVID-19 patients while limiting their own exposure to the virus.

7. Wifi or Cell Phone Bill Reimbursement

Instead of using a company phone line or logging onto office internet, employees are taking on the burden of these expenses themselves. Consider offering reimbursement for a percentage of their home internet or cell phone bill to offset the expenditure.

8. Send a Care Package

When it comes to care packages, a little bit of thought goes a long way. Whether you’re sending special company swag or a customized basket of their favorite snacks, getting a little something at their door can help employees feel connected to company culture even when they’re working from home.

BONUS

If your employees live locally, take a few hours to show up (masked-up, of course) to their door with a thoughtful physical gift or care package. The personal touch of seeing their boss in person, even from a distance, can be incredibly meaningful.

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Need help doing an Employee Benefits Audit? Email us at marketing@www.corpstrat.com.

Effective Ways to Manage Employees in a Remote Environment: Company Culture

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In order to create and maintain great company culture, employers are focused on ensuring their staff is motivated, team-oriented, and happy to stay with the company for the long haul. A mere six months ago, this meant company culture was all about happy hours, off-site team outings, and in-office communication and rapport. Essentially, creating ways for employees to interact with one another in positive ways, both within and outside of a work context. Cut to today: employees are no longer in shared spaces, teams can’t gather for meetings or activities, and all communication occurs virtually. Read on as we discuss how to maintain company culture when the workplace landscape has transformed so drastically.

The Danger

Zoom meeting fatigue. Lowered productivity. Ineffective communication. Unmotivated team members. These are all the dangers that occur when teams go remote. Underlying all these symptoms is the larger problem: company culture may be at risk of dying. As teams around the world are planning to stay remote for the foreseeable future, the question on everyone’s mind is: how can you maintain company culture in a remote environment?

How to Avoid

Everything we’ve mentioned so far may sound dire, but we promise there are ways to adapt your company culture so it can thrive even in a remote environment. Some of these tweaks may not alter things overnight, we all have to work together to gradually adapt to our changing world. However, our aim is to help you develop a mindset so you can find creative solutions to kickstart your company culture in these uncertain times.

Our first suggestion is to have meetings with meaning. It makes sense why many people find giant, 20+ person Zoom meetings exhausting—it’s hard to focus, they have to constantly fight to be heard, and technical errors can make meetings run long. Our solution is to get creative, perhaps you can break your team into smaller pods. Then you can keep larger team meetings succinct and smaller pods can break out into separate meetings in which they can feel seen and heard and be given clear instructions. This way, employees can feel more comfortable asking questions and continue building rapport.

Second, never underestimate the power of employee feedback. We know employers are doing everything in their power to maintain culture but blindspots occur despite the best intentions. It may be scary but don’t hesitate to ask your employees about what’s working and what’s not. Their honest feedback can illuminate seemingly small issues, which you can address before they become problematic.

Opportunity

Just because you’re not in the office anymore, doesn’t mean the old office shenanigans can’t still be in play. Some of the goofy and fun things you used to do can be translated into a virtual environment. For example, if you used to buy the employee of the month lunch, send them a meal via a delivery service like GrubHub or Postmates. If managers used to grab coffee with their team members, give them a monthly coffee stipend from Starbucks that they can use to send drinks to their team. When we’re all apart, small acts of care can go a long way. Also, keep having fun! During team meetings, play a game like “Two Truths and a Lie” so you can continue getting to know each other and not have every interaction be solely about work.

Tip

Have fun with it and be easy on yourself. We all have enough going on, especially right now. Bring some good positive energy to the group and take care of your employees. In turn, you’ll continue to have a motivated, hard-working team that enjoys working with one another.

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See how CorpStrat can help you transform your Company Culture. Contact us at marketing@www.corpstrat.com.

6 Reasons Why Choosing “Big Payroll” Can Lead to Trouble

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Choosing “big payroll” is a lot like buying big box furniture. We can understand the appeal: it’s cheap, available everywhere, and does the job. However, if you had the opportunity to go to a craftsman who made custom pieces suited to your home for roughly the same cost, wouldn’t you jump at the chance? As a small firm, we’re able to give you that bespoke experience by combining our exceptional service, innovative thinking, expert knowledge, and best-in-class products.

At CorpStrat, we’re here to make payroll personal. This means instead of long hold times and endless phone trees, you have a dedicated support team that always answers when you call and actually cares about you and your business. Additionally, we have the flexibility to find creative strategies and solutions to make sure your company is on the best track. Here are some things to consider before choosing “Big Payroll”:

1. You won’t have a dedicated payroll specialist in your corner.

Speaking to a new rep every time you have a question can become time consuming. Our team is set up so that when you call with a question, you get connected directly to “your” person. It is of utmost importance to provide every one of our clients with round-the-clock support, robust reporting, and out of the box solutions that can save time and money. We handle your team’s payroll as if it’s our own.

2. You’ll find yourself constantly stuck on hold, even if you have a pressing issue.

After a warm onboarding, “big payroll” suddenly stops answering your calls. No one has time to stay on hold, especially if you’re dealing with a payroll concern. We can guarantee that every time you call us, your dedicated representative will answer and walk you through the issue at hand.

3. Even when you do get someone on the phone, they don’t know anything about you or your business.

Many giant payroll companies are volume-based which means they’re built to prioritize reaching their quotas rather than giving you the best service. We fervently eschew this type of thinking which is why we take the time to get to know the ins and outs of your business so we can provide concierge-like service with an “I’m on it” attitude.

