Get Kat's latest posts and free downloads sent to your inbox.

    Announcing The Perk That Matters

    Benefits has become a hot topic lately thanks to a shrinking unemployment rate and the obvious outcome of that number: competition. For awhile, the conversation was all about the really outrageous perks. The trip to anywhere in the world with a 5 month paid sabbatical. Frose on tap.  Helicopters that take you to work.

    I'm making that last one up, but you get the point.

    It's kind of ridiculous. You're getting paid to work and now a company has to persuade you with booze and a travel budget just to make you happy? Or at least that's what the company thinks they're doing.

    It's really too bad no one cares about your perks. A new LinkedIn survey of over 3,000 full-time U.S. workers confirms what we've suspected for years: Those funky perks employers tout as supposed emblems of a great work culture are actually empty totems that employees don’t really care about.

    When I tweeted this article, Animal - the beloved antagonist - asked why free beer and food wouldn't matter? Of course I want my free snacks.

    Sure, but would you trade it for the autonomy of working from home? Nope.

    My point: If you really want to attract and retain great people, invest in the profoundly uncool things they actually want.

    But I couldn't trust my instinct alone, nor do I try to pretend my opinion is the end-all-be-all, so I did a quick poll on Twitter and here's what I found out.

    Drum roll please.

    The #1 perk is... not a surprise at all.

    Screen Shot 2018-07-26 at 4.36.06 PM

    52% of the people who responded to my flash poll said working from home was the ultimate perk.

    So what's your excuse? If you're going all in on perks, why have you started offering (at least partial) work from home?

     

    Related Articles

    It is dangerous to everyone's success if leadership is too focused on action over listening.

    Provide trans-specific benefits. Be proactive, not reactive, about your policies. These are just some of the ways to support trans employees.

    Use ChatGPT for processes that are more systematic, like automation emails. It is not to do the work that needs a recruiter’s touch.

    An update on 2024 salary transparency laws with advice on how to write those ranges.

    Discover more from Three Ears Media

    Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

    Continue reading