How to Choose the Best Employee Perks

Who doesn’t love a good perk!!

These days in an effort to recruit the best employees and keep the ones they have happy, many companies have found it vital to be able to offer the best perks as they strive to stay fresh and be seen as a desirable place to work. What we have learned is that unlimited free food, ping pong tables and other ‘neat’ perks do not guarantee employee engagement. They might make people happy but happiness and engagement are not one in the same. Perks can make employees happy and happy employees can be engaged but happiness itself is not the only measure of engagement, therefore perks may not necessarily make your employees more engaged.

What is the difference?

The difference between perks that make employees happy and those that increase engagement are determined by the value employees perceive in the perk. So it doesn’t have to big or costly, just perceived as valuable by the employees.
This is why we are so excited to share a perfect example of an organization that chose the right perk…Chieh Huana, owner of tech-company Boxed, has pledged to pay the college tuition fees for the children of his employees and plans to launch a not-for-profit foundation specifically for the project. His decision to invest in his employees stems from his goal is to build a long term business, which is built on a long term commitment from his employees.

Huang employs about 100 staff, the majority of which work in the warehouses or in delivery. Based on his own humble beginnings, he and his blue collar workers know and value the importance of education and he cites it as ‘the core’ facilitator for success. He wants to help those families in lower income jobs have the chance at upward mobility now, not in two or three generations.
The initiative has been well received by his employees. “Nothing has given me more incentive to stay with the company than knowing that I could have major help in funding my kids' education,” says Boxed worker David Taft. “I’m just blown away by this benefit,” he added.

Huang put his employee’s best interest at heart, he also saw a need and created a perk that would resonate with his staff. He chose a perk that recognized the efforts of his employees and in return gave them an opportunity that would have long term ramifications for the well-being of their families. Very simply, he has invested in his employees and it appears to have been a successful choice, since he now has a team of loyal employees who will help him grow his business. He not only made his employees happy, he has succeeded in engaging them as well.

Original article here:
http://www.hrmonline.ca/hr-news/far-out-friday-ceo-to-pay-college-fees-for-employees-kids-191755.aspx