In This Post:
Presenters:
Craig Window
President
Cathy Leibow
Vice President
Over the last few years, the workplace has undergone a profound transformation, with shifting employee expectations, evolving work models, and rising burnout levels. This forced organizations to rethink how they support their people. It has been observed that employees don’t want just more benefits, but support that actually fits their lives. Life moments like getting married, having kids, moving to a new city, or caring for an aging parent can sometimes be very time-consuming and stressful. They pull attention away from work and eat up mental bandwidth, and that’s where Circles steps in.
Employers must deliver holistic, personalized, and experience-driven solutions that align with the realities of modern life. Organizations like Circles are leading the way by helping companies redesign benefits strategies that go beyond the basics, focusing on employee well-being, engagement, and productivity. Circles take on those personal logistics and give them back time and focus, something everyone could use more of.
At our last webinar, Craig Window, President at Circles, and Cathy Leibow, Vice President at Circles, revealed Circles’ three core services and trends organizations are struggling with, that are affecting business today. They’ve shared how Circles solutions help brokers drive stronger client loyalty, shared real client success stories from leading organizations that prove the impact. As a thank-you for attending, attendees received Circles’ Q1 and Q2 2026 trends report.
About Circles
Circles help employees handle the personal and workplace logistics that get in the way of their day. Supporting over five hundred thousand unique employees each year, they handle over a million interactions through a mix of on-site teams and digital services.
Circles help organizations create workplaces where employees can feel supported, connected, and able to stay focused on their work. They design attractive and inclusive workplaces by creating programs that enhance employee engagement and foster a sense of purpose and belonging. Circles’ solutions contribute to higher employee performance levels and lower turnover rates.
Workplace Hospitality Solutions
Circles’ workplace hospitality solutions reduce stress and burnout. They improve work-life balance, well-being, productivity, recruitment, and retention, and even align with Great Place to Work and Return-to-Office initiatives. As Cathy shared, this solution includes:
- Work-life balance programs. This is a highly personalized service. Some of the things Circles provides on a regular basis include, as a certified travel agency, full itineraries for personal travel. They source and book tickets to shows, concerts, and sporting events, make restaurant reservations, find appropriate gifts and flowers, and even plan events, including a kid’s birthday party, a family reunion, or a wedding. And pet care is popular, with groomers, pet sitters, as well as errand running, which will get your groceries or pick up your dry cleaning, even doing shipping and personal returns.
- Community engagement services. These services foster connected and inspired workplaces. Circles’ on-site community managers are hired, trained, and managed by Circles and can plan custom events, host seasonal celebrations, coordinate team-building, wellness activities, manage volunteer programs, and even develop community partnerships.
- Employee and guest services. Create welcome and personalized workplaces with Circles on-site hospitality staff. Those include personalizing, guest greeting, managing VIP experiences, and even streamlining check-in and badging. Booking and managing conference rooms, really enhancing the company’s on-site amenities and wellness services, and even providing personalized food and beverage options.
The Top Three Trends That Organizations Are Struggling With
1. Beyond Burnout: Building Resilient and Engaged Teams
We are all familiar with research on how employee burnout impacts performance. Burnout has become a measurable business risk. Research shows that only 23% of employees are actively engaged globally, while 42% of voluntary turnover is linked directly to burnout. It quietly erodes performance, motivation, and discretionary effort long before an employee decides to leave.
This phenomenon, called “quiet cracking”, is forcing organizations to shift their perspective.
What forward-thinking organizations are doing to stay ahead?
Resilience must be built into the system. Companies that proactively design for well-being are seeing stronger engagement, improved retention, and better overall performance.
2. Aligning Benefits to Modern Life Demands
Organizations should be aware of how employees perceive benefits. Employees expect flexibility, personalization, and relevance. In fact, 24% of employees would consider leaving their job due to inadequate benefits, while 73% say they would stay longer if offered better, more tailored options.
During the webinar, Craig spoke about their clients’ experiences. Fidelity Investments focused on benefits navigation. Most organizations don’t actually have a shortage of benefits. What they have is a navigation problem. There are dozens of vendors and resources available, but employees don’t always know what to use, when to use it, or how it actually applies to them in their day-to-day life. Circles served as a guide for those employees, helping them navigate the existing ecosystem in a very personalized, one-to-one way.
Workers are looking for support that aligns with their everyday realities, whether that’s juggling childcare, dealing with financial pressures, or going through significant life changes.
Businesses that thrive in this area are those that view benefits as an experience, not just a set of offerings.
3. Making Return-to-Office (RTO) Meaningful
As organizations continue to navigate hybrid and return-to-office strategies, it’s becoming clear that mandates alone don’t drive engagement.
Office occupancy levels are still significantly below pre-2019 levels, and many employees, especially Gen Z and Millennials, are willing to trade higher salaries for greater flexibility. This signals a fundamental shift in workplace priorities.
To bring employees back into the office, companies must rethink what the office actually offers.
Forward-thinking organizations are transforming offices into destinations rather than obligations.
The goal is to provide value that employees cannot replicate at home. When done right, the office becomes a hub for connection, creativity, and culture.
The Rise of Workplace Hospitality and Concierge Services
One of the most exciting developments in modern benefits is the integration of workplace hospitality and concierge-style services. These solutions are designed to simplify employees’ daily lives, giving them back time and reducing stress.
From handling everyday tasks to providing personalized support, these services help employees stay focused and productive while feeling genuinely supported.
Organizations implementing these solutions are seeing measurable results like increased employee satisfaction and engagement, stronger sense of community within the workplace, higher productivity levels, and improved retention rates.
These services signal to employees that their time and well-being truly matter. It is a powerful driver of loyalty and trust.
Designing Benefits for the Future
The common thread across all these trends is that modern benefits must be intentional, flexible, and human-centered. Organizations must design systems that adapt to diverse employee needs, reduce complexity, integrate seamlessly into daily workflows, and deliver meaningful, measurable outcomes.
This requires a shift in mindset, from reactive problem-solving to proactive experience design.
Get in touch with Circles today!
The future of work is all about how employees experience work. Companies that invest in holistic well-being, personalized benefits, and engaging workplace experiences will attract top talent, retain them, and empower them.
By addressing burnout at its root, aligning benefits with real-life needs, and reimagining the workplace experience, organizations can build resilient, engaged teams ready to thrive in the modern era.
For more information, contact:
Cathy Leibow – Cathy.Leibow@Sodexo.com
Craig Window – Craig.Window@Sodexo.com
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