How work perks are shifting during the pandemic

The people at Kudos have been busy lately.

The Calgary-based tech firm helps clients address culture issues at the core of organizations — a particular challenge amid a broader and ongoing pivot in the work world.

"We're moving towards a digital-first or a hybrid-work environment," said Muni Boga, the company's chief executive officer.

That prompts questions about how a thriving culture — something employers tend to tout — can be built alongside a COVID-era rearranging of where millions of people do their work.

"[It's] causing people to go: 'Well, how do we create culture online?'" said Boga, whose company has doubled its staff this year as demand for its services has grown.

Employers and experts say the COVID-19 pandemic has made companies focus on the challenges this shifting landscape poses for them and what they need to do to retain staff.

For some, that effort involves offering key perks to their people — including mental health and well-being supports and allowing more flexible working arrangements — as they make their way through this trying time.

Steve Knox, a Toronto-based executive at human resources firm Ceridian, says that when it comes to perks, employers are moving in a different direction than they were in the recent past.

"A couple of years ago, the perks were the ping-pong table, the foosball table and the free lunch," said Knox, Ceridian's vice-president of global talent acquisition.

"There's been a big shift away from that towards more caring for employees, their mental well-being [and] how you're looking after them," he said.

Examples of this trend include employers offering workers extra time off or providing advisory seminars on health and well-being, Knox said.

Jing Wang, an associate professor at York University's School of Human Resources Management in Toronto, said these issues have been of interest to both employees and employers for some time, but the pandemic has underscored their relevance.

"Even before the pandemic, I think the trends had started," Wang said, referring to the increased emphasis on health and wellness benefits by employers.

Knox agrees: "They were around before, [but] they've been accelerated."