Supportive Culture Is Best Job Perk Employee Can Have, Woman Says

Different jobs have different perks: some have trendy offices with ball pits, foosball tables, and craft beers you can crack open after 4 pm. Some of them have generous vacation time packages, laundry services on site, or even work-from-home schedules and a policy where you’re refunded for a portion of the money you spend on your new computer setup.

But according to TikToker Bonnie Dilber (@bonniedilber) she’s enjoying the best possible workplace perk that any job could offer: a supportive environment for employees.

She gave an example of this type of support in a viral TikTok that’s garnered over 503,000 views on the app, while also arguing why this “perk” shouldn’t be considered a workplace bonus, but a necessity at all positions.

A text overlay in the video reads: “The most elite workplace benefit” as Bonnie discusses what it is in her video, which she records from the interior of a car.

“Y’all, I know it’s not cool to love your job, but, here is why I really love my job, I love my employer and I’m not gonna leave until they make me.”

“So my company is remote and it’s asynchronous but beyond that, there’s actually just like a culture that is supportive of parents and just like people being people.”

She continued to talk about this “elite” benefit of her job: “So I have a three-year-old we woke up this morning and he had a pretty nasty cold so I ordered some medicine and I also wanted to get some juice because that’s one of the best ways to get him hydrated when he is not feeling well.”

She detailed how she didn’t need to seek approval to leave her post prior to her meeting in order to get juice at the store for her child.

“So 10.30 in the morning I didn’t have any meetings scheduled until noon I didn’t have to ask anyone, I did not have to let anyone know I just drove over to the Target by my house, and I’m getting my pick up order right now. And it’s actually wild to me that this is such a big like perk, or benefit.”

Bonnie went on to say that this should be the standard of any position and that folks, if they need to take care of a sick family member, should be able to leave their post at work to tend to their family

“Because this should just be standard, like you should be able to take care of yourself, take care of your sick family, at any job.”

“But I know that that’s not the case. I know that this is not a benefit that many employers will give me. Like there is such a luxury in being able to work from the couch so I can hang out with my sick kiddo or being able to hop in the car and run a quick errand without having to like talk to anyone and get approval for it.”

She went on to say that there are a number of women who aren’t able to advance their careers in the work place due to not being able to do what she just mentioned in her video, “Being able to get my work done without having to take a sick day because I have a sick child. Which is the kind of stuff that actually holds a lot of women back in the workplace.”

“Like literally so many women do not progress professionally because either employers are worried that they’re gonna miss too much work for stuff or the culture is not created so that they can balance both.”

The TikToker went on to say that because not many companies afford this type of flexibility to their employees, it usually perpetuates a familial dynamic in heterosexual relationships where men are the ones working the primary jobs and women are left at home to be the homemaker/child caretaker.

“And in too many families when push comes to shove, it is like the man who gets to work and the woman that has to like take time off and take the hit to take care of the kids.”

Bonnie went on to write that while she understands her position is one that holds benefits that aren’t standard in the workplace, she believes that they should be.

“So having a job that allows you to do both is just like a huge luxury. It shouldn’t be, but it is,” she says at the end of her clip.

Judging from the comments left by viewers who replied to Bonnie’s post, it seems like there were other people who enjoyed the benefits of a workplace with a more forgiving and understanding management style: “My company’s attitude is ‘as long as you get your work done, you’re good’. It is amazing”

However there was another commenter who said that while they can appreciate where Bonnie was coming from they’ve seen in their experience there are employees who abuse these types of policies.

“I totally agree. But as a manager I understand why some companies can’t. People love to take advantage of this situation. And it will become habit,” they penned.

What do you think? Are you lucky enough to work for an employer that doesn’t scrutinize every move of their employees? Or do you think that depending on the industry and workers in a business, that sometimes more stringent policies need to apply?