What type of non-cash perks would you want/have? What do you think your employees want?
According to Robert Half some of the perks are:
Casual dress code, summer hours (early out on Friday's/every other Friday/one Friday a month), volunteering opportunities (we get two days a year if it can be verified from the organization we are volunteering at).
The things I hear most -
Slightly relax dress code (mainly allow gym shoes)
More PTO
Telecommute opportunities
Consistent Flex time policy
Get rid of "Manager Discretion" in most policies
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i strongly agree with the "manager discretion" thing.... personally i hate this one... companies should have standard procedures and policies.
Hi Wayne,
The one that appeals to me most from the above options is an on-site gym *and the time to be able to use it*. If you give me health and wellness benefits but I'm chained to my desk, it defeats the whole purpose.
I think a self-development budget would be interesting. Say for instance companies that do a bonus award could provide it as an option i.e. you can take X dollars in bonus or opt for 1.1X dollars for
Looks like it could provide some
https://www.irs.gov/publications/p970/ch11.html
From a candid conversation with an employee...."Your perks (proposed) are nice, but we need cash!"
My take away....never assume what employees want!
But going with the discussion..... daycare, longer parental leave.
Paid
Time off to study for certification exams.
Professional respect, appreciation, flexibility (value the work/life balance needed), and a positive work environment.
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Treat people like you would like to be treated, be fair and firm.
Don't wait for annual reviews to provide feedback on work well done or on things to improve.
People might actually like to come work with you...what a concept:)
One time at a former employer, I brought pizzas down to an overworked Customer Service department, and that is still talked about almost ten years later, it is the little things that matter!
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I was walking around the warehouse at a client where I was the interim
This was around Thanksgiving. By the time they came back, it had new furniture, refrigerator, microwave and was painted.
It was much appreciated - for about $1500, money well spent.
Following along with the thread, I think both Ernie and Emerson's comments are spot on.
I remember at one employer we put in nice coffee machines. The per person cost was around $50 a month so not much in the big scheme of things. Was it a nice gesture? Sure. Still I bet a lot of our lower paid folks would have been happier with the $50.
Re: professional respect, appreciation, flexibility there is just no way to put a $$ value on these things. It makes all the difference in the world.
How about intrapreneurship opportunities? Depending on the projects it could produce great results for the company.
According to an article on Wired.com, Gmail came from Google as an intrapreneurship opportunity. The company that created Gore-Tex allows, at least at the time of the article, employees to use 10% of their day to work on personal projects as well as develop new ideas.
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I'm not sure why Chris' idea was booed, while writing this he got a "-3" -- I'm changing that by one yea vote, and here's why:
"Google has a new division called 'Area 120' where employees can build their own startups"
http://www.businessinsider.com/google-is-building-an-in-house-startup-incubator-2016-4
Employees will be able to pitch an idea, if accepted, they will have several months to work on it full time and then pitch it again for secondary funding.
If it passes muster, Google would be a major investor in the spin-off.
Why? Google wants it's talent to stay at or at least with Google and benefit from their employees. On the other hand they want their employees to succeed.
A great win-win scenario!
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I wondered the same, Wayne. Thanks for the vote, too. I think it's a great idea. Thanks also for sharing the BI article. It's good to see something was posted a couple of days ago which shows this isn't a one and done idea that Google had.
My guess is that some people frown on working on personal projects on company time.
To be clear, this (Area 120) is SEPARATE from Google's "20% time" pursuits....and the last I heard, employees STILL enjoy theirs...and because of Google's culture, they can't take this (20%) away even if the company wanted to. Area 120 is a start-up incubator that Google funds. The efforts may or may NOT come from the employee's 20% time. The rationale is, why lose an employee wanting to form a start-up when you can fund them and still have them within the group.
In essence, this is a "perk" on top of a "perk".
In NYC we have something called Transit Checks. It allows employees who are commuters to use pre-tax dollars to pay for commutation that they are already paying for with post-tax dollars.
The monthly tax-free allowable limits for 2016 are as follows:
Transit and eligible vanpooling: $255
Qualified Commuter Parking: $255
Bicycle: $20
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SF/BART also has this program. It has been awhile so I don't know the current dollar amounts.
To give context to the above benefit, if I were to buy a monthly ticket from where I live to go into Manhattan daily for a month, that train ticket is $287.00. Add possible Subway/Bus fare in Manhattan and the $255 is quite a benefit!
Many years ago I worked as a consultant and I had a client who had:
Games room with a table soccer, pool table and Sony PlayStation
A sleep/meditation room
I have also worked at companies that had the following:
Free soft drinks (sodas), fruit and cookies
Free or subsidised bars (UK)
Sabbaticals every 4 years - the employee had to work a further year after returning
Company paid for your meal if you worked late (say past 8pm)
Perhaps to Emerson's point, I also worked for a company where we introduced something called flexible benefits. This allowed the employees to trade cash for benefits (eg PTO, pension, insurance coverage etc.)
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Mike - the company I work for used to do sodas and candy. Then the owner went on a health kick and got rid of the sodas and candy and brought in juices, nuts, and fruit. It is a nice benefit, especially if we're still hungry after breakfast or lunch.
In the very late 90's did a short consulting gig for a company that has a full candy and ice cream bar (including a real bar - no alcohol).
we used to have a coffee maker (old fashion) and it was removed from the break room because of being a fire hazard... we requested a keurig and were told "we dont have funds"...
well, they do have funds to purchase a first class air ticket for $10,000 for an international conference (a conference in their home country) but not for a $100 keurig.
Removal of a coffee maker counts as inhumane treatment and is (or should be) a violation of the Geneva Conventions.
The Keurig is not, IMHO, not an acceptable option. I've yet to find a k-cup to my liking.
Randy - funny... Has anyone really done a ROI on coffee maker vs Keurig?
That's
Casual dress Fridays AND Mondays
@Aaron Codak: Summer hours: early out Fridays and yes, one Friday off per mo.
Option to telecommute (not based on manager discretion) across the organization.
Increased PTO
Additional training, both technical (systems) and
One of the biggest things that we offer that I don't see in this list yet is self-determination.
Instead of giving out assignments and saying "do this," we ask our people while engagements are still in the sales pipeline, "This is coming down the pike. Here's the engagement, the estimated time commitment, your esitmated earnings, and a little bit about the client's personality. Does this work for you and your life? Does this light your fire?"
Our people have every right to say yes, no, and make requests - with no repercussions for "no" or requests.
My point in my initial response is to remind everyone that......
Perks should remain as perks. Don't use perks to make up for what is lacking with your BASIC compensation and benefits. Above or market rate compensation, decent healthcare, decent number of time off or hours, etc.
"Your salary is below minimum wage.....but hey, we provide candies in the kitchen!"
A kick ass culture and awesome co-workers is the ultimate non-cash perk.
