Fostering a culture of care

In the post-COVID world, many businesses are looking to create a culture of care among their workforces. However, in today’s fast-paced environment, where deadlines loom and projects are constantly on the move, that can sometimes be tricky.

At TEG Risk, the culture of care extends beyond just what is happening in the workplace. How? The company acknowledges the personal moments in employees’ lives with personalised gifts based on each individual’s preferences.

Going beyond the usual milestones of weddings, babies, birthdays, and work anniversaries, TEG Risk recognises personal challenges such as illness, marriage, separation, or any obstacle an employee or their loved ones may be facing.

Owner Libby Baker, who oversees the HR function at TEG Risk, told HRD, “The initiative has made employees feel like a part of the TEG Risk ‘family.’

“If staff feel valued and appreciated by their employer, they are more likely to value and appreciate their employer in return,” she said. “This helps with staff feeling engaged with the team and more satisfied overall.”

Gifting a ‘point of difference’ for employer

While there’s not a lot of NZ research around corporate gifting, a poll released last month by American gifting company snappy found that employers who give birthday gifts have higher company morale and better employee retention.

The success of the initiative at TRG Risk was consolidated for Baker during a team dinner when, one by one, team members unprompted began discussing how special the initiative made them feel.

“It was overwhelming, in the loveliest way ever, hearing how appreciated our team felt,” said Baker.

The team is predominantly made up of male engineers, she said, who are “not necessarily people you think would even care about personal recognition, saying they’d never felt this cared for by an employer before and what a point of difference it was for them.”

Trade Me celebrates significant life events

Similarly at Trade Me, they’ve been using a gifting service for the last seven years.

“We care about our people and like to celebrate and support them through significant life events,” said Loren Thomas, head of people strategy and experience. “We also love to celebrate the newest members to the Trade Me whānau, our Trade Me tamariki, by sending a care package to new parents.”

Trade Me uses a third party to support employees going through hard times.

“Angel Delivery is often a go-to for us when we want to show kindness to our people going through a tough time like a bereavement or sickness,” she said.

“The feedback from our people has been wonderful… and it makes it easy for us to support and celebrate our people.”

Well-being ‘a cornerstone of a successful workplace’

Angel Delivery’s mission is to connect people through meaningful gestures of care.

“Employee well-being is a cornerstone of a thriving and successful workplace, and it is deeply tied to feeling valued and appreciated,” said Angel Delivery General Manager Grace Kreft.

“While employers know they need to foster personal connections in a digital and remote-working age, it can be difficult when dealing with other pressures.”