7 non-financial employee rewards to help with the cost of living

With the cost of living rising faster than wages, many organisations are looking for non-financial reward ideas to motivate employees and help them accommodate rising costs.

The latest studies show more people than ever are experiencing financial distress:

• Half of employees worry about money at least once a week (Nudge)
• Shoppers face £380 hike in average grocery bills (Kantar)
• One in seven Brits say they struggle to make ends meet (YouGov)

Organisations are also feeling the pressure of rising costs. Beyond appropriate renumeration, most organisations can’t offer pay increases to match inflation (at the time of writing, UK inflation had hit 9%). So instead, many are turning to employee rewards.

Non-financial employee rewards are the non-cash benefits that organisations provide to their employees. Examples include summer working hours, subsidised gym memberships, free meals or employee discounts.

Employee reward and recognition has always been an important part of an organisation’s employee experience strategy. In fact, Reward is one of five universal drivers of employee engagement in People Insight’s model of employee engagement. Now, the focus is on non-financial employee rewards that can support people during the cost-of-living crisis.

7 non-financial rewards to motivate employees

1. Flexible working
2. Summer hours
3. Birthdays off
4. Free meals and snacks
5. Financial wellbeing support
6. Employee discount scheme
7. Subsidised gym membership

Below, we share how these non-monetary incentives could work for you and your team.

1.Flexible working

This is a great example of a non-financial reward to motivate employees. Flexible working means that employees can choose when and where to work in order to flex their working pattern around other commitments. Hybrid or flexible working is proven to support productivity, retention, and employee engagement. In addition, working from home for part or all of the week can help employees save money on travel.

2. Summer hours

Summer hours is a popular non-financial employee reward that allows employees to reduce their working hours during the summer. This usually means that from June to August employees can finish up a few hours early on a Friday. Some organisations invite colleagues to work an extra hour one day a week in order to finish earlier on a day of their choice.

Consultancy firm PwC recently announced that employees can finish work at lunchtime on Friday, after piloting the initiative last year. PwC surveyed staff before introducing shorter hours, with three-quarters of staff reporting that it “impacted their general wellbeing to a great extent”. Alongside wellbeing benefits, this employee reward idea is a significant recruitment and retention tool too.

3. Get your birthday off

Giving people a day off for their birthday is a simple non-financial reward to motivate employees. Organisations like GoCompare, KPMG, Dunelm and Virgin Media all offer this perk. Dunelm have extended this to include other milestones such as a child’s first day at school.

4. Meals, snacks and treats

30% of UK companies offered free refreshments and meals at work prior to 2020. Snacks and meals are still a desirable perk for employees, however our office set-up isn’t what it was. Many companies have moved away from traditional offices into co-working spaces like Work.Life, where People Insight’s office is based. Alongside other perks, Work.Life provide members with breakfast, snacks, fruit and Thursday beer & pizza.

Additionally, with hybrid working on the rise, organisations must consider how to include those working from home. Companies like Huggg or Just Eat for Business all provide snacks and treats for remote teams.

5. Support for financial wellbeing

Financial wellbeing support is critical right now. Financial wellbeing means feeling in control of your finances, comfortable meeting current and future obligations, and secure about your financial future. Organisations can support this by providing help with:

• Financial literacy (help budgeting, improving credit rating etc)
• Managing debt
• Longer-term planning for savings, investments and retirement

Employee needs will differ depending on personal circumstances, life stage and goals so your financial wellbeing support must be equally flexible. Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) are a useful option for businesses as they offer employees support with mortgage advice, debt management, financial planning and more.

On top of that, give employees access to a platform like Bippit for accessible, human financial advice. Tools like these also offer targeted financial support at key moments in working lives such as ahead of maternity leave, retirement or when moving house.

6. Discounts on everyday essentials

Employee discount schemes are a popular non-financial reward to motivate employees. These discounts are not just about encouraging employees to treat themselves. A wide-ranging employee discount programme can help employees save on essentials like groceries or school uniforms, as well as making holidays, home improvements or cinema trips more affordable.

If you already have a scheme like this, ensure you are communicating about it often and promoting its value to employees. Look at usage rates over the last 6 months. If these are low, it may be that employees aren’t aware of the scheme, are having trouble accessing it, or need something else. Consult your employees to understand how you can make this scheme more valuable.

Similarly, if you are planning to offer employee discounts first run a quick pulse survey and invite feedback and suggestions to shape your scheme.

7. Subsidised gym membership

Consider how your organisation could subsidise or support gym memberships for colleagues as a non-financial reward to motivate employees. Gym and sport club memberships are likely to be amongst the expenses people cut back on as the cost-of-living continues to rise. Yet alongside its benefits for physical health, regular exercise has been proven to improve mental wellbeing and reduce stress so is well worth investing in as a business.

How do your people feel about financial wellbeing at work?

Before introducing financial wellbeing support, it’s a good idea to consult employees about the challenges they are facing and the help they need. People Insight’s expert team can help you run a wellbeing survey to inform the initiatives you put in place.

Learn how People Insight’s THRIVE model of wellbeing can help you measure and improve financial wellbeing.