Renting a bike – a new employee benefit
Given the new way of working with hybrid workplaces, and plenty of work from home which usually results in a lack of time for exercise, we investigated the possibility of helping our employees rent a bike at a reasonable price. Knowing that many of our employees would appreciate having a new bike and being able to ride to and from assignments, or simply use it for some daily exercise, this was definitely a priority for us.
Joanna, tell us more about this benefit?
“All our employees have the opportunity to order a bicycle that is paid for through monthly gross salary deductions over 36 months. It is affordable, safe, easy, and quite smart! By riding a bike instead of, for example, driving, our employees are doing themselves, and society, great service. It is both healthy and economical, and at the same time, they also make a valuable contribution to the environment, the climate, and the local traffic situation.”
“During the year we have so-called “ordering windows” when our employees can place an order for a bicycle package consisting of any bicycle with accessories of their choice. Included in the agreement is also annual maintenance, a three-year warranty, and anti-theft protection with ISR marking.”
“There are no requirements to use the bikes for work-related travel although we of course would like to encourage frequent use of the bikes in all contexts.”
Mathilda, can you tell us more about how is this new benefit connected to our EVP (Employee Value Proposition)?
“Our EVP, meaning what we offer to our employees in return for their performance with us as a company, is something we re-evaluate and update every year. Many of our new benefits are suggestions that came from our employees. One of the examples is donating blood during office hours.” Read more about that here.
“One of the four pillars in our EVP is work-life balance. As a part of this, we have our internal initiative called SYVE Wellbeing which covers different activities, challenges, highlights, and benefits connected to both physical and mental health. Giving our employees the benefit of leasing a bike does not come just from the economic perspective, but the well-being perspective as well. Being active shouldn’t cost you much more than your time and energy, and we, as employers, want to encourage that and make it easier to have a healthy everyday lifestyle. As we say, quality in every aspect of life!”
Joanna, how did this initiative start from the beginning?
“Actually, one of our employees in Göteborg, Marcus Palm, raised the idea and was involved in the evaluation of potential suppliers together with our CGO Jonas Gyllenspetz. Then the project was handed over to me to settle the agreement, determine an internal process for all involved, prepare information and communication to our employees, secure GDPR compliance, and finally GO LIVE with the benefit.”
Joanna Doweyko, HR Manager and Mathilda Syrén, Head of Talent Acquisition and HR Specialist
”We really enjoy putting together new benefits and opportunities for our employees – but when the idea actually comes from one of our employees it feels even better! Great teamwork builds great things!”
Mathilda, how do you think this will change the way our colleagues get to work?
“I don’t think the big majority of our employees will ride the bike to work from now on, however, I think the group that has been thinking of changing their way of transportation will now actually do that change!”
“Since this benefit gives you the opportunity to have a new, functional and good-looking bike in a cheap and easy way, it significantly lowers the bar to start riding a bike to work. For our employees who use this benefit for their free time, it will contribute to a more active lifestyle. For example, I believe more people will choose a bike over a car and ride the bike for a short visit to the store, to a friend, etc. or to just enjoy a lovely ride in nature followed by a good Fika.”
As previously stated, we know from our Employee Satisfaction Surveys and health exams that initiatives to improve people’s well-being are extremely important and appreciated. In other words – we won’t stop here. Continuously working with benefits that improve the well-being of our employees is definitely top of mind.
Read more about what we can offer when working with us: