Employees no longer crave for just monetary incentives

‘Time will take your money, but money won’t buy you more time’ — James Taylor

It’s our choices that make our life. Whether it is taking up a study course when we enter the school or a career option we choose. Our choices are a reflection of what we want in life.

And, people have come to realize that true value of our life resides not just in choosing money over everything. This is the reason when searching for an employer they look for more than just monetary benefits. And, reciprocating their needs businesses have also brought a change in their perception. If we take a look at the list of most desirable workplaces, they offer lot more than just good salaries.

If you are a leader, who wants the team to create a winning team, then you too need to offer beyond handsome salary packages.

But, how? What can you to make your business so lucrative that no one wants to leave? Or, what are the perks, besides money, looking at which someone would want to join you?

In this post, I’m going to share some of those perks that you can offer. So, let us take a look at them -

Flexible working hours

“Don’t count the number of hours spent at work, count the amount of work done.”

If you want to get the best from your team remember this thumb rule.

Trust me — this will change their attitude towards work. You won’t have to ask them to get things done. They will be the ones pushing their productivity through the roof. Why? Because this will give them the freedom to work the way they want to. Maximum creativity comes when people are not bound to a 9–5 work schedule.

Trust me when I say this. Because giants like Netflix and Weebly have managed to increase their employee turnovers by up to 10% using this simple trick.

Free food

Everyone loves to work, when the tummy is full. Facebook is a great example of this. If you will check Glassdoor reviews of the company, you will find out that one of the best things about them is the free food they offer.

Healthy snacks, free lunches and something to munch to when you are hungry. Who would want to rush out for it when you’ve got it all available in your office premise? The best part is that you can use the concept of productivity boosting foods to get the best out of your employees.

In return you will not just win the heart of your team. But also their trust as they will know that you care for their well-being. And that’s why you are investing in free healthy meals for them at work.

Paid family vacations

If you will take care of your employees needs, they will take care of your business.

This is a management lesson that no textbook will ever teach you. And one of the best ways to take care of your employees is by offering them some free time to spend with their loved ones. Offering paid family vacations ranked top of the list in a survey conducted where people were asked the one they wanted from their employer.

So, you can imagine how happy would people in your team be when you give them an opportunity to go on a desired place without having to worry about the travel expenses.

This will not only give them an opportunity to spend time with their family. But they will come back to work with rejuvenated creativity and zeal to break all the barriers of productivity.

Unplanned bounties and surprises

We all love surprise. And any surprise at work will always be welcomed as long as it is not something like ‘This many people being laid-off from the team’.

Unplanned bounties and idea hunts inspire the employees to think out of the box. Get rid of the old and boring suggestion box for idea search. Start investing a little in these idea hunts, offering exciting prizes for the winners.

This will perk up the employee mood, rather than the dull work culture we usually observe at offices. And it does not cost you much. Small gift hampers, dinner vouchers, online shopping gift coupons. You can award all these perks as prizes for these surprise idea hunts.

Mental health programs and curriculum

Deteriorating mental health of the employees is the major concern for corporates. Extended working hours. Constant pressure to meet deadlines. And never ending communication between them and the clients. All this has led to a situation where keeping the employees mental health well has become more important than ever.

Many corporate offices have started this ritual. Hiring a full time yoga instructor. Meditation specialists. And more to help their employees get rid of excessive work stress has become quite common.

Because at the end of the day, if the employee is not in good mental health you cannot expect him to deliver his 100%. So, it will be a loss for your business at the end.

Now, who would not want to work for an organization that offers all these perks to its workers? Well, I might be going a little over board by saying that a single organization might offer all this.

As an employer you may not be able to offer all this. Identifying the lacking areas and the causes which can keep your employees with you for long. And then making changes in the work culture can change the face of your business.

This new year try to implement any one of these changes, just to see how the employees respond. And if you think there’s something positive, then you can go ahead and bring more changes.

In case you do, don’t forget to share your experiences with me. I’d love to hear them out.

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Vartika Kashyap is a seasoned marketing professional who is an expert in digital marketing and entrepreneurship. She’s been featured among LinkedIn’s Top Voices for the year 2016. She currently runs the marketing team at ProofHub — a project management software for teams of all sizes. Connect with Vartika on LinkedIn, Medium and Twitter.

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Originally published on LinkedIn.