As they try to differentiate themselves from competitors and attract top talent—especially those coveted millennials—many companies are offering ever-more-elaborate office perks.
Thus, you have baristas in the office, or beer on tap, or game rooms with bean bag chairs and ping pong tables. Anything to make a company look cool.
But many of these perks aren’t having the profound effect on recruiting and retaining workers that businesses desire. As noted in an article from Kin Workplace Solutions, such perks are primarily “fluff” that don’t really improve workers’ lives or help the company.
What companies need, the article notes, are perks that offer fulfillment. “Consider some of the greatest pain points in the lives of working professionals today: Child care, household demands, transportation, and TIME,” the article says. “By digging into these areas and getting creative, companies have an opportunity to be impactful by reducing life’s greatest stressors.”
To help your company focus more on those meaningful items and get rid of the fluff, here are six office perks you should consider eliminating this year:
1. Open office design.
According to an Inc. article, open offices look great in photos, but they also create workspaces that are filled with noise and distraction.
“For deep-thinking activities, our brains work best in silence,” the article notes. “That’s virtually impossible in an open office. There’s also evidence that open offices lead to more sick workers.”
Discover a better way to recruit remote talent
Founded in 2007, FlexJobs is the most experienced remote & hybrid hiring platform.
- Unlimited job posts
- Low, flat membership fee
- Access top-level remote advice
- Unlimited resume searches
- Reach the right candidates
- And so much more!
Many people dislike cubicles, too, so you shouldn’t necessarily create a new cube farm in your space. But you should at least build private or quiet areas that allow people to work with fewer distractions.
2. All of those strings attached to work flexibility.
Flex work is a great perk to offer your employees. Letting people telecommute one day a week or shift hours to avoid traffic can have a positive impact on their lives, giving you happier, healthier, more productive workers.
The problem comes when offers of flexibility also include expectations that employees be available 24/7. “If you’ve been so kind as to grant work-from-home privileges, there’s often an expectation that your employees must prove they really deserve it,” the Inc. article says. “They end up working harder and working longer than those in the office.”
By all means, keep offering flexibility. But if you trust your workers to handle it, prove it by cutting those strings.
3. Nap pods.
Some companies are building semi-luxurious spaces in which a worker can catch a quick nap to rejuvenate himself for the afternoon.
While the concept here has merit—several surveys and studies tout the possible benefits of a siesta for workers—you need to consider the potential effects of this perk on your corporate culture.
As the Kin article puts it, “What happens when Joe from Sales is seen heading up to the nap pods? Do his coworkers think, … ‘Good for Joe!’ or do they think, ‘We just had a tough quarter, how does Joe have the time to go take a nap?’”
4. All the snacks you can eat.
Everyone loves free food, and this perk has grown so common that it’s almost expected. But it still has a legitimate place on this elimination list.
The Inc. article notes that most companies can’t afford to hire a chef, so they offer unhealthy, prepackaged snacks that are bad for workers’ brains and bodies. Easy access to treats in the office also removes an excuse for people to stretch their legs and take a break.
A better option, the article says, would be for companies “to put those snack funds into something that promotes healthful living, such as gym memberships or wellness activities.”
5. Mandatory fun.
Who doesn’t groan internally when they hear about an upcoming “team-building activity” that, by the way, is mandatory? Shudder.
These events are meant to help people bond and embrace your business culture, but they often miss the mark. “The fun everyone seems to be having is likely fake,” the Inc. article says. “Especially when it requires them to step away from an urgent deadline or work project. Others aren’t thrilled that things they don’t want to do are eating into their personal time.”
Better to make the events optional. Or, perhaps, avoid them altogether.
6. Unlimited PTO.
Like those strings attached to flex, unlimited vacation policies seem to bring some unintended consequences. The Inc. article points out that Americans already don’t use all their vacation days, and an open-ended policy often leads to them taking even less.
“It’s difficult to know how much vacation is really ‘allowed’ when you don’t have a set number of days,” the article says. “And if you work for a company that rarely experiences slow periods, it never seems like a good time to leave your colleagues in a lurch and go on vacation.”
Instead, offer a set, but generous, number of vacation days. And then encourage people to take them.
It may seem counterintuitive to cut back on perks when your competitors keep adding more. But if you get rid of the fluff and focus on meaningful benefits, your business should differentiate itself in a positive way.
Interested in more info on office perks and the benefits of flex work? Check our our HR resources category.
Photo Credit: bigstockphoto.com
Don't forget to share this article with colleagues!
