Here Are Our Five Most Successful Employee Benefits and Perks
Interview with Authority Magazine
Employee benefits and perks can help set your compensation package apart and make a real difference in the lives of your workers. In this series, we ask prominent HR and business leaders which benefits and perks have been most successful in their organizations. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Maurice Harary.
Maurice Harary is the co-founder and CEO of The Bid Lab, a consulting company dedicated to helping small and medium-sized businesses find, manage and build their RFPs and proposals. His experience building a company that started with just $1,500 into a company that has grown tremendously is a great way to help with stories and pitches outside of just procurement and the RFP process. Furthermore, he has helped countless small and medium-sized businesses win their first multi-million-dollar deals, and helping smaller businesses drives The Bid Lab’s mission!
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Before we drive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
Asa middle child in a family of six children, I draw parallels between my upbringing and my love of the bidding process: both require being an expert navigator of complex situations and contrasting personalities.
I attribute this ability to the experiences I had growing up. Born and raised in New York City, I attended New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business and graduated with a degree in Business and Political Economy. I knew, however, that I wanted to see, learn and experience more than what one city had to offer. So I committed to spending semesters in both London and Shanghai. Living in foreign cities taught me about the intertwining nature of business, politics, economics, and culture, which has been invaluable in my career thus far.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I made some foolish assumptions about who my first clients would be. I learned that it’s not about the size of a client, but about how much you can assist a business. One of our best clients came to us with just over $100,000 in revenue, and we have grown together to be multi-million dollar businesses!
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful for who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
Did you know that the vast majority of married couples choose not to work together? My wife and I are the exception. Jordan is my partner in every sense of the word. Back in 2017, she was climbing the ladder in the automotive industry while I was working at IHS Markit. Jordan was tasked with completing an RFP for her business and hired an outside consultant for assistance. When we saw the final work product, we were shocked by the subpar quality that seemed to be accepted by the industry at large. The formatting was off, the writing was shoddy and the information was not even compliant. She called me and we worked through the night putting together a proposal she could stand behind. It was then that we realized combining her writing talent with my RFP knowledge was a winning formula for success.
Since then, we’ve created the world’s leading RFP company, had two daughters, and recently launched our own RFP search engine, Bid Banana.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
There is an old Japanese proverb: “Fall seven times and stand up eight.” Throughout the years as we have continued to expand and grow, there have been inevitable hiccups along the way. The key to overcoming these hiccups is that we EXPECTED them to happen. You have to be prepared for and accept bumps in the road when you are trying to do something great. What’s great is that we always get back up, even if the fall was so hard it sometimes takes a second to heal.
Thinking back on your own career, what would you tell your younger self?
There is an old Japanese proverb: “Fall seven times and stand up eight.” Throughout the years as we have continued to expand and grow, there have been inevitable hiccups along the way. The key to overcoming these hiccups is that we EXPECTED them to happen. You have to be prepared for and accept bumps in the road when you are trying to do something great. What’s great is that we always get back up, even if the fall was so hard it sometimes takes a second to heal.
Let’s now move to the central part of our interview. What are your five most successful employee benefits and perks? Please share an example for each.
1 . Our work culture embraces “time off” by planning ahead to ensure that projects and business can continue smoothly (yes, even when someone is on leave!) by distributing the workload and responsibilities among team members.
2 . We encourage team members to take breaks and recharge and do not penalize or discourage them from using their entitled PTO.
3 . It is important to remember that neurodiversity encompasses all kinds of categories from ADHD to giftedness. One of the many benefits of a remote work situation is that it allows an employee the opportunity to customize their work environment to be the most comfortable.
4 . Most employees rely on their employer’s benefits for medical coverage; packages with comprehensive healthcare insurance and paid time off are essential to a successful employee benefits program. Employees value a flexible workplace culture. Employees sign on for medical benefits and PTO but stay because they can work remotely.
