Next-Gen Perks

Employee Benefits

By Cutright Elizabeth on Nov 21, 2016 in News

To woo the next generation of workers, employers need to think beyond the standard  benefits package and embrace a new era of employee perks.

Once upon a time, job seekers placed salary above all else when on the hunt for employment. These days, a new generation of millennial employees is putting less and less emphasis on wages. Instead, they are seeking out opportunities with the potential for career growth and the ability to positively contribute to the world around them. They are also increasingly focusing on a range of nontraditional benefits designed to make the workday more enjoyable and enhance the work-life balance.

“Landing a dream job isn’t always just about the actual work,” writes Fast Company’s Lydia Dishman. “Among the best companies to work for, employee review platform Glassdoor found that personnel were just as jazzed about mission-driven company cultures, great career advancement opportunities, and amazing benefits and perks.”

While the pendulum hasn’t quite swung far enough to allow applicants to call all the shots, certain industries are struggling to find the right fit for increasingly niche, technology driven positions. In this environment, salary and basic benefits – like medical coverage and 401k options – are relatively standard offerings. In order to stand out in today’s employment marketplace, businesses must offer something different, including new and unique rewards that go beyond extended time off and free-pizza Fridays.

Why Perks Matter

According to Glassdoor, more than half of all job seekers admit perks are tremendously important. Now that potential recruits can quickly research potential employers online through sites like Glassdoor, companies are pitching themselves as more responsive and flexible. As a result, more and more businesses are offering adaptable work schedules and unlimited family leave. The modern office space now comes outfitted with hammocks, sandboxes and foosball tables. Some employers even offer student loan repayment. The ultimate goal of course, is to create an attractive atmosphere of easygoing ambition and career fulfillment.

“Providing those kinds of very subtle but significant opportunities do really make a difference in turnover,” says Ken Matos, senior director of research at New York City-based Families and Work Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to work-life-balance research and initiatives.

“Think about the challenges that your employees are facing,” he says, “and help solve them.”

Matos believes companies should focus on “relieving stress and making work and life integrate better” when considering perks.

“Employees [are more likely to say], ‘I am not going to leave, because I am not going to be treated as well, or have as much influence in making sure I am successful in all my domains someplace else.”

A Bevy of Options

The most valued perks run the gamut from time off to funding for family needs to encouraging hobbies and travel. REI team members, for example, are offered two paid days per year to pursue their favorite outdoor activity. Anyone logging hours at World Wildlife Fun can use their “Panda Fridays” every other week to spend time working at a nonprofit. Meanwhile, Airbnb workers earn $2000 travel stipends. Disney staff gets free park admission along with discounts on hotels and merchandise.

Some of the more unique perks listed by Glassdoor include team-building courses ranging from macaroon baking (Evernote) to woodworking and silk-screening (Google). Twitter offers three catered meals a day, but supplements that fairly typical offering with on-site acupuncture and improve classes. Twilio gives its employees a Kindle and a $30 a month budget for book purchases. Pinterest and Asana provide counseling and life coaching. Spotify will even foot the bill for fertility treatments.

“If the company can take away some of the stresses in the employee’s life, then the employee will be better able to concentrate on work,” Cynthia Fukami, Ph.D., a professor of management at the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business tells Fast Company. “To remain competitive in the marketplace for the best employees, you want to be going beyond what others are doing.”

The Best and the Brightest

Companies currently spend over $700 million a year measuring employee engagement and attempting to boost morale. Much of that funding goes to recruitment and retention.

“More than a metric, employee engagement is something savvy business and HR leaders continually monitor and build,” explains Bersin & Associates Senior Analyst Dr. Brenda Kowske. “It is an untapped store of employee energy and a wealth of potential organizational excellence.”

According to Glassdoor, companies who manage to succeed in drawing the right candidates share a host of common goals, including “mission-driven company cultures, career advancement opportunities, a sense that their work has impact, and amazing benefits and perks.” Happy employees also point to transparency in senior leadership, intelligent colleagues, and challenging/exciting work as factors that influence their job satisfaction.

As Heidi Golledge, co-founder of CareerBliss, elaborates, “Far beyond a paycheck is the relationship they have with their co-workers and manager that defines a happy workplace for them.”

“We believe that every employer and employee has the ability to find and create work environments that foster happiness and success.”