OzHR #12 - The Cold Hard Reality of Benefits

Benefits - it's all a bit murky, a bit 'buzz-word'y, and a little bit hard to navigate as an employee. We are now in a world of work with incredible possibilities (hello Google workplaces) and dire realities (hello GFC, job uncertainty, and an employer's market). In this context, benefits can often seem essential and yet totally fanciful. On the other end of the spectrum, as an employee, benefits often feel like a lottery scheme. It's all about getting the right profile (parent/single/male/female/executive/customer facing role) and being there at the right time and place. Yes, you may work at Google as a contract cleaner, but no, there will be no ping-pong table for you!

And at the root of it all is missing out. Who's got what, how can I get it, and why am I missing out on it?! It's all linked into our base emotions - the most dangerous of all places for the workplace to tinker in.

So let's discuss benefits, your personal experience with them, and your professional thoughts on them.

The chat will be Thursday 21 November starting at 7pm AEDT. Now we're in daylight savings time, find your city (or corresponding time zone) below, for the starting time:

7pm - Sydney, Canberra, Hobart, Melbourne (AEDT)
6:30pm - Adelaide (ACDT)
6:00pm - Brisbane (AEST)
5:30pm - Darwin (ACST)
4:00pm - Perth (AWST)

Just make sure to pop a #OzHR in your tweet so we can see it, and be sure to invite others along for the ride!

The questions are:

1.  How do you define what's essential to an employment agreement & what's a benefit? Has it changed with your personal circumstances?

2. When have you felt most empowered to ask for work/life benefits at work? Was the empowerment from family/work culture/age etc?

3. What should be the real motivation to offer benefits to employees? Is it fake & dispensable, or a modern-day career necessity?

4. As business confidence goes down, what do see as the future of employee benefits? Please share your personal vision for benefits.