At a recent presentation I talked about staff perks and how much people take these into consideration when making a decision about accepting a new job. The listeners, many of them small business owners were surprised at what people based their choices based on.
The research I used came from a survey that CV Library did last year and you’d be right in thinking that the practical staff benefits are at the top of a candidates wish list, salary, bonuses, extra holiday and pension contributions came top but what else featured on the ‘Top Ten Staff Perks’ list?
Flexible Working
I would say that as much as half of the candidates that come to register say flexible working is a perk that would make a job more attractive to them and CV Librarys survey found 47% of applicants felt the same. Flexible working doesn’t mean working from home but by allowing a little bit of flexibility around core hours, a business may find more applications coming their way!
Free Drinks and Snack.
Do you provide free tea and coffee for your staff or do they have to contribute to the ‘kitty’? 18% of candidates said that free snacks and drinks would be a deciding factor in their job making decisions! How about introducing a ‘fruit Friday’ or just filling the biscuit tin every week? Small things can make a huge difference.
Day Off For Your Birthday
Extra holiday came high up the list of job perks but that’s not always easy to provide to your staff, especially in a small business. Giving people a day off on their birthday might be one answer as 21.3% said it was one of the most desirable workplace perks!
Casual Dress Code
When I was at school we called them mufti days but nowadays they get called Dress Down Days! At Personnel Placements we do wear business dress most of the time because we are meeting clients face to face and think it’s more professional, but on the last Friday on the month we ‘dress down’ and make a donation to our chosen charity.
If your business doesn’t involve your team being seen face to face by your clients then casual dress shouldn’t be that difficult to introduce – although it’s always good to have some guidelines; no one wants to see John from IT in his holiday shorts and string vest when the weather starts to warm up!
Health and Wellbeing
One of our client runs yoga classes once a week at their offices and 18% of people said they would like some sort of free fitness facilities or classes provided in their new job. Why not speak to your local gym to see if they can help. Even providing a stress relieving reflexology, head and shoulder massages or meditation hour once a month could be an option.
Napping on The Job
5% people said a nap or games room would be something they would love to have as an office perk. Now that doesn’t mean people can stop work and play games whenever they choose but having a relaxing space where your staff can take a break for lunch without interruptions, have a snooze if they so desire or relax over a game of pool could be a good thing!
Remember happy staff means productive staff – in fact people are 12% more productive if they are happy at work… that’s about 25 days’ worth!
