Concierge services are on the rise in the workplace

Let's face it; work and life bleed into each other on a constant basis.

Parents travel for business, have doctors appointments, get sick, children have PD days (every month), March Breaks, Christmas Holiday, the car needs to go in for maintenance, winter tires, the dog needs to go to the vet, life happens. 

Has this ever happened to you? You arrive to work only to receive a phone call from your son or daughter at school saying he or she left an important assignment at home that morning and needs it right away. Then your boss stops by and asks whether you would mind taking over an upcoming fund-raising drive. And last night, your washing machine quit working, and you need to arrange for a repairperson to fix it as soon as possible.

Finding the time to run errands, have a home appliance repaired, take the car in for an oil change, or make vacation arrangements, much less do the grocery shopping and laundry or taking on an additional project at work, can be hard when you work full time. Employers realize that balancing work and personal life is challenging for their employees. Many employers today are looking for creative ways to make the work environment desirable to a diverse workforce.

Lisa Earle McLeod states quite eloquently in her article on HuffingtonPost.com “The reality is: If you want a meaningful career and a meaningful personal life, they’re going to bleed into each other. Constantly.” The only way to handle this is to accept that our work and life needs to blend, and it’s up to us to make it happen as smoothly as possible. “You don’t get a work life and a home life. You get one life. Don’t waste it trying to achieve balance.”  

In an effort to improve productivity and work-life-balance, some companies are turning to personal concierge services. The idea is to allow employees access to someone who in one phone call can plan their trips — both for work and leisure; find them a plumber, plan them a dinner party, take their car for an oil or winter tire etc... Concierge companies as opposed to call centres or VA's are local, on the ground in your city, and know how to make things happen on a moments notice.

Typically, the word “concierge” has a luxurious ring to it, but personal concierge services are not used only by 1% looking to charter private jets. Concierge services used to be associated with high-end hotels or celebrities, but the new concierge is more about saving time. 

Few would argue that time is one of the most precious commodities we seem to be losing. Making a living consumes the bulk of our days, leaving less time to enjoy the fruits of our labor. This complicates life, causing stress and lowering the quality of life.

These time constraints carry over into other areas of our lives, particularly our personal time for leisure and family. Extended hours are common in most professions, reducing personal time to pursue activities that enrich our lives. 

Studies have shown that concierge services render invaluable benefits to the employers as well as the employees. It provides corporations a variety of professional and personal assistance options that can be made accessible to employees through their employee assistance program or human resource division. These stress-reducing services have been proven to:

1.     Help employees achieve optimum productivity;

2.     Increase efficiency and reduce absenteeism;

3.     Upgrade benefit packages for attracting new employees, while complementing compensation packages;

4.     Provide fresh, affordable ways to enhance employee loyalty.

By offering a menu of services valuable to employees, concierges services can alleviate personal stressors that make working 40+ hours a week physically and mentally exhausting. Employees like not having to use PTO (personal time off) that can be applied towards their vacation. Concierge services, consequently, add value to the corporation, thereby improving employee retention and recruitment!

If you want to differentiate your organization by incorporating concierge services into your wellness program, or recognize your people with the “gift of time” gift certificate visit our website or call us @ 613-440-4446 to see how we can set you apart from your competition!  

With Christmas season almost upon us Gift Certificates are always a great alternative to gifting. Everyone uses their time differently and everyone is has the same problem of not enough time. Imagine the impact you would make in that employee, client, or colleagues life that shared with your some of their recent challenges.