When you get a new job, it can be quite exciting. You have passed the interviews, signed your contract, and are looking forward to getting started in your new role. Naturally, you'll be told about the tempting benefits package somewhere in the process of getting the job, but unless there is something really revolutionary in there, you probably aren't thinking about that too much as you begin to adjust to your new workplace, new co-workers, and new working life.
As time goes on, there may be some parts of your benefits package you use a lot and become pretty familiar with, like perhaps the car allowance or the health plan, but many of us have benefits that come with our jobs that we totally forget about and never take advantage of, even if they could actually be things we would want.
Employee Assistance Programs
An employee assistance program or EAP is something a lot of larger companies offer that comprises a lot of great services. These services are provided by a third party completely confidentially. However, they are paid for by your company as part of your package.
The benefit to the company is that these services can help people be more productive, by enabling them to get help in all kinds of matters, allowing them to resolve obstacles to working at their best. An EAP can offer legal advice, can provide counseling, and can even help with things like personal training plans for employees who want to get fitter. Even serious matters like drug and alcohol problems can be tackled confidentially by approaching the EAP, and often, these services are extended to the employee's immediate family, as well as staff themselves.
It can be well worth looking to see if you have such a program included in your package, and exactly what it offers. It may well have something you could be making use of!
Training And Development Tools
Many companies also have schemes in place to help you learn, whether it is online resources that you can use or help towards paying for you to do things like part-time degree courses. As well as the training you get as part of your job, using these resources to their fullest can enable you to progress faster, or even just pick up new skills in areas you are interested in.
Employee Discounts
Another thing many companies have in place is partnerships with other businesses that give their employees discounts. A fairly common one is gym and sports club memberships. These can be expensive, but with a substantial employee discount, it may be something you could afford after all, so it's worth investigating what your company offers. You can also suggest this as an idea if your company doesn't have any discount agreements, but you would like to see some.
It can be easy to forget about the benefits that come with your job, so why not revisit your benefits package and see if there are things there that you aren't using to the fullest?
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