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Friday, January 12, 2007

Those Policies Really Do Make A Difference

Perks, we like to call them, (although the spelling bothers me because it's a shortening of perquisite, so I swear it should be perq, but then you have a q at the end and that's just not done). Do they make a difference?

Absolutely, and that is why HR departments should think long and hard about what ones they offer. (I have a list of the ones I want--let's start with telecommuting!) I just read in the New York Times that because government workers get free parking in NYC, 35% of them drive to work. Have you ever driven in Manhattan? I have. It falls into the "extremely unpleasant" category. But, hey, you have to pay to park at the train station, you have to pay for the train, but you get free parking? Might as well drive. That's an impact, all right.

One little perk, I have (which has kept me bound not only to my company, but to my particular department) is the ability to come in a little late every morning. I have an hour commute and a child in daycare and a husband who can't find his wallet in the morning, so I usually arrive around 9:15. In some departments that would mean a sure firing. My boss has two children in school and a husband--although I don't know if he loses his wallet regularly--so she understands. Huge perk (and it doesn't cost the company a penny.)

I've written about Best Buy's Results Oriented Work Environment before. Employees get to set their own schedules--work from home (or a coffee shop, or a ski lodge) if they desire. The result of this perk?
Since the program's implementation, average voluntary turnover has fallen drastically, CultureRx says. Meanwhile, Best Buy notes that productivity is up an average 35% in departments that have switched to ROWE. Employee engagement, which measures employee satisfaction and is often a barometer for retention, is way up too, according to the Gallup Organization, which audits corporate cultures.

Turnover is down, productivity is up, as is employee satisfaction. Are you listening HR departments? They didn't increase salaries, they increased non-monetary perks. (And I would imagine with telecommuting, you cut down on office space costs, which can be tremendous!)

Another company with fabulous perks is the SAS Institute.
It started with free M&M’s. Now there’s a country club, on-site Montessori daycare, on-site doctors and nurses, 35-hour work week, live piano music during lunch, 50.000 square foot fitness center, swimming pools, no dress-code, masseur, on-site car detailing. And more. If you need assistance in adopting a child or finding a college for your child or a nursing home for a parent, they have people to help you with that too.

Boy, you could definately get my loyalty for free M&Ms. (I'm starting to think--I just might be a little too focused on candy. Can you tell that I'm back on my diet?)

What perks does your company have, and what perks would you love to see added?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'd just like to point out that employee engagement does not in fact measure satisfaction at all. Employee engagement is a much broader metric... one that is a lot more meaningful, but also a lot harder to measure.

The argument is that employee satisfaction doesn't necessarily correlate to your bottom line, while engagement does.

Ipsos just released a paper discussing how to measure employee engagement, look for it here.

A key factor in employee engagement is recognition. Next week, I'll be discussing in detail how these two important topics fit together here.

Thanks for the great post!

Evil HR Lady said...

FHL,

Your company should win some sort of prize for the worst perks. What an incredibly stupid idea--look everyone, a room full of treats but only the chosen ones can have some!

Evil HR Lady said...

Drew,

Thanks for the links! I hope to hear more from you.

Evil HR Lady said...

mrsizer,

I agree with you. I would love free food.

I do, however, have a plaque that declares me as Burger King Employee of the month. Maybe I should take it into work and hang it in my office!

Tristi Pinkston said...

I thought they were called "perks" because they make you feel perky. :)

Samantha said...

I'm working as a temp right now, but some of the perks that I still get to enjoy at my current assignment (been there 6 months now! I wish they'd hire me outright!) include company paid lunches when we have lunch time meetings, breakfast treats on Monday's and Friday's, a wide variety of pop in the company fridge, fresh ground coffee, free hot cocoa and tea, bottled water on hand at all times, flexibility to leave early 2x a week so I can go to college, and the office closes at Noon on Friday's.

Oh, and because we have an office in Indianapolis (and the owners are Colts fans), the day after the Super Bowl, we aren't opening until Noon so that all employees (at all three of our locations, two in Indiana and one in Atlanta) can recover from our victory celebrations. :D

(sorry for the amount of comments I'm leaving so late in the game - my laptop went *poof* around the 1st and I'm having to track down all my bookmarks again. I'm trying to get caught up!)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for your useful post.

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Pls visit at web link:

Employee satisfaction survey form