Traditionally, a car is often one of the main company perks. However, a company car has never been a possibility for all employees. This was one of the things in consideration at Nordkalk when thinking about employee benefits. In 2021, bikes as a company perk became tax free in Finland. This made it possible to contemplate bikes, also e-bikes, as a perk that could be available equally for all the staff in the Finnish organisation. “We had received inquiries from some members of the personnel about bikes, which further encouraged us to introduce bikes as a new company benefit. Also, the positive experiences of other companies, e.g., our subsidiary SKOY, helped us in the decision making”, recalls HR Manager Katja Lindholm from Nordkalk Finland.
It is dark and wet or very cold for a long period of time of the year in Finland so when it became possible to get a bike in the heart of the winter of 2021, the interest shown by the personnel wasn’t that great.
Smartest commuter of summer 2022
In 2022, the bike idea was boosted with the help of a friendly competition on who will collect the most kilometres commuting to work by foot or by bike during the summer. About 5% of our Finnish personnel participated. They all collected their kilometres cycling to work 1 to 5 times a week. Altogether they cycled 6800 kilometres. These kilometres would take you three times from Stockholm to Krakow and back and then some.
Today, 12% of the Finnish employees have chosen a bike as an employee benefit. Most often the choice is an e-bike, which makes riding a bike in the Finnish weather conditions much easier. E-bike or traditional one, providing bikes to the employees has many benefits:
1. Biking is good for traffic, the environment and for one’s own health.
2. Exercise has been shown to increase energy levels, focus and overall productivity, which is beneficial to both our people and Nordkalk.
3. Nordkalk’s company image can improve and attract potential employees who prioritise sustainability and healthy lifestyles.
4. Employee satisfaction can increase. The latest personnel survey supports this with significantly improved rating in “employer supports employee well-being” within the Finnish production personnel.
After Nordkalk, many other industrial companies in Finland have chosen bikes as one of the employee benefits, too. Yet, Finland is the only organisation at Nordkalk with bikes as a company perk.
This case and much more about Nordkalk’s sustainability work in our new Sustainability Report 2022.
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