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AI startup offers extra benefits to employees to return to office, sees 57% jump in attendance
The company introduced its “Ways of Working Program”, a tiered, opt-in system that allows employees to choose how many days they want to work from office.
A US-based AI company is offering employees thousands of dollars in extra benefits to boost office attendance, and the strategy appears to be paying off. According to a report by Business Insider, Superhuman, a company that offers a suite of AI productivity tools, including Grammarly, revealed that it saw a 57% increase in daily office attendance after rolling out a new incentive-driven workplace policy earlier this year.
Superhuman chief people officer, Kenny Mendes, told Business Insider that the company introduced its “Ways of Working Program” in January. The policy, a tiered opt-in model, allows employees to choose from 2- to 5-day in-office plans. The more time employees spend in the office, the more perks they receive, Mendes said.
The CPO shared that the benefits include commuter support and wellness stipends that can be used for childcare, gym memberships, grocery delivery, and even cleaning services. In the US, employees who opt to work from the office 2 days a week receive $500 per quarter, while those who choose a full 5-day schedule can get up to $2,000 every quarter.
"If you look at that as a percentage of salary relative to the impact it has on that employee — being more productive, being more engaged, solving problems faster - it's a no-brainer spend from a company standpoint," Mendes told Business Insider.
(Also Read: 600 employees quit instead of returning to office 5 days a week. It cost the company $185 million)
From failed mandate to voluntary return
Mendes said that the new approach came after an earlier return-to-office (RTO) mandate failed to gain traction. He said that last year, the company attempted to require engineering teams to work from the office 2 days a week. However, the policy saw poor compliance, with many employees choosing to stay remote.
"It failed," Mendes admitted, noting that offices remained largely empty even months after the mandate. Employees reportedly felt that coming in wasn’t worthwhile if their teammates weren’t present.
Making the office ‘worth it’
The company then shifted its strategy from enforcing attendance to encouraging it. Mendes said that he took advice from behavioural scientist Jon Levy, who made him shift his focus to making the office so enticing that people want to come in, rather than requiring them to.
First, the duo hosted a fireside chat to discuss how the workplace has evolved and what the company needs moving forward. The firm then asked teams why they were reluctant to come in.
After the discussion, Mendes said that the company decided that instead of simply paying employees to show up, they worked to remove friction points such as parking costs and inadequate desk setups - points many workers raised during the discussion. The firm also introduced social and cultural changes, including daily lunches, social hours, and denser seating arrangements to encourage interaction.
The shift appears to have worked, Mendes said. The CPO told the outlet that around 75% of employees living near office hubs have opted into the programme, with a third choosing to come in 4-5 days a week. Attendance compliance is also high, with employees showing up 85% of the time they commit to. "I've been really shocked at how well it's working," Mendes said.
