How effective is a one-time wellbeing bonus?

$1,000.

That’s the bonus being given out by Coast Capital to all employees. Not for performance or as an end-of-year reward, but for wellbeing.

With so many things in life being more expensive these days, with record inflation and a rising cost of living, Coast Capital is focused on supporting the financial wellbeing of employees, says Ania Cox, chief people officer.

“We know that our employees are feeling the strain of their own financial obligations… We wanted to provide our staff with some financial relief,” she says.

The wellbeing bonus is both a “heartfelt thankyou” to staff for their commitment to the financial cooperative’s members, and a “reminder” of the organization’s promise to provide “the best compensation packages and programs,” says Cox.

There are a lot of positives to this approach, says Marie-Hélène Budworth, associate professor and director of HR management at York University in Toronto.

“It sends a nice message to employees about the employer being a caring employer looking out for them,” she says. “It’s a nice way of saying, ‘You're an individual, we recognize that we don't know what you need so here, take this, and this is our intention is to help take care of you.’”

Flexibility in offering wellbeing bonus

As for deciding on the $1,000 figure, “it’s always challenging to determine what the ‘right’ amount is,” says Cox.

“We wanted our contribution to provide immediate meaningful support,” she says, adding the bonus went to all permanent full- and part-time employees below the executive level at the end of October, totalling $1.76 million across the organization.

The bonus is provided in cash and employees are free to use it any way they please, says Cox.

“Whether it’s put towards groceries, child care, transportation or the upcoming holiday season, it is meant to help alleviate some of the pressure of day-to-day living expenses.”

This kind of bonus recognizes that people might have different financial needs, says Budworth.

“I might need a little bit more support in terms of childcare; perhaps somebody else needs a little bit more support with accessing services that cost, like maybe some mental health services… instead of doing the type of thing that organizations typically do, where they provide everybody with the same support, access to the same supports, and then you use what you need.”

This wellbeing bonus goes beyond what often is problematic with wellness approaches, she says, with employers giving a lot of information without any real resourcing on how to do the thing, such as “Go to the gym” or “Stretch every hour.”

“$1,000 is a gym membership, if that's how you want to use it, so I think it’s actually putting resources towards something; [it’s a] signal ‘We care and we actually are willing to do something about it.’”

Being competitive with compensation

But in giving this kind of benefit, clarity and communication are important, says Budworth, in stressing to employees this is a one-time offering.

“I'm sure people will say, ‘Why didn't they just add money to our salaries?’ Well, because it wouldn't have had as big an impact… if they have enough to give everybody one time $1,000, then they probably only had enough to raise a few salaries. So this is a way of distributing it fairly — raising everybody's salaries is probably quite unrealistic. And it's far more expensive.”

Coast Capital conducts pay benchmarking against the external market on an annual basis so that employees receive market-competitive pay and benefits, says Cox.

“This allows us to ensure that we are keeping pace with our competitors and providing our employees with what they need.”

Staff also receive base salary adjustments that are aligned to the external market and economic climate, she says, along with bonus payments to recognize outstanding performance from the past year.

“We also offer a variety of discounted banking, insurance, and lending-related benefits to help improve the financial well-being of our employees.”

Focusing on diversity in wellness

Coast Capital works to provide a variety of wellness offerings to meet employees’ diverse needs and preferences, says Cox, who has also worked in HR at Western Forest Products and Shell.

In taking a holistic approach to wellbeing, the organization offers physical, mental and emotional health benefits such as free access to an onsite gym, mental health counselling and flexible work arrangements.

Employees also have access to “innovative” platforms and services such as: Carepath, a personalized support service for employees and their families in the event of illness and caregiving; Wellbeats, an on-demand video streaming platform with expert-led fitness, nutrition, and mindfulness classes; and Maturn, a program supporting employees throughout their maternity journey. 7

“When employees have access to a diverse array of benefits, they are more likely to find options that resonate with them, and in turn, can improve their overall wellbeing and job satisfaction,” says Cox.

The fact that the wellbeing bonus is part of “a constellation” of offerings at Coast Capital gives it more credibility, says Budworth.

“Employees will understand it to be part of how we are treated by this employer; this employer... has these programs in place to support us, and I understand this augmentation to be a part of the same culture, the same values that the organization holds about taking care of employees.’

“There's a consistency there that I think really underscores the meaning of the gift.”