Employee Perks That Won’t Break the Bank

Employee Perks 

As a small business owner, you may find it difficult to keep up with larger companies when it comes to the benefits you can offer your employees. Perks like comprehensive healthcare, paid time off, and retirement accounts might be out of reach for you, but we’ve put together a list of alternatives that will help make your business that much more attractive to the talent you need for success.

WANTED: Flexibility

It’s well documented that having a positive work-life balance reduces stress and helps to prevent burnout. This is why it’s such an attractive perk that a company can offer. Small businesses are in the unique position to be able to offer more flexible work environments than larger companies can. You can provide tailored schedules that accommodate an employees’ need to get their children from school or leave early from time to time. And if telecommuting is an option for your staff, that’s all the better—workers today gravitate toward work-from-home opportunities, and studies show it increases employee productivity.

WANTED: A True Team Environment

Did you know the average person will spend 90,000 hours at work over their lifetime? It may seem like you spend more time getting ready for, commuting to and from, and actually working at your job than you do at home with your family, and in some instances, that might be true. So, as a business owner, fostering a true team environment in your company is important. Your employees are in close quarters with each other day in and day out, effectively becoming each other’s family. Let them build friendships both within and outside the workplace, and you’re sure to have morale that tops the charts.

Additionally, workers like to feel as though they’re all banded together, fighting for the greater good. They want to know the work they’re doing is important and appreciated. If your business is able to offer this, your staff will be that much more motivated to help you succeed.

WANTED: Training Opportunities

 Some employees are fine coming in to work, doing their job, and leaving at the end of their shift without a second thought. But other employees, the truly ambitious ones, are interested in rising through the ranks. Offering training and development opportunities is a great way to help keep your driven employees satisfied, plus you’ll get more skilled workers in return.

WANTED: A Casual Dress Code

You’ve heard of Casual Friday, the one day of the week a lot of big organizations allow their workers to finally ditch the suits for something you can actually feel comfortable in. Small business owners are able to provide their employees with a casual dress code all the time if they want, and this is a huge bonus for employees. It’s amazing just how far a little comfort can go.

WANTED: Pet-Friendly Premises

Pet-friendly workplaces seem to be all the rage right now, and there are a lot of benefits to consider. Assuming no one at your company has pet allergies (and you’re not in the food service industry), this is a low- or no-cost way to really boost employee morale. Every day of the week doesn’t necessarily need to be Bring Your Dog to Work Day—you could even opt for one day a week, or once a month. This is the type of perk job-seekers actively search for, believe it or not. Not only is there cost-savings involved for employees who might otherwise have to pay for a pet sitter to come during the day, but having a pet-friendly premises allows for more cross-department interaction (who doesn’t want to meet a co-worker’s Great Dane?) and happier workers.

So there you have it, five great perks that’ll have job seekers itching to be your newest employee. Are you a small business owner who has implemented benefits the bigger companies can’t hold a candle to? We’d love to hear about them!