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.
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?