Workplace Perks: How to Provide High-Value Perks Your Employees Will Love
When it comes to keeping your employees happy and motivated, there’s nothing like good workplace perks. Major companies like Google have revolutionized corporate culture by making it standard to offer perks. Ranging from gourmet meals to in-office ping-pong tables, and the effects have been noticeable. Google has a famously beloved corporate culture, and they’re great at retaining their employees.
Even if you can’t afford Google-style workplace perks for your employees, there are still plenty of ways to make your workers feel happy, respected, and valued. Read on to learn what high-value workplace perks are and how you can deliver them to your employees. No matter what your budget is.
What is a High-Value Workplace Perk?
Before you can determine what workplace perks to offer, it’s important to define what a high-value workplace perk is.
High-Value Workplace Perks are Not Benefits
Perks and benefits can both be used to attract top talent to your company. But they’re not terms that can be used interchangeably. Benefits are part of your every employee’s compensation package. Often must be included by law, and include items such as health insurance, paid vacation time, and a 401(k) retirement plan. In contrast, perks are add-ons unique to your company that can be used to keep your employees happy. Such as on-site wellness programs, flexible scheduling, and paid volunteer time.
High-Value Perks Add Value
A high-value perk should add value to your employees’ lives and be specifically useful to them. For instance, a workforce composed primarily of telecommuters might not appreciate an in-office gym. And employees who have young children may not want to stay late for an after-work happy hour. Although it can be tricky to determine what perks you should offer, they should undoubtedly be essential to your specific workers.
How to Provide High-Value Workplace Perks
There are eight easy steps to follow when trying to determine how to provide high-value workplace perks.
1. Define Your Goals
Is your goal to attract more applicants to your company, improve retention, or simply boost your current employees’ morale? Regardless of your intention, defining your goals is an important first step in providing employees with perks that will add value to your workplace. Before you start brainstorming potential perks to offer, sit down and write out the specific goals you want to achieve and how you’ll be able to assess whether you’ve reached them. It may seem simple, but defining your goals is a crucial first step in providing the right high-value perks for your workplace.
2. Consider Your Core Values
If you’re going to offer perks to your employees, they should align with the core values of your business. Take the time to review your core values and business strategy. And determine what values your perks should be able to promote. If you’re committed to fostering an environment of experimentation and creativity, you might offer very different perks than a company that values spending time in the great outdoors. Reminding yourself what your workplace holds dear will make it easier to design perks that will help you achieve your goals.
3. Ask Your Employees
The simplest way to learn what your employees want is to ask them. Whether it’s easier to speak with employees face-to-face or through an anonymous survey. Learning what issues your employees are facing in their personal and professional lives is crucial for designing perks that can help address them. You can even ask your workers to rank their top 5 preferred perks to get a clearer view of what they’d like to see added to the company. There’s no easier way to get a clearer view of your employees’ wants and needs than by simply reaching out and asking them.
4. Assess the Competition
Chances are, you know who your competitors are. Why not see what perks they offer to their employees? Not only will it likely give you some good ideas, but it will also probably give you a clear idea of what your competition is offering their applicants. And if all of your competitors are offering high-value perks to their applicants that you’re not? It might be a good idea to add some similar or equally valuable perks to make sure you’re attracting the best talent possible.
5. Perform a Cost-Benefit Analysis
Now it’s time to sit down with the budget and be realistic. How many perks can you offer? Where will you get the money to make them happen? What kind of return on investment are you expecting? Performing a cost-benefit analysis will help you understand whether a given perk is worth implementing — or even financially feasible.
6. Make a List of Pros and Cons
Once you’ve analyzed the finances, consider the other potential pitfalls of your workplace perks. Now’s the time to really reflect on what might go wrong with your perk program. Is there a realistic chance that your perk could negatively impact productivity? Or might it require the workplace to be closed for a certain amount of time while it’s prepared? Determining the pros and cons of a specific perk will help you gauge whether it’s worth implementing or not.
7. Advertise Your New Perks
Once your new perks are in place, spread the word! Send an announcement out to employees, and include the perks in job postings and recruiting materials. Remember, no one can use your high-value workplace perks if they don’t know that they exist — so spread the word and encourage your workforce to take advantage of their new resources.
8. Periodically Re-Evaluate Your Perks
Finally, it’s important to re-evaluate your perks program over time and make sure that it’s still adding value to your workplace. Don’t be afraid to make changes if you observe unanticipated consequences or costs associated with your perks; again, feel free to reach out to your employees to see how they feel about the program. Keeping a close eye on your perks program and allowing yourself to change it over time is a great way to ensure your program continues to appeal to employees and add value to your workplace.
Final Word
If you’re struggling to determine how to provide high-value workplace perks to your employees without breaking the bank, let us help. At Pioneer, we’re pros at helping you make decisions that can help you cut costs and keep your workforce happy. We can explore all the options available for your employee benefits plans, give you a detailed proposal based on input sourced from multiple providers, and recommend what might work best for your business.
Our service is not only free, but it can also help you save up to 30% on what you’re currently paying. Contact us today to see how Pioneer can help you boost business without cutting corners.