"Perks"
drehil
207 Posts
I am looking for new benefits - "Perks" - for our employees. We currently reimburse for home internet service up to $20.00, give staff their birthdays off plus a $10 arch card, and give staff quiz point time off. I was wondering what others in the forum give as "Perks". Thanks in advance for sharing.
Comments
Nae
Depending on your location, and not sure what else you might have, but there are things like pet insurance, dry clean pick up/drop off, concierge service/valet parking, family photo opportunities, book clubs, . . ., whatever you and/or your employees can think to do for fun or convenience.
Let the rest of us know some of the perks you implement. It sure would be nice to dream of what some folks in other parts of the world get while I'm enjoying my scenic commute one morning!
Good luck!
Nae
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 04-11-07 AT 05:25 PM (CST)[/font]
Good advice on asking your team as you'll get the most returns from picking something they want. We did that a few years ago and it helped our team prioritize where to spend the money. We have around 350 team members and would recommend incorporating as many of the suggestions as possible. We found quite a few didn't cost anything. Many of their suggestions have helped our business. We weren't well-known in the community and by getting more involved with volunteer programs, marching in the holiday parade, & sponsoring sports teams, it's helped our recruiting efforts and our community.
Biggest thing we learned is don't mess with health insurance, PTO, 401k, dental insurance, gain-sharing, stock purchase plan, flexibility plus the intangible of treating each other with respect - all the other stuff is "nice" but wouldn't make people look around for another job if we took it away.
May want to offer some things on a trial basis to see how they're received before jumping in with both feet as it's hard to take away a benefit once it's offered. Many of the things offered are low cost or no cost (unless you work in accounting and have to add up all the payroll deductions).
We're fortunate to have upper management buy-in as protect our culture is a goal. We take care of the people that take care of our customers - plus it's a lot more fun working someplace where it feels like family and people respect one another.
Food is big around here. On-site vendors are here for lunch and breakfast - was our # 2 most liked perk!
The more you can offer folks as a convenience on-site, they're able to better balance their work/home life.
Something that's gone over really well(and cut down on trips to the local coffee shop saving productivity) has been offering free coffee, tea and hot chocolate each day.
Random snack days with free popcorn, nachos, pretzels and fresh fruit as well as alcohol-free pina colada's.
A massage therapist and nail artist are here twice a week.
Discounts on our sample items and personal orders for non-charitable organizations are available.
Random dress-up days organized through our Fun Committee go over well along with penny jar wars for fundraisers from our Charitable Giving Committee.
8 hours of PTO for volunteer work are available. We're a casual dress environment whereby you can earn jeans days by hitting or exceeding customer order goals.
Discounted group tickets to the local performing arts theater, organize group events to local baseball and football games are available.
A nurse and health coach are in our offices once a month. We started it last year and have already seen this pay off after reviewing our estimated rate increase for 2007. We have on-site HRA's, flu shots, tetanus shots and bone density scans.
Tying in with this we have a Wellness team lead by our HR Manager that helps educate team members on staying healthy. We have booths set-up monthly, incorporate games in the mix, have a program in place where you can earn points for prizes (hotel getaways, gift cards) by exercising and attending brown bag lunch & learns. Some of the classes include healthy cooking (along with demonstrations), recipe makeover, on-site yoga and pilates.
We have flyers in the restrooms with wellness tips on them each week.
A company-wide e-mail is sent around weekly with updates about events & important dates to keep in mind.
Internet access is available in our lunchroom along with puzzles, games, magazines and tv's.
Schwan's is here each week and people can order pizza from Papa Murphy's each Friday.
Our Facilities team will also drop off books at the library and videos.
Another nice perk that is used frequently is on-site car changes and car washes.
We rent out bounce houses and water slides - these are hugely popular in the summer months as folks use them for birthday parties or other family get-togethers. (Yes, we do have people sign off on a waiver).
Other win/win's are sponsorship of sports teams our team members play on or that their children play on (soccer, basketball, volleyball, baseball, etc.) along with on-site blood drives.
Our charitable giving program donates items locally to causes our team is involved in and to non-profits nationwide.
We're always searching for more ideas and look forward to hearing what others are doing.