12 Low-Cost Employee Perks for Fun & High Performance

It’s always a good idea to help employees stay motivated, and there are many things you can do besides the traditional cash bonus.  Here are twelve ideas that cost little yet go a long way with employees, contractors, and other business associates.

1. Compressed workweek.

Employees love getting Friday afternoon off, or even a full day a week.  Providing weekday time off cuts absenteeism since the employee has a window to run errands that need to be done during business hours.

2. Social activities.

Create social events that become a tradition in your company.  The employees will look forward to them.  If you’re not sure what to do, consider the hobbies of your employees, plan an event based on a holiday or anniversary, or simply have a meal out.

A business owner who offers training classes can have movie showings in their training rooms complete with popcorn on Wednesday evenings.  The cost of the movie and popcorn is minimal compared to the fun everyone will have.

3. Telecommute part-time.

If possible, consider allowing employees to work from home one day a week.  They love the flexibility, often get more done without constant interruptions, and save road time.

4. Customized recognition.

Every employee likes to be recognized for a job well done, but each may differ in exactly how the recognition is expressed.  Instead of guessing, ask at the time the employee is onboarded whether they prefer gift certificates, time off, sports event tickets, cash, or public recognition.

5. Bring a child to work.

Last-minute emergencies can come up regarding child care, and the question is whether the employer can help out.  Create a policy around when employees can bring little ones to work.  You might also want to have a list of childcare and/or eldercare referral services handy.

6. Education.

Education is always a great perk.  Here are some ideas along those lines:
• Cross-train employees on job duties other employees do so you have a deeper bench of knowledge to pull from.  
• Consider reimbursing for professional memberships or allowing employees to attend professional association events.
• Bring in an instructor who can teach self-defense.
• Have on-site fitness yoga classes.
• Encourage employees whose first language is not English to take English as a second language or accent reduction classes.
• Send employees to learn a foreign language.
• Bring in a teacher for CPR and first aid training.

7. Stress reduction.

Who isn’t stressed out?  Treat employees to a massage, or bring in an instructor who can teach stress-reduction techniques like meditation.

8. Casual dress.

On days with no client appointments or perhaps every Friday, offer a casual dress day.  It cuts down on dry cleaning, and employees are more relaxed.

9. Errand concierge services.

Cut down on absenteeism and long lunch hours by bringing the errands to the employees.  I suspect local businesses would love the business.  Find a nearby dry cleaner that can pick up onsite and maybe even throw in a discount.  Do the same for car wash services, take-home meals from a caterer or local restaurant, prescription refills, postal services, banking, and more.

10. Transportation.

Offer a subsidy for carpooling, public transit subsidy, or purchasing a hybrid car.

11. Discounts on products and services.

Provide discounts on your services or merchandise for employees.

12. Time off.

Offer a creative twist to holiday pay.  Instead of the standard holidays, allow employees to have their birthday or job anniversary as paid time off.  Consider also providing pay while philanthropic employees volunteer their time and talents to nonprofits.

Try one or more of these twelve employee perks to rev up the motivation on your team.

Are You Fully Supported in Your Business?

Whether we run a large company with dozens of employees or run our own solo business, we rely on a support team of vendors, customers, employees, contractors, and other associates that help us carry out our business goals.  Here’s a fun exercise to discover the strengths and weaknesses of your business support team and how you can increase and strengthen the support you have. 

Take out a blank sheet of paper, and draw a small circle in the middle.  Write your name in the circle.  This represents you. 

Draw a little larger circle next to your circle.  Write your employees’ names and major functions in this circle.  Draw a similar circle for contractors’ names and functions.   If you have partners and/or affiliates, include them in a big circle. 

Draw a small circle for your five largest clients, and write their names in the circles.  Draw another small circle for your five largest vendors, and write their names in the circles. 

Draw one more circle for your business mentors and coaches, and write their names inside the circle.  If you have any more major groups related to your business, draw them now. 

These circles represent your business and all of the people you rely on to get your job done. 

Now, think about what groups you belong to that relate indirectly to your business.  It could be a professional association, a licensing agency, or a networking group.   Make large circles for each of the groups you feel connected to, and write some of the key names you know that are part of each of the groups. 

Add a few more circles in the same way if you have more business associates to list or other groups that you didn’t add above.  If you want to, you can also include your personal support team:  the nanny, cook, gardener, esthetician, wardrobe consultant, makeup artist, nail artist, hair stylist, nutritionist, personal workout trainer, butler, chauffeur, masseuse, travel agent, and water boy.  Okay, maybe listing the water boy is getting a little carried away.  

The sheet should now represent all of the important people in your business that support you in one way or another.  It’s a lot, isn’t it?    

Now is where the aha’s come in:

·      Take a look at your to do list and see if there are holes in your team that you need to fill.  Are there job openings or are you ready to bring in more support?  Mark the openings or potential openings with a yellow highlighter. 

·      With a green highlighter, mark the people who are most positive and supportive to you.  You may want to let them know how much you appreciate them if it’s been a while.

·      With a red highlighter, mark anyone who is costing you more than supporting you.  It may be time for a change in team members.

·      With a purple highlighter, list the five people you most look up to and can count on for great advice.  These people should either have expert advice or be ahead of you in business.  

We’ll stop here, but you can continue selecting colors to evaluate the relationship of the people in your circles. 

When you take a look at your social circles, what do you notice?

•       Where are you fully supported?
•       Where could you use more help?
•       Where do you need to make some replacements?
•       What else do you notice about your business network? 

Make a list of action items you can do to strengthen your business support network. 

This is a great exercise to allow you to consciously evaluate and improve the ever-important support system in your business.  When you have a great team, you can accomplish so much!