Valuing Employees without Breaking the Bank
I recently saw this post in Fast Company about low cost ways to value employees.
The author provides 30 ideas on low-cost ways to show employees that the company cares. Going through the list, I realized that we at Escalation Point have already implemented several of these ideas, in some cases in our own special way.
1. Flex time
2. Innovation Days – can we get a picture of the team putting together desks for the office?
3. Fully stocked kitchen – One thing that you can say about our fridge is that it is fully stocked. College students everywhere would be impressed with our Tetris-like ability to utilize every square millimeter of space in our dorm fridge. We are in the market for something more spacious…
6. Free lunch (or breakfast) - We are located right at the intersection of tortillas and eggs on South Lamar in Austin. There are a ton of great places to get breakfast tacos around here, including our favorites: Casita Taco and Maria’s Taco Express. Hardly a week passes without me seeing that familiar brown bag full of foil-wrapped goodness waiting on the counter when I come up the stairs into the office.
8 Parental leave.
9. No dress code - No suit, no sleeves, no sweat!
12. Optional telecommuting.
13. Tech neutrality – Feel free to choose from the MacBook Pro 13″, the MacBook Pro 15″, or the 6-year old Thinkpad running Windows Vista and missing the “S” key. We’re flexible!
15. Work Life Balance – leaving early, doing personal errands during the day. Going for a run at 3 pm with other head staff just because you haven’t in a while. Makes employees feel like it’s ok for them too.
16. Perks for part-time employees – Our part-time folks are treated no differently from our full-timers – they’re just not around as much!
17. Cultural extras – occasional dj spinning, Jill’s Bon Jovi iTunes stations, the comedy routines performed daily in the head staff’s areas… we’ve got it all.
25. Green initiatives – healthy, green food and cleaning products, organic company tshirts, minimal paper use throughout the office, lights off/low/on sensors
In all seriousness, if you are going to spend a third of your time in the work environment why not make it as enjoyable as possible? Our folks have shaped our culture…
