In the spirit of giving: Cost effective perks that have a big impact on employee happiness

“Tis the Season

‘Tis the season for giving. Fortunately for employers, it provides the perfect opportunity to show employees how much they’re appreciated. Worrying about employee happiness is critical today when employee turnover is rampant. And it doesn’t have to cost anything to make employees happy. In fact, 80% of employees say that they want perks and benefits more than a pay raise. Some of these perks and benefits go a long way in showing gratitude for very little, if any, cost. 

Ten Virtually Free Perks

Here are ten virtually free perks that employers can offer employees in the spirit of giving that make a huge impact on employee happiness:

1. Flexible work schedules. Nearly half of employees would prefer to be offered a flexible schedule option than a pay raise. This could involve maintaining the 40-hour work week but completing those hours randomly, or it could mean having no official work hours at all as long as tasks are completed by specific deadlines. 
2. Remote work options. It is estimated that as many as 50% of employees want the option to work from home, at least some of the time. 
3. Encourage physical activity. Provide time and encourage employees to walk around and stretch midway through the day. Remote workers can be reminded to participate in an online fitness class or to take time and go for a walk outside. 
4. Celebrate events in the office. It could be holidays (a Hallowe’en costume party, a Thanksgiving lunch, a New Year’s dinner), or it could be special dates that are company specific (the day the company landed their biggest client, the day John Doe joined, the day the company invented Product X, or took on its 100^th client). For remote workers, they could easily be included in these celebrations by having them on videoconference and ensuring they have some take-out food to share from home. 
5. Have a pet-friendly environment. This can include allowing pets in the workplace at least part of the time, offering baked pet treats for owners to take home, or having training classes or opportunities to ask questions of an expert trainer. For remote workers, they can be encouraged to participate and share their pets online through videoconferencing. 
6. Provide recognition. Without recognition, an employee is twice as likely to leave within a year. Recognition can be offered for good work as it happens. This not only benefits the employees to hear about their own or another’s good work, but it helps set the company culture of what defines good work (examples: it was on time, it was creative, it was well-researched, it was amazing quality, it showed exceptional teamwork, or whatever is most important to your company). Recognition can also be done periodically for everyone, either by taking it seriously and finding something good to say about everyone, or by having fun with it and finding something silly to say about everyone (examples: the oldest fridge sandwich award, the best coffee award, worst parking job, most priceless videoconference moment). The important thing is to include everyone, particularly remote workers. 
7. Send personalized tokens of care and appreciation. This could be a simple card to the family, addressing everyone by name (spouse, children, pets, and anyone else who lives in the home), or a thoughtful care-package (practical productivity supplies, nourishing snacks, company swag), or a presentation of compiled photos from the year set to music. This simple gesture is also an easy way to make remote workers feel connected. 
8. Make work the place to be. Some ways to increase office fun include: having a nap room, allowing casual dress at least some of the time, playing team-building games, having everyone bring an instrument and have office jam sessions, playing weekly board games, karaoke, cooking classes, and participating in clubs at work (photography, books, art, cycling, golf, opera,). Accommodations can easily be made for remote workers to join online and feel like they belong too. 
9. Offer in-house professional development. The company can offer training courses, live and/or online, to develop the talent from within their own organization. This drastically improves engagement and the company culture, when employees realize that anyone in the organization can become anything. 
10. Give employees free samples of products/services. When employees can share their company’s gifts with friends/family, it puts out a good vibe surrounding the company. It also helps in the development of the company’s product/service when employees can be the first to sample, allowing any problems to be worked out before the public has access. 

Have a Bit of a Budget?

If you have a bit of a budget to spend on employee “perks”, here are eight others that won’t break the bank and have a big impact on employee happiness:

1. Provide healthy food. Offer free healthy snacks, home-cooked meals, or a meal prep station so employees can start their meal to cook at home later. For remote workers, healthy food can be sent to their home, or some could participate in online cooking classes. 
2. Employee discounts or rewards. Employees are given discounts on various products and services from dining, fitness, entertainment, or shopping. 
3. Commuter benefits. Employees are offered discounts on various commuter efforts, such as the train, rideshare apps, passes for public transportation, or parking.
4. Identity theft protection. Employees are enrolled in a service that scans their credit and look online for signs of identity theft. 
5. Wellness programs. Employers can provide access to mental health therapists, nutritionists, gym services or fitness sessions, onsite health services, and so on. 
6. Home office budget. Employees are given a spending limit for their home office. 
7. Extended health insurance. Coverage of health expenses that are beyond provincial plans helps to decrease absenteeism and increase engagement. 
8. Performance bonus. Having a reward based on performance not only motivates and engages employees, but it can attract new talent as well. 

Three Other Benefits

Here are three other benefits that involve paying an employee their wages for time worked when no work was done – these also make a big impact on employee happiness:

1. Paid time off (PTO) – This includes vacation, illness, bereavement, and personal time off. Some companies go beyond the standard two-weeks per year and offer 3 weeks PTO. Other companies have unlimited PTO in which employees can take as many days as they want as long as they complete their tasks by the deadline.
2. Paid parental leave. This benefit appeals to employees who plan to have children. It shows a company culture with a focus on family. 
3. Paid time for volunteering (aka VTO or volunteer time off). Employees are paid for their volunteer time. In some cases the company makes contributions to their employees’ volunteer efforts by matching donations. 

Additional Perks

Finally, here are 6 additional benefits that make a big impact on employee happiness:

1. Freedom (and funding) to travel. Employees could be offered the chance to earn/win flexible vacation time, or a free vacation. 
2. Personalized bucket-list experiences. Employers could play a big role in making personalized bucket-list experiences happen. 
3. Continuing education. This encourages employees to pursue advanced degrees without worrying about money. 
4. Student loan payment. This is an especially attractive perk for recent graduates.  
5. Relocation and housing options. Some companies will cover some of the costs incurred when relocating for a new job. 
6. Childcare assistance. Employers could ease the burden of high childcare costs by paying for part of the childcare. In bigger companies, they could offer childcare services on-site. 

Here to Help

Whatever your company is prepared to spend on perks, they don’t have to cost a lot to have a big impact on employee happiness. We are here to help create solutions that work best for you and your organization, and we invite you to contact us at info@primebenefitsgroup.com. Let’s achieve these goals together. 

Additional Resources

20 Positive Feedback Examples for Work in 2021: https://snacknation.com/blog/positive-feedback-examples/

Top 58 Indoor Team Building Activity Ideas for Work: https://www.outbackteambuilding.com/blog/indoor-team-building-activities/

Suggested Reading

Employee Perks: 9 Affordable Examples for Any Company: https://risepeople.com/blog/9-affordable-employee-perks/