Errand running program added to on-site employee support services has grown 1200% in 10 years

The background:

A global biotech giant and Circles client since 2008 was committed to helping improve their employee experience by enhancing their workplace. In 2013, after growing steadily year over year (YOY), they began to invest significantly in their on-site locations, including offering amenities like free Wi-Fi, gourmet coffee and dry-cleaning services. Business leaders knew that to remain competitive, retain their valued employees and attract new ones, they needed more tools and resources, including increased on-site promotion.

The Circles solution:

Because Circles demonstrated strong employee engagement levels YOY with their virtual program, the client expanded their program in Q2 2014 to include three on-site locations staffed by Circles team members. Additional work-life balance services were added including on-site lifestyle amenities like notary services, car detailing, mobile phone repair, holiday gift wrapping and errand running services.

Data from other clients proved running errands for employees working on-site achieved significant time savings and removed distractions. This service would allow their employees to focus on their work, while at work, and would free up their time after work to spend on what mattered most. During the pandemic, the errand running program expanded to provide extended support to essential lab personnel and employees working remotely.

The errand running program included:

• Dedicated errand running support at three on-site locations, staffed during the work week
• A wide range of errand running service requests including gift purchases and returns, postage, package shipping and courier services, meal and food delivery and more
• A personalized web and mobile experience, supported 24/7 by Circles work-life balance advocates
• Support of home-bound employees during Covid-19 with deliveries of meal, food, prescriptions, and packages to and from corporate offices that included computer hardware and office essential needs

The outcome:

The errand running program for our client’s employees expanded in 2014 to help improve their workplace experience, and again in 2020 to support the global pandemic. The program launched with 109 errands in 2014, and quickly gained in popularity within five years to fulfill over 1,500 errands in 2019. During the global pandemic, errand running remained nearly one third of the service requests Circles fulfilled for their employees. Since the errand running program started 10 years ago, Circles has fielded over 8,000 requests, saving an average of 2.64 hours per errand, totaling 21,178 hours of time saved. Using an average biotech annual salary of $100K, the Circles errand running program saved this client over $1M.

By offering errand running services, our client is proving to employees that they care about their well-being and value their time.

“I LOVE CIRCLES!  They are such a valuable perk for me.  We are running on a skeleton crew at work, and it is so helpful to have their support because it allows me to focus on my work.” - Susana