One Stipend, Endless Possibilities: ButterflyMX’s ‘Self Care Stipend’ Win

Meet: Lucy Lemons

ButterflyMX is a technology company founded in 2014 that makes property access simple. Residents and building staff at more than 6,500 properties use ButterflyMX to open doors, gates, and elevators all through a smartphone.

Headquartered in New York City, New York, ButterflyMX isn’t just about making buildings smarter. It’s about the people behind the technology. With a diverse team of 200 spread across four global offices, the company brings together creative minds from all walks of life.

At the center of this vibrant community is Lucy Lemons, the Chief People Officer. Lucy faced a challenge that many growing companies encounter: how to keep the team happy, healthy, and thriving. This set ButterflyMX on a journey to redefine workplace wellbeing.

Challenge: navigating diverse needs within a global team

The team at ButterflyMX isn’t just diverse in skills; they’re spread across different locations, each with unique needs and preferences. This presented both an opportunity and a challenge.

As its team grew, the ButterflyMX leadership team wanted to improve the employee experience. The leadership team had already taken steps to enhance the work experience, offering a 401k match and extra vacation days. But they sensed there was more to be done.

To foster a truly inclusive culture, they recognized the need for a personalized and flexible benefits program that catered to the varied needs and preferences of their team members across different locations.

What next: exploring solutions

The ButterflyMX HR team sent out multiple surveys and each time came up with varied responses. So how could they satisfy what everyone wanted when the requests were so different? They knew they needed a solution that was customizable, flexible, and – most importantly – personal.

We asked ourselves says Lucy, “if we were to design a perfect employee wellness program that fit our needs, what does that look like?”. This question became the north star for ButterflyMX’s journey into reimagining employee wellness.

Solution: the breakthrough

ButterflyMX chose Compt to manage a custom wellness perk stipend program they call the ‘Self-Care Stipend’. This program was launched in the US and internationally, allowing all ButterflyMX employees access to funds they can spend in ways that fit their unique wellness journeys and lifestyles.

This stipend gives employees money every three months to spend on things that help them feel their best, whatever that means for them. Employees receive an amount equal to $300 in their local currency, so everyone has the same buying power regardless of location. For example, every quarter, an employee in New York would receive $300, while an employee in Croatia would receive the economic equivalent of $300 in their local currency. 

With Compt, the money is automatically added to an account that employees can access anytime to pay for things like food, travel, tech, or gym memberships.

We let people use it on basically anything because we want them to have the ultimate freedom. We use the Slack integration so people can share what they’ve used their stipend for, and they’ve really used it on everything.

Lucy Lemons. Chief People Officer at ButterflyMX

Take a look at the diverse range of Compt categories tailored to support and enrich the lives of ButterflyMX employees! From boosting personal development to enhancing family life and more, the team is able to choose what resonates most with their lifestyles.

Results: impact in action

The program has proven to be a huge success; ButterflyMX was able to provide a meaningful employee wellness benefit and employees are able to use their stipends in a variety of ways. Plus, HR and finance teams aren’t burdened with extra administrative work.

Employees spent their stipends on a wide range of items like:

The team is global and being supported across 10 countries.

Almost everyone used the new benefits! A fantastic 96% of employees loved the program.

Achieved 100% tax compliance, simplifying global compliance for the company.