7 Benefits Top Canadian Tech Companies Offer Employees
Tech companies were among the first to take workplace culture seriously. They go so far as designing their office and choosing employee benefits that help create a healthy, fun and engaging corporate culture.
With Canada’s tech industry on the rise, companies are realizing the need to offer competitive benefits to stand out from the crowd. Are you curious to know what the top Canadian tech companies are offering to attract and retain top talent?
We’ve taken a look at Great Place to Work’s 2018 list of Best Workplaces in Canada to help give you an idea of what the top tech companies are offering their workforce. These companies range from having less than 100 to over 1000 employees.
1. Sabbatical leave
Many companies are seeing the value personal experiences bring to the workplace. That’s why some are supporting their employees’ adventures and endeavours outside of work through paid sabbaticals.
After five years of working at Axis Communications, the company offers full-time regular employees a three-week paid sabbatical, plus $2,000 to spend during their travel.
Another tech company, Flipp, supports a six-month sabbatical leave that gives full-time employees the opportunity to achieve lifelong goals with the security of being able to come back to work.
2. Career development
When companies offer career development opportunities, both their business and employees benefit from it. Many Canadian tech companies are investing in the career growth of their workforce because of the rapid-changing world of technology. Industry roles are continuously changing and new jobs are also developing, so employees need to frequently update their soft and hard skills in order to keep up.
That’s why companies like BrainStation exist. The digital learning company offers a wide variety of courses designed to help professionals upgrade their skill sets in order to prepare them for the future of work. Employers are increasingly providing funding for these types of continuing education opportunities.
For example, software company Resolver Inc. offers $2,000 for employees to use towards learning and development so that they can move up to leadership roles. In fact, 75% of the roles at Resolver Inc. are filled internally through lateral or vertical progressions.
The concept of preparing employees for roles internally is becoming quite common. Other tech companies, like Ultimate Software, FreshBooks, SAP Canada, Ceridan, and Indeed Canada offer skills and career development opportunities, such as job shadowing, mentorship and training.
3. Flexible workplace
Many forward-thinking tech companies are ditching the 9-5 mentality, allowing employees to determine their own schedule, including where they want to work. This allows employees to have a better balance between their work and home life, letting them go to doctor’s appointments, run errands, drop off the kids, and integrate other personal obligations into their work day.
Companies like Mastercard Canada, Search Engine People, GroupX Solutions, T4G Ltd., and TechBlocks are among the many who offer remote or flexible working. Some companies, like Nulogy and Flipp, also have a flexible or unlimited paid vacation policy, which further supports work-life balance.
Today, employees can access their work files and emails from anywhere, but some companies are taking additional advantage of technology. For example, to improve the experience of its remote workers, I.T. consulting company Traction on Demand has a “Double Robot” in the office. These robots are remote-controlled iPads on wheels that let remote workers “walk” around the office and even participate in activities while physically being somewhere else.
4. Wellness
The wellness of employees is becoming a growing priority for Canadian tech companies. Spending hours connected via laptops and mobile devices can often have employees feeling disconnected mentally and physically.
Plus, employers are realizing that they need to be supporting their employees’ well-being beyond just offering extended health benefits. This includes offering preventative care and activities like fitness and ongoing counselling.
Lifestyle spending accounts that help support employee wellness is something that many top Canadian tech companies are offering. In fact, wellness is one of the most popular categories supported by Honeybee’s Allowance Account platform.
One of the top companies on the 2018 Great Place to Work list, Pace Technical Services Inc. offers its employees a $200 yearly wellness benefit that they can use towards a gym membership, smoking cessation, prenatal classes or other health care programs.
Another company incorporating wellness into their workplace culture is Sparkrock. The company has a program that encourages its employees to ride their bicycles to work with a $5 per day incentive, lots of bike parking space and seasonal tune-ups.
5. Entertainment
Employers are increasingly noticing the benefits of helping employees flourish their relationships with coworkers within and outside the office. Bonding with coworkers helps boost employee morale and improves communication at work.
Axonify Inc. encourages its staff to get to know one another by throwing regular mix-and-mingle events. Plus, once every quarter, they expense meals for colleagues to lunch with someone they don’t know.
Klick Health also organizes many events and activities for their employees. For example, they have clubs for their employees to connect through shared hobbies and interests, like learning Spanish or playing basketball outside of office hours.
6. Child care
Supporting parenthood is also a benefit that is popular among the tech world. This goes back to the need for employees to balance life priorities with work. Financial worries and taking care of children whilst working can take a toll on employee well-being, making them stress and become less productive as a result.
Many Canadian tech companies offer financial assistance to parents, like Kronos, who has a culture built on putting family before work. They offer their employees $500 a year to use towards child care expenses.
7. Life coaching
Life coaching services help employees advance in their careers, manage stress and improves their overall well-being. Many Canadian tech companies are realizing that by having access to a coach, employees are able to perform better and are much happier at work.
Toronto tech company EventMobi has an onsite “Success Coach” for employees to confidently speak to regarding issues they may be having or challenges they’re facing at work. Another company, Softchoice, has a collaborative program called “The Coaching Habit” that helps managers get into the habit of coaching their team members.
There are also digital services like Inkblot Therapy that offer life coaching and mental health counselling for employees to be able to perform and feel their best at work. You can offer funds to cover these and similar services through Honeybee Allowance Accounts.
A great company deserves great benefits.
Honeybee’s digital platform helps companies offer a wide variety of attractive incentives and perks. Honeybee Allowance Accounts are easy to administer and even easier to use.