A good work/life balance is a key part of a good job. Even a dream job can quickly become a nightmare if it means you'll have no time for friends, family or personal ambitions. We caught up with a couple of NYC tech companies that take providing their employees with a healthy work/life balance seriously, and asked them how they do it. And, for what it's worth, not one of our contacts at any of these companies responded to our requests for comments after 5 p.m.
Answers from Carly Laniado, Talent Acquisition Manager
Why do you think a work/life balance is important? Work/Life balance is incredibly important to us at Movable Ink. If you are constantly working, you will soon burn out and that is not good for you or the company. We want people to be happy and productive at the same time. At Movable Ink, you can have that.
What’s the work/life balance like at your company? At Movable Ink, we get it. We understand that our Inkers have a life outside of work. Because we have such a close knit group that truly cares for one another, employees often like to socialize outside of work. Most importantly, we encourage people to make time for themselves and family.
Do you have any policies in place that encourage people to take time off? Unlimited PTO!
Do you have any policies that encourage employees to do things outside of work? We have a gym reimbursement, social groups like Soup Club and Beer Tasting, group runs, races, and fitness classes (we're all going on a Peloton group ride on Friday!). We also have affinity groups, such as our women's group called Movable Pink.
Answers from Margaret Dwyer, Senior Manager of People Operations
Why do you think a work/life balance is important? Why wouldn't a company prefer employees who work 24/hrs a day, everyday? According to Ernst and Young, two of the top five reasons employees quit their jobs are excessive overtime hours and lack of flexibility. When employees do have that work-life balance, they are more innovative, motivated, and most importantly, engaged. Working 24 hours a day is never conducive to your employees’ personal and professional growth and they will find a company that can provide that key balance. One of the great things about SiteCompli is that our CEOs want to foster an employee-driven company, and they understand that providing a balanced work-life culture is integral to our success.
Here at SiteCompli, it’s never about the amount of hours you put in, but the quality of work you produce. We strongly believe in having an employee-focused culture, after all, employees are the most important resource of our company. To support SiteCompli’s work-life balance, we offer our employees unlimited vacation, flexible work hours and a unique great idea initiative program.
Do you have any policies in place that encourage people to take time off? Yes! SiteCompli's "PAID, PAID" vacation policy often elicits questions because the company actually pays employees a cash bonus to take a 5-day consecutive vacation once a year. Most companies encourage employees to take vacations, but don't offer incentives to do so – and as a result, employees end up overworked and burned out. Our paid vacation time provides opportunities for rest, relaxation, and personal pursuits. At SiteCompli, we are sincerely committed to a work-life balance because it ultimately motivates better performance.
Do you have any policies that encourage employees to do things outside of work? SiteCompli’s “Fun Team” organizes bi-monthly in and out-of-office events that allow our team to bond and share cool experiences: monthly happy hours, ping-pong tournaments, sporting events, team volunteering, and more. We also have the “Great Ideas Initiative” program which allows employees to receive company funding to share their outside interests with the SiteCompli team. Past "Great Ideas" have included support for employee charity teams, volunteer day, and more. Lastly, once a year, we host a Camp Day, which is an awesome opportunity for some offsite team-building fun.
Answers from Catherine Ulrich, Chief Product Officer at Shutterstock, photo credit to Bilyana Dimitrova
Why do you think a work/life balance is important? A healthy work/life balance is very important, especially at Shutterstock, because we are an entrepreneurial company and depend on the innovation and focus of our team. Bringing in fresh ideas, curiosity and excitement on a daily-basis is key to our long-term success. Every individual is different in how they choose to strike that balance and we encourage our employees to take full advantage of all the great benefits we offer to help maintain a healthy balance.
What’s the work/life balance like at your company? As Shutterstock continues to grow, our goal is to maintain an entrepreneurial lifestyle within our company culture by creating a work/life integration that is flexible for all of our employees. The typical working hours for most of our staff is 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., but there are plenty of opportunities within and outside of working hours that contribute to a healthy work/life balance. For example, we offer a number of on-site activities to help employees refocus, de-stress and take care of their well being. That includes a daily lunchtime meditation as well as weekly yoga and fitness classes. We also offer bi-weekly massages to Shutterstock employees across the globe.
One of my favorite company events is the annual “Take Your Kids To Work Day” at our company headquarters in the Empire State Building. It’s a great way to recognize that many of our employees have growing families. The day includes a full roster of events planned for the kids and parents including ping pong, magic shows, music and dance classes and even a kid-friendly lunch menu of chicken fingers and macaroni and cheese for the entire office. This year we hosted more than 80 children.
Do you have any policies in place that encourage people to take time off? Shutterstock strongly encourages all employees to take vacation. Our paid time off policy offers all employees up to 21 days off.
Do you have any policies that encourage employees to do things outside of work? Yes, Shutterstock invests heavily in its employees by offering benefits including fitness reimbursement, as well as a $5,000 a year tuition reimbursement for continued education. We bring in guest speakers and host seminars on site for professional development to help employees grow in their roles and their careers. Shutterstock also encourages employees to collaborate through volunteer opportunities with New York Cares.
In addition, every year we host an annual hackathon for our employees, where they have 24 hours to form teams, develop an idea, and collaborate on a tool or feature that they can show off to a judging panel of executives. These events are a great opportunity to get back to basics. We recently launched a product, Shutterstock Tab, that was a direct result of one of our hackathons.
Answers from Steve Erb, Director of Organizational Development/HR
Why do you think a work/life balance is important? Wouldn’t a company prefer employees who work 24/hrs a day, everyday? “Balance Family and Work” is one of our Core Values and critical to the success of our business. Not only has our commitment to work/life balance allowed us to attract amazing candidates across every department, but it is a major contributor to our employee retention. Employees who work 24 hours a day are at risk for burnout and fatigue. It doesn’t work to make work your life. Our preference is to have employees that can give us their best and most focused work during regular work hours, knowing when and how to take a step back and recharge. We know that the best work is done by happy employees.
What’s the work/life balance like at your company? With varying commutes, remote employees and offices around the country, it can be difficult to achieve work/life balance. We expect our employees to complete their work, hit deadlines and attend collaborative meetings as necessary, but we trust them to manage an individual work schedule that takes their overall health and well-being into account. Work/life balance at Frontline is an ever-evolving concept that can be customized to the specific needs of each individual. Employees work with their managers and their teams to strike a balance that is beneficial for all parties.
What sorts of policies do you have in place that encourage people to take time off? We offer paid time off with the ability to carryover unused days, paid family leave for births and adoptions, unlimited sick leave, the ability to telecommute or work-from-home and we have flexible schedules.
Do you have any policies that encourage employees to do things outside of work? We have wellness initiatives and contests, a tuition reimbursement program and on on-site gym in two of our offices.