4. Payroll rates appear affordable but come with hidden fees and little to no compensation for errors.

“Big payroll” often touts its affordability, this comes back to them being volume-based. However, these sharply slashed prices come with a hidden cost: fees. These fees can run the gamut from cancellation fees to initiation fees to charging you for errors (even if the errors occurred on their end). We’re all about transparency. This means no hidden fees and complete peace of mind. Plus, we’ll make sure you’re the first to know if new rates or policies are issued.

5. You end up using bloated platforms with out-dated tech that is confusing and doesn’t work as promised.

Many “big payroll” companies offer piecemeal solutions that are cobbled together into one disjointed “platform”. Our award-winning payroll system features single sign-on, employee self-service, and state-of-the-art and mobile-optimized technology. On top of that, we can customize the tech for your team specifically.

6. You don’t get answers to your queries in a timely manner.

When it comes to payroll concerns, you can’t drag your feet. Often you need an answer quickly otherwise it can lead to a domino effect of more errors. Every member of our team works tirelessly to ensure you get the answers you need the moment you need it so you’re never left in the lurch.

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See how CorpStrat Payroll can transform your business. Contact us today at marketing@www.corpstrat.com

President Signs PPP Extension, New Deadline August 8th, 2020

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If you haven’t applied for a PPP loan yet, you’re in luck—the deadline to apply has just been extended! Get started by filling out the borrower application form here.

On Saturday evening, July 4th, President Donald Trump signed into law a temporary extension for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The legislation was signed hours after the previous deadline for applications lapsed. The original deadline was June 30th but $130 billion still remained in the fund of the $660 billion allocated. Now, the deadline has been pushed to August 8th, 2020 to give small business owners more time.

The program was created back in March to support small businesses affected by the fallout of COVID-19; lawmakers have modified it twice since, adding money on one occasion and more recently permitting more flexible use of the funding. In early June, the president signed the PPP Reform Bill which gave small business owners more flexibility and longer-term support. You can learn more about the PPP Reform Bill here.

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If you have any questions regarding your PPP loan or application, please email us at marketing@www.corpstrat.com

Effective Ways to Manage Employees in a Remote Environment: The Benefit Package

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It’s hard to believe that just a few short months ago, our country’s unemployment rate was at an all time low. Pre-pandemic, keeping employees happy often involved pricey company perks like free gourmet lunches, massages, and elite gym memberships. Now because of COVID-19, our entire world has changed: unemployment is soaring and non-essential teams have gone remote (and may remain remote). The entire US workforce and workplace has dramatically changed, which means what we offer our employees in terms of benefits has to undergo a dramatic change as well. Today we’ll go over creative solutions to help shift your benefits package to suit the new economic environment.

The Danger

For employers, it’s absolutely vital to alter your current benefits package in order to adapt to the current economic climate. Choosing not to do so could leave your company in the dust. In the coming months, as companies begin cautiously opening up offices and rehiring, they’ll face the challenge of potential employees viewing these slimmed down benefit packages as weak. It’s important to strike the right balance of not overspending in this new normal, while maintaining an attractive benefits package. We’ve also found that many employers cut spending in the wrong places because they aren’t aware of important tax opportunities and fail to take advantage of them.

How to Avoid

A lot of employers have been spending over 80% of the employees’ health insurance premiums on expensive plans. You can still offer full health coverage but switching down to silver plans in lieu of gold can cut costs by as much as 20%. Health insurance is a big line item on most employer’s profit and losses statements. It’s typically in the top three, right behind rent and salaries. Being able to change employer contributions and trim 20% out of employer costs is a huge opportunity right now.

At the same time inexpensive benefit plans can be added with minimal to no cost. Employees value plans like dental, vision, life insurance, and employer sponsored disability insurance. Plans that feature these can help employers round out their offerings without being a high cost item.

At the end of the day, don’t sell your benefits package short. Sometimes offering an appealing benefits package is all about how it’s presented. Creating a benefits brochure that points out both the obvious and hidden benefits offered can help current and potential employees understand the full scope of their benefits package.

There is also another great tool called a hidden paycheck. What a hidden paycheck statement does is give the employee an overview of all the money that the employer is spending on them—like taxes, health insurance, retirement plans, and other fringe benefits. For example, if an employee makes $60,000 a year, there’s a good probability they are only pocketing $3,500 a month. On this employee’s hidden paycheck statement, they would see everything the employer is spending on them, often totaling up to as much as $80,000 a year. Employees can then gain a greater sense of their value to the company rather than looking at their $3,500 take home pay.

Opportunity

The opportunity here is to modify plans and contributions based on the current economic environment. Get creative in building your benefit package, use voluntary plans, use ancillary plans, and lastly, shift employee perks to support work from home needs.

You’ll find that many of the traditional perks like company lunches, free snacks in the office, or commuter stipends, are no longer useful, and won’t be viewed favorably. Shifting perks to include things like virtual fitness memberships, mental health and telemedicine, wellness checks, childcare options, are what employees will value going forward.

Finally and maybe most importantly is adding a work from home policy in your benefits package. Many teams have gone remote without a noticeable drop in productivity. This means employees both know it’s possible to work efficiently from home and want to continue working from home. Including a work from home policy in the benefit package is going to be vital for most employers going forward to continue to attract top talent.

Tip

As we mentioned at the beginning, this is not a one size fits all. There’s no cookie cutter or plug and play approach, every industry and every situation is going to be unique. It’s important for employers to work with someone who can bring fresh ideas, understand the market, understand the industry and can bring real solutions.

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See how CorpStrat can help you transform your Employee Benefits Package. Contact us at marketing@www.corpstrat.com.