As U.S. Senate Resolution 210 proclaims, "Reducing the conflict between work and family life should be a national priority." October is National Work and Family Month, the centerpiece of a national education campaign to raise awareness among employers about the need for work-life effectiveness and its value as a business imperative.
"Numerous studies have shown that work life balance is a key indicator of productivity, job satisfaction, employee engagement and retention," says Kathy Sherbrooke, CEO of Circles. “Through our concierge services, we enable our clients to make the lives of their employees, and their employees’ families, easier --- which is not just the right thing to do, it also has bottom line results.”
Says Wendy Edelson, RN, MA, Director, Human Resources at Meridian Health, “Many of our team members are women trying to balance work and family. If we can save them time --- time they can spend with their families --- that’s a very valuable benefit.” Meridian Health has been named one of the “Best Places to Work in New Jersey” sponsored by NJBiz, for the fourth year in a row. “I’m sure that offering concierge services has a lot to do with that.”
Recent surveys developed by OfficeTeam revealed that employees spend an average of 36 minutes per day, or the equivalent of three hours a week, attending to personal tasks at the office. Offloading their to-do’s to Circles helps Meridian Health team members take more control of their work and life responsibilities. In fact, in 2Q 2008, Meridian Health team members placed 842 requests to Circles ---saving a total of 2863 work hours. That translates to a savings of 3.4 hours per request.
Adding value beyond many employee benefits, concierge can be used by employees and their families, making it a true work and family benefit. “Like health insurance or employee assistance programs, concierge is a benefit that extends beyond with workplace and into employees’ homes,” says Sherbrooke. “We talked to our clients and they told that the more concierge becomes integrated into the everyday lives of their employees and families, the more value it adds”
Employees and their family members can tap into concierge for a variety of convenience services, from simple everyday to-do’s to more out-of-the-ordinary requests. The most used service categories include:
Referrals for household services: contractors, handymen, plumbers, housecleaners, painters, electricians
About Circles:
CIRCLES, a leading provider of concierge, personal assistant, experience and event programs, is part of the Sodexo family of companies. Circles’ clients, which include Fortune 1000 companies and some of the most recognized brands in the world, provide Circles’ programs to their employees and customers, driving employee and customer acquisition, retention and loyalty.