Danielle Hilton of TeamKC: Here Are Our Five Most Successful Employee Benefits and Perks

Employee benefits and perks can help set your compensation package apart and make a real difference in the lives of your workers. In this series, we ask prominent HR and business leaders which benefits and perks have been most successful in their organizations. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Danielle Hilton, managing director of Team KC.

Danielle Hilton is the Managing Director of TeamKC: Life+Talent at the Kansas City Area Development Council. In her role, she works with more than 300 companies across the region to showcase KC to talented individuals from around the world. Overseeing an exclusive leadership group of global HR and recruiting executives and a network of more than 1,100 recruiters in the KC community, Danielle provides strategic direction for attracting and retaining talent in the KC region. The Kansas City Area Development Council is consistently named the №1 regional economic development group in the U.S., and TeamKC is recognized nationally for being a top talent and lifestyle strategy in economic development.

Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Before we drive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

Having gone to school for business marketing, I “fell” into the HR world initially with a recruitment marketing position. In this role, I also fell in love with having the ability to positively change the trajectory of a person’s life by helping them take the next step in their career. This passion has taken me to several outstanding companies and across the country, back to Kansas City, where I call home.

Now leading TeamKC, a key initiative of the Kansas City Area Development Council, I work with companies across the region to showcase KC to talented individuals from around the world. Overseeing an exclusive leadership group of global HR and recruiting executives and a network of more than 1,100 recruiters in the KC community, I provide strategic direction for attracting and retaining talent in the KC region.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I first started my career, I had a role that allowed me to travel — a lot. We hosted and attended hundreds of events each year, popping in and out of cities with luggage filled mostly with marketing materials. With several high-profile hires needing to be made in the San Francisco / Bay Area, I booked a recruitment event in Petaluma, California. Having not done sufficient research, I jumped from the plane to a rental car and sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic for hours.

I arrived to a full room with my regional staff making connections but without marketing materials — cue my luggage! I enthusiastically opened my bag and stowaway clothing went flying — and not the kind you want on display. Multiple lessons were learned that day: Do your research and include the local team from the start. Trust and communicate often. Keep a bag exclusively for work materials.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful for who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

My first boss in California became like family to me. His name was Alan and he was incredibly hard-working, kind and generous. I was in high school when I started working at his business and he always treated me with respect, trusting my abilities and encouraging me to excel at school, work and in life.

There were several occasions when I needed to practice presentations while we closed up the shop and he was there to lend an ear and be my audience. After closing, I would often go to my car and find him washing it. For high school graduation, he got me a AAA membership — a true representation of our connection as he became like a second dad to me. In college, I wrote his supplemental business plans and marketing strategies. I used my new knowledge and skills as best I could to support him the way he had me.

Alan taught me what a good leader was. He led by example and with a servant’s heart. He helped bring the best out of people.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

One of my favorite life lesson quotes is “Be kind, for everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about.” It’s important to remember that people are often bringing their whole self into a situation whether they want to or not. I don’t always bring my best self, but I do my best to give people grace (including myself) and lend an ear if they need to share.

Thinking back on your own career, what would you tell your younger self?

Be bold about asking questions you may not know the answers to because there is no shame in learning. And if you feel ashamed, take a step back and determine if you’re in the right place — a place where your thoughts and perspectives are valued.

Let’s now move to the central part of our interview. What are the five most successful employee benefits and perks you’ve seen throughout the region? Please share an example for each.

Flexibility: Competitive talent expects flexibility in the workplace, whether in the form of a flexible work environment or hours. Flexible environments led to 11% gains in work-life balance, 12% overall satisfaction and 25% lower stress and anxiety in the past year. Employees with full-schedule flexibility are 29% more productive and 53% more focused. (TeamKC Scouting Report, 2023)

More often than not, employers are able to provide flexibility in either or both categories. However, there are some limitations based on the industry. When possible, create policies that allow flexibility based on trust and communicate your policies clearly to allow talent to self-select in or out, saving your talent acquisition team time and ensuring the best-fit talent find your jobs and stay.

Company-wide time away: Providing PTO for all employees to take at the same time allows your workforce to reset and relax without returning to work with a full inbox. A number of companies in the Kansas City region offer one or more weeks in the summer or winter encouraging employees to take time to relax, recharge and return rejuvenated.

