Employee Perks Your Small Business Can Afford

Small businesses often can’t compete with the salaries or benefits that larger businesses or government employers can provide. But they can make up a lot of ground by offering perks to make working at their small business just as or even more attractive than working at some big company. To attract and retain the talented employees you need and develop a reputation as a great place to work, here are perks that your small business can afford.

1. Empathy and Support

Sometimes employees need time off with super-short notice. Or come in to work upset over things that are happening in their personal lives. Small business owners and other staff can make positive differences in the lives of employees experiencing problems, sometimes just by listening and sometimes by providing active support. And that sense of “family” can really bind employees to your company.

2. Flexible Work

For many employees, this is the most attractive perk that any company can offer as flexible work gives them more of the work-life balance they need. And as a small business, you may be in the position to offer the most flexible work arrangements of anyone.

Besides offering employees tailored work schedules, such as four day weeks or being able to leave early each day to pick up children in daycare, you may also be able to offer work from home or telecommuting options.

3. Team Appeal

It’s one thing to have a job. It’s entirely another to be on a game-changing team. Feeling that you’re doing something important that might make a difference to the world at large is a powerful motivator for many people, so if your small business is able to offer this, it’s a huge leg up in the talent competition.

4. Training and Development

Talented people are often ambitious and want to be able to learn the new skills that will further their careers. If your small business can’t offer in-house training and development programs, you can still offer the training your employees want by reimbursing some or all of the costs for them to take appropriate courses or workshops elsewhere.

5. Volunteer Time

Volunteering has many rewards and many people want to do it, but can’t fit as much of it into their lives as they’d like to because of work. So giving employees x number of hours per week or month to volunteer can be a much appreciated perk—and creating happier employees while helping your community is definitely a win-win.

6. Pet-Friendly Premises

Everyone seems to have a pet now and assuming no one working at your small business has pet allergies or that public health rules forbid it, many employees would love to be able to bring their pet companion to work. If you don’t want to make this a general policy, you could make a day of the week “bring your pet to work” day (assuming that your pet is sufficiently well trained to not cause disruption in the workplace!)

7. Casual Work Dress

Big organizations often have Casual Fridays. But as a small business, you could offer the opportunity to dress more casually 365 days a year. Managers especially might appreciate the chance to shuck the formal duds. Susan Heathfield offers a business casual dress code that you may want to implement.

8. Transit Passes

Is your small business located in a place where employees are able to commute to your premises by bus, train or subway? If so, transit passes can be a much appreciated (and inexpensive) perk.

9. Food and Drink

According to a survey by Peapod, 83% of surveyed office workers reported that having employer-provided fresh food and healthy snack options was a major perk. Healthy snacks are perfect for allowing employees to leave their desk and have a quick bite and re-energize. Some of the best office snacks include:

• Bananas
• Yogurt
• Trail mix
• Cheeses
• Apples
• Nuts
• Dried fruit

Many people love specialty coffees, so consider buying a decent quality coffee machine that can also make cappuccinos, lattes, etc.

Once a month or on special occasions have the employees decide on lunch and bring in pizzas, chinese food, or whatever wins the vote.

10. Fitness Opportunities

Employees of all ages like to stay fit. Don’t have an in-house fitness centre or pool? Then offer your employees memberships at the local fitness centre instead, or cover the cost of individual fitness classes for them. Many small businesses have also had a lot of success fielding their own teams. Softball? Bowling? Find out what your employees would like to play, set up a team, and let the fun begin.

11. Creative Individual Tailored Perks

Often the most appreciated perks are not the flashiest or the most expensive. Instead, they’re the perks that show that management appreciates an employee as a person.

Mary Cantando’s experience as a manager is inspirