We’ve all heard stories about the crazy, luxurious perks offered by companies like Google and Facebook: unlimited free food and drinks, dry cleaning, daycare, even pet care.
These are wonderful ideas, but most small to medium-sized companies can’t swing them financially. Even if you can’t offer stock options and don’t have the facilities to accommodate your employees’ dogs, you can still make your company a great place to work with some of these lower budget reward perks.
1. Value their time
Sometimes the best gift you can give your employees is personal time: “Summer Fridays” where everyone can leave early, or the opportunity to earn extra paid vacation time in lieu of a monetary reward. In many instances, these perks are better received than cash.
2. Be flexible
If you have to spend all day worrying about how you’re going to get out of work to pick up your sick child from school, or who is going to wait for the cable guy, it can negatively affect the way you feel about your job and how well you perform. Allowing employees to work from home when necessary, or leave early every now and then to take care of urgent personal business, greatly improves their mental wellbeing. If an employee abuses the policy, he or she is not someone you want in your organization in the first place.
3. Give recognition
Companies often overlook the one most important (and totally free) tool in their arsenal: simply saying “Thank you” or “Great job.” If you ask unhappy employees about their biggest complaint regarding their company or manager, most of the time they’re going to say it’s lack of recognition. If you don’t have the money to spend on a software platform specifically for this purpose, you can do something as simple as printing out color-coded notecards that represent your company’s core values. Encourage employees and managers to fill them out and hand them to deserving colleagues, who can post them in their offices and cubicles. You can also send out recognition emails each week calling out your employees’ best achievements, or post them on a centrally located bulletin board.
4. Have some fun
Sometimes you can spend a little money to make a big impact. There are many ways to do fun events on a budget. You can hold a game or movie night at the office: everyone brings in their favorite selections of board games or DVDs to share, and pizza and beer are on the company. You can also hold cook-offs or bake-offs with prizes for the best creations, invite massage students to give free chair massages, or form a company team in your local softball league. Use your company culture as a guidepost for the types of activities that will resonate with the most people.
5. Be in the know
You might not be able to afford to offer your own fancy perks. If your company gets a corporate rate at an area hotel, let your employees know about it. If the local gym offers a discount after a certain number of sign ups, look into it. Many bars will offer companies a special happy hour if you drop off your business card.
It’s never a good idea to replicate another organization’s culture or rewards system. Each company has its own unique culture, not to mention financial situation. The best idea is to poll your employees on what would make their lives easier, or their jobs more enjoyable, and take it from there.
Photo credit: Lauren Kallen