So you’re ready to advance your corporate company perks or recognition program to a Lifestyle Spending Account (LSA) program. What a fantastic way to put yourself ahead of the competition for the best and brightest!
Making a change from your current incentive program (if you have one) to an LSA is just like any other organizational shift. With the right preparation and much enthusiasm, you can make your transition seamless.
Step one – Preparation: nail down the details
Before you start spreading the news and rolling it out, you must first do some preparing with your leadership about how the program is going to look. One of the advantages of the Work2Live LSA program is its flexibility, so the sky is the limit on how your organization wishes to use it.
Before you start screaming from the rooftops what an excellent program you’re rolling out, you want to prepare for the hundreds of questions about to follow those cheers. Nailing down those details ahead of time will make sure you’re prepared and can confidently answer everyone’s queries.
How will you use the program?
The LSA is most often used as a recognition platform, but some have used it as a company perk toward work/life satisfaction. You can select one or a combination of the two, such as an annual allotment to the population, with opportunities to add more throughout the year as a form of recognition. Whatever you choose, you want to present a clear picture of what your program will look like.
As a perk, these allotments work like bonuses (and can be treated as such for tax purposes when redeemed), but with a significant difference. If an employee leaves the company without taking advantage of their LSA, those funds are never redeemed, reflecting cost savings to the organization.
Define the budget and parameters
A recognition program can be challenging to instill limits on because budgets can become an inhibitor, so be careful with this topic. The best approach is to establish clear parameters that justify specific amounts of the award. Doing so enables more award opportunities as the company gains more by way of profits and savings from the employees’ performance.
Here are a few examples of ways to instill parameters for more gauging awards to significant gains for the company.
Define the dollar amount for customer reviews that identify employees doing a great job.
Define the dollar amount for employees going above and beyond their job duties. You may need a few different levels to justify different degrees of achievement.
Define bonus award opportunities, such as perfect attendance each quarter.
If an employee makes or saves the company a hard dollar amount, then declare a percentage of that verified amount to be awarded to their LSA.
Define parameters and amounts for peer recognition. Even $10 for going out of your way to help a colleague is an excellent way to boost morale.
Define all controls and approvals for more substantial awards.
Having several ways to use the program creates a higher level of engagement for all employees and encourages better performance and innovation.
Write it into policy and procedures
Write your parameters out for reference as your managers start to use the program. Have procedures in place that are accessible to all employees so they can easily participate in the nomination process and redeem their own awards. Have procedures for the HR, payroll, and accounting departments to properly account for LSA redemptions as they start taking advantage of them.
Step two: Rev up communications
Effective communication of an enterprise-wide change requires a communication strategy rather than a mass email. Your goal is to have everyone prepared and excited about this new change.
Organizational announcement from senior leadership
Your first announcement should include the reasons for the change and the anticipated advantages for the organization. Wrap it up with a glimpse of what’s to come as the program launches. Examples would be upcoming emails, announcements, training, etc.
Training and information sessions for management
Your management is going to control the pulse of the program, so they need to be aware and encouraged to embrace LSAs.
Conduct meetings with managers to help them understand the parameters and procedures around your new LSA program. If a recognition program is new to your management team, provide some training and resources to enable them to make their recognition a meaningful experience to their employees.
Encourage thoughtful Q&A and record the responses to a useful FAQ guide for new managers for future reference. Include that FAQ with the procedures for managers.
Shout it out to the masses
Once management is educated and prepared to launch, it’s time for them to engage their teams. Start with a meaningful recognition experience and challenge the team to recognize each other to get the ball rolling.
Enjoy and continue the momentum
Your goal is to create a culture of recognition within the company. Interestingly enough, when it comes to these programs, higher levels of leadership tend to exclude themselves.
We recommend precisely the opposite because if anyone needs a little joyful diversion from their work lives, it’s your senior leadership. Make sure your evolving culture is present at all levels of your organization. The idea is encouraging and celebrating greatness, and you want this to go across the board for all levels. Make sure that everyone (EVERYONE) is included and an active participant in a culture of recognition.
Work2Live is your partner LSA program
You don’t have to be a large corporation to have a thriving LSA program. When it comes to perks and benefits, nothing else is as flexible as the LSA, and Work2Live makes it easy for you to bring into your organization. Enrolling today is as easy as filling out the online form or contacting us to see a demo. Either way, we invite you to learn more about the kinds of awards and experiences we can delight your employees through our program. Let’s get started and enjoy the new levels of engagement about to come!