How do employee benefits packages impact reviews?
Great employee benefits packages will positively impact the way people see your company in comparison to competitors – helping you to attract top talent, and to engage and retain existing employees. Research conducted by Capita found that 76% of employees are more likely to stay with their employer because of the perks and benefits on offer.
Employers are analyzing reviews using Relative Insight to uncover the thoughts and opinions of their employees and measure the effectiveness of benefits packages in comparison to competitors. Through text analytics, employers can thoroughly analyze employee reviews, qualitative feedback and survey data at scale. Consumer feedback insights, or in this case employee feedback insights, have the power to shape employee experience and policy.
To understand the impact of various employee benefits packages, we turned to text analysis. Looking specifically at Netflix, HubSpot and Evernote – three companies that are known for their employee perks – we gathered publicly available review data from Glassdoor and uploaded this to Relative Insight.
Relative Insight is a text analytics software that leverages comparison to surface the statistically significant differences and similarities between bodies of text. We analyzed reviews of each company in comparison to competitors as a form of competitor intelligence, to gain a greater understanding of how they are perceived by their workforce and whether benefits have any influence on employee reviews.
HubSpot
HubSpot employees enjoy a number of non-statutory benefits, including unlimited holiday allowance, healthcare, tuition reimbursement, generous parental leave and financial assistance for egg-freezing to name a few. So, how does this translate to the employee experience?
Walks the walk
In comparison to competitors, employee reviews praised HubSpot for coming through on the perks they so proudly advertise. Employees claimed that HubSpot walks the walk when it comes to benefit packages, using emphatic intensifiers such as truly and really to convey how impressed employees are.
Employees feel valued and supported
Furthermore, HubSpot employees highlighted the fact they felt both supported and valued at work. Words such as support, grow and mentorship appeared 3.3x more in this data set, suggesting that the company has successfully established a culture which places their employee’s progression and wellbeing at the centre.
By creating an appealing company-wide benefits package, this has clearly impacted the way managers treat their direct lines too, with one employee commenting “Managers truly care about your mental health.”
Our analysis also found that the words valued, belonging and authentic appeared infinitely more in this data set than for the other two organizations. This again emphasizes that HubSpot has successfully fostered an inclusive company culture, perhaps in part due to their employee benefits packages which encourage people to take time for themselves in order to create a positive work/life balance.
A steep learning curve
That being said, HubSpot employees were infinitely more likely to refer to the steep learning curve they experience when joining the company. This suggests that while employees are compensated for their hard work, a lot is expected of them in terms of personal and professional development.
Evernote
From catered lunches to offering employees an annual holiday stipend of $1,000 to travel somewhere new, Evernote’s employee benefits packages aim to “create an environment where all our employees feel valued and empowered.”
Respect
When analyzing review data, Evernote employees were 12.8x more likely to talk about feeling respected within the company. Mutual respect enables employees to feel valued in the workplace and suggests that their achievements have been recognized, whether that be through verbal communication or other perks.
Talented people and thoughtful leaders
A key insight was that Evernote employees were significantly more likely to talk about their colleagues throughout their reviews. Firstly, employees mentioned leadership teams, often describing them as friendly and approachable. Secondly, Evernote employees spoke about the smart, talented people they work alongside. Clearly, Evernote is attracting the top caliber of talent within their industry.
Netflix
Netflix’s work-life philosophy is centered around the concept that “it’s not our place to dictate what things you should care about.” This means that the majority of Netflix’s perks aren’t set in stone; there isn’t an annual leave policy, and parental leave isn’t restricted either. Other perks range from stock option programs to relocation benefits.
Freedom and responsibility
Our analysis revealed that Netflix employees are 63.3x more likely to discuss the freedom, responsibility and independence they have in their roles. From work perks to everyday tasks, Netflix clearly align when it comes to entrusting workers to take as much time as they need as well as getting the job done.
Long hours and high performance culture
However, in comparison to competitors, Netflix employees suggest that with these perks comes high expectations. Employees at Netflix were 3.8x more likely to speak about the long hours associated with their jobs which implies that despite having unlimited holiday, working days are typically longer.
Furthermore, Netflix employees highlight the high-performance culture that has been established at the company, and how the environment can be cutthroat. This suggests that while employee benefits packages certainly improve employee engagement, they don’t solve every negative issue within a workforce.
While most businesses realize the importance of attractive employee benefits packages, it’s not easy to quantify their impact. Employee feedback insights enable you to measure the impact of your efforts to engage and retain employees, giving you a greater understanding of how your company is perceived in comparison to competitors.