Setting clear expectations for this time off is essential for the success of this benefit. Companies may provide flexibility for employees who must work during this time so that they can enjoy the PTO on an asynchronous schedule. The company may also encourage or require any emails sent during the time off to be scheduled on a “delay send” until employees return.

Paid parental and caregiver leave: Generous leave programs for caregivers of all stages of life show that employers care about their employees both personally and professionally. These programs often make a difference in whether or not a company can attract and retain talent who expect to navigate a life change. When evaluating leave policies, look at both maternity and paternity leave, in addition to caregiver leave.

Professional development: Offering tuition or certification reimbursement is one way to invest in your employee’s professional development. There are a number of additional opportunities including providing training in-house or partnering with a third party like LinkedIn Learning or BetterUp coaching services, to name a few. Before landing on an option, evaluate what your employees need most to upskill or reskill and grow with your organization.

Onsite perks: Whether employee paid or provided by the employer, there are a number of onsite offerings that can reduce stress and free up time that would otherwise be spent seeking services. There are some that require dedicated space like childcare facilities, gyms, pharmacies, sensory and mother’s rooms. Others like food and beverage options, dry cleaning, massage, or vendors for shopping can be offered in a pop-up fashion with limited space needed and little to no cost to the employer, unless they want to provide these as a paid perk.

How do you suggest HR leaders decide which benefits to offer as part of their compensation package?

Be authentic to your company culture, who you are and who you’re looking to attract. Evaluate your audience. Do you offer benefits that support them in their current and future life circumstances? Once you determine what your employees need most, offer benefits that support them both personally and professionally. Having the right benefit offering in place can reduce turnover and improve employee morale. What else can you offer that is unique to your business? Maybe it’s products or services your company offers.

How do you suggest HR leaders ensure their team members understand the benefits available to them and utilize them?

Offer benefit explanations in a variety of formats and channels, and include family decision makers in the process. Provide opportunities for employees to bring family decision makers along for the learning journey whether it’s through email, mailers, videos, webinars or in-person learning sessions.

Verify the accessibility of your benefits materials. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) provides Guidance on Web Accessibility, which can help ensure the information your company shares can be accessed and consumed by all employees and families.

How do you determine if benefits are successful or not? Could you share a time when you realized that a particular benefit or perk was making a significant difference for your employees?

Track benefits sign-up, changes and usage. Review turnover data and ask about benefits in the exit interview. Also ask about benefits in the hiring process. Providing upfront information about benefits could expedite your talent acquisition team’s time to fill rate. Bottom line: Connect with your candidates and employees.

What are your top 3 tips for developing a successful benefits and perks program that keeps an org competitive and aids employee well-being and satisfaction?

Discover. Encourage total rewards team members to learn about benefit options they can bring to your organization.

Evaluate. Leverage employee feedback to determine what benefits are most valuable to them.

Educate (and repeat). Share company benefit offerings with employees regularly to ensure they know what they have access to and how to leverage the benefits.

In your opinion, what are the most undervalued or overlooked benefits or perks that more companies should consider offering?

A couple benefits come to mind when I think about the most underrated or overlooked benefits. One that all companies should consider in some form or another is an employee recognition program. Whether it’s through a formal platform or a more grassroots effort, having a process in place and communications to encourage usage will provide opportunities for employees to recognize and be recognized, which can increase employee engagement and performance.

Another perk worth looking into is offering sabbaticals for long-term employees which could range from four weeks to six months. Before you say, “no way,” consider this: Offering sabbaticals may help retain employees and allow them to return with fresh perspectives. This also provides co-workers with the ability to experience the work of others, creating learning and development opportunities.

We are very blessed to have some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have a private lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this.

Reese Witherspoon. Her talents and accomplishments are undoubtedly impressive, she has helped pave the way for other women in business and most importantly, she has done it all while managing her personal life and raising a family. Her resiliency and tenacity are seriously impressive. I’d love to learn more about her story and how she’s accomplished all that she has.

How can our readers further follow your work?

TeamKC has a website where we post blogs and resources. For more frequent updates, follow TeamKC on LinkedIn and connect with me directly.

Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!