Recently I’ve been reading many articles where companies large and small are adding perks around the office for employees to enjoy: valet service, coffee shop, game rooms, free lunch and other activities free of charge. However, when you look at it, perks are good for attracting employees and sometimes retaining them, but most employees look past all of these goodies when it comes down to it.
"But my competitors are offering these perks, so I have to too, right?" Companies are introducing new perks quite often --- but are they really taking care of their employees when they do this?
Some companies look at it like this: if we give employees everything they need at work, they won’t have to leave. They can work longer hours and eat their meals in the office. But do employees want to work 12 hour days because their office has every amenity they can possibly think of?
After a while, these perks are going to wear off and when that happens, employers have to try to find other, natural ways to engage the employee base.
If management, leadership, career development, etc. aren’t there, then perks alone are not enough to craft an engaging culture. Think about this next time you’re looking to transform your 1st floor break room into a DDR competition every day at 12:30: let your employees know how they can have an impact on growing the company and where they will move to in the company if they are doing a great job. These efforts will lead to employee engagement and retain more people than a free coffee every now and then.
Are you employees engaged? Would they rather see less perks and more leadership? See how a Voice of the Employee program can help your company uncover these answers.