5 . The flexibility of remote work makes it easier for employees to prioritize their families. We’re able to foster a more inclusive work environment because we prioritize a work/life balance.
How do you decide which benefits to offer as part of your compensation package?
We encourage team members to take breaks and recharge and do not penalize or discourage them from using their entitled PTO. As the founder and manager of a remote company, I encourage a work culture that values taking PTO. Employees that take their PTO won’t burn out as fast, and they’ll come back with reduced stress and increased productivity. Our work culture embraces “time off” by planning ahead to ensure that projects and business can continue smoothly (yes, even when someone is on leave!) by distributing the workload and responsibilities among team members. It’s simple: by promoting a healthy work culture, my team benefits. And when my team benefits, productivity skyrockets.
How do you ensure your team members understand the benefits available to them and utilize them?
Remote work offers up a world of opportunities for everyone, but especially those who are neurodiverse, to excel. It is important to remember that neurodiversity encompasses all kinds of categories from ADHD to giftedness. One of the many benefits of a remote work situation is that it allows an employee the opportunity to customize their work environment to be the most comfortable. Tired of bringing a sweater to the office? Working remotely allows you to control the thermostat. Need to listen to music to get your energy flowing? Blast that sound as loud as the neighbors will allow. When given the opportunity to create an optimal working environment, whether you are neurodiverse or neurotypical, you are undoubtedly more productive and satisfied.
How do you determine if benefits are successful or not? Could you share a time when you realized that a particular benefit or perk was making a significant difference for your employees?
Given the recent Silicon Valley layoffs, it’s hard not to associate unsuccessful employee perks with workplace ping-pong tables. Most employees rely on their employer’s benefits for medical coverage; packages with comprehensive healthcare insurance and paid time off are essential to a successful employee benefits program. “Ping-pong table perks” might seem frivolous in hindsight, but work cubicles haven’t exactly made a comeback either. Employees value a flexible workplace culture. Employees sign on for medical benefits and PTO but stay because they can work remotely.
What are your top 3 tips for developing a successful benefits and perks program that keeps an org competitive and aids employee well-being and satisfaction?
My company is remote by design, which allows me to hire the best employees. We encourage team members to take breaks and recharge and do not penalize or discourage them from using their entitled PTO. We’ve hired single mothers who need to be able to be home with sick kids, parents who homeschool, and employees who are taking care of elderly relatives. By distributing the workload and responsibilities among team members and promoting a healthy work culture, my team benefits.
In your opinion, what are the most undervalued or overlooked benefits or perks that more companies should consider offering?
The flexibility of remote work makes it easier for employees to prioritize their families. And ultimately, my company is able to benefit from a diverse pool of talent. We’re able to foster a more inclusive work environment because we prioritize a work/life balance. This is something other, more traditional companies just don’t always capitalize on.
Have you ever had to remove or modify a benefit or perk? If so, could you tell us why and how you handled it?
Many neurodiverse individuals thrive when they’re able to have some control over their workspace, which is just one more way remote work makes opportunities that much more accessible. Remote work offers a world of opportunities for everyone, especially those who are neurodiverse, to excel. Too stimulated or distracted by the sights and sounds of a busy office lobby? With remote work, your living room is your lobby. Are you tired of bringing a sweater to the office? Remote work allows you to control the thermostat. Need to listen to music to get your energy flowing? Blast your beats as loud as the neighbors will allow. Even the best one-size-fits-all office space can only ever be the ideal work solution for a certain percentage of the company’s employees. When allowed to create an optimal working environment, whether you are neurodiverse or neurotypical, you are undoubtedly more productive and satisfied.
We are very blessed to have some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have a private lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this.
I’d love to meet Jeff Dean, the head of AI at Google. We use Google products all the time, and we are currently exploring some cool ways to implement AI through our newly launched software. He is brilliant and has been with Google since 1999.
Authority Magazine Link: Maurice Harary of The Bid Lab: Here Are Our Five Most Successful Employee Benefits and Perks
