Yesterday, the Huffington Post reported on Sir Richard Branson’s bold decision to extend a full year of paid parental leave for new moms and dads working at Virgin Management. This wasn’t the first time that Branson unveiled an extravagant benefit for employees at Virgin. Back in September of 2014, he announced that he would be adopting Netflix’s policy of unlimited vacation for salaried employees. Pronouncements such as these tend to get a lot of attention because they question long-held beliefs about the nature of the employer/employee relationship and give us hope for a brighter future workplace. However, not every organization is as large and progressive as Virgin. In fact, over 99.7% of all employees in the U.S. work for small or mid-sized businesses. This begs the question. Can small businesses afford to offer these types of extravagant benefits, or do you have to be a giant corporation to pull it off?
It all comes down to culture.
It is important to look past the specifics of what Branson announced and instead focus on the ethos he’s trying to cultivate. On many occasions, Branson has stated, “If you take care of your employees they will take care of your business.” Virgin has a long history of putting its employees first, dating back to the launch of Student magazine back in 1968. Throughout his life as an entrepreneur, Branson has made an effort to connect with employees on a personal level. The scope and scale of that effort have grown alongside Virgin, resulting in the grand gestures we see today. The key is that the employee focus has been front and center for Branson since day one. Once you realize that, announcements like what we saw yesterday seem like less of a revolution and more of a natural evolution for a company that has built its foundation on employee success for over forty years.
It’s incredibly easy for small and mid-sized businesses to dismiss the idea of extraordinary employee benefits on the grounds of cost or logistics. However, I believe that if they’re viewing it as a cost issue, they’ve already missed the point. Obviously, most small businesses with only a handful of employees can’t afford to give their team members a full year of paid parental leave. That isn’t the issue. Rather, the real issue is whether or not that small business can afford to not take exceptional care of their employees and put them first. It doesn’t matter if you’re a company of ten or ten thousand; it is up to the leader to decide what kind of organization they want to run.
It isn’t about the money.
Nothing frustrates me more than leaders who blame their decision to neglect their team on a lack of funds or authority. At the end of the day, money and authority have little to do with how you support your employees. It comes down to having a genuine interest in their lives and wellbeing. If that interest exists, you’ll see it manifest in the daily actions of the leader and the company. Perhaps it’s a personal note to congratulate a teammate on a job well done, or taking a few minutes out of your day to counsel a coworker who is going through difficulties in their personal lives. Remember, if a leader is caring and engaged when it comes to the small things, you can rest assured that they’ll do the same thing when it comes to the big things.
You can (and should) scale your benefits as you grow.
At my company, BodeTree, we aren’t in a position to offer a full year of paid parental leave, but that doesn’t stop us from doing everything we can for our employees. We subscribe to Virgin’s idea of unlimited vacation time and go out of our way to treat each other as family. When a team member has a new child, everyone pitches in to help out. Sometimes that means that a spouse or co-worker will babysit for the day so the new parent can have a break. Other times, it’s a matter of handing out “no-strings” vacation days or bonuses when someone is feeling overwhelmed. When people encounter struggles in their personal lives, our team is there, ready to help. We care deeply about our employees, and they know it.
We aren’t perfect, but we strive to make our company a place where people feel like they’re part of a family. As we continue to grow, the specifics of how we show that feeling of family will have to evolve. However, the foundation that we’ve established will live on even when we’re ten times the size we are today. At that time, I hope to be able to offer as robust benefits as Sir Richard. After all, like Virgin, BodeTree will have created a foundation that makes such benefits seem right at home.
When it comes to the question of whether or not you have to be a big company to offer extraordinary benefits to your employees, the answer is yes and no. Not every company can offer the same benefits popularized by Sir Richard Branson. However, every company can and should take exceptional care of their employees. It’s a matter of culture, not money or size. Even the smallest company can create an environment where their employees feel that they are trusted, respected, and admired. Once that foundation is in place, you can scale your benefits as your company grows. Maybe one day you too can generate headlines just like Sir Richard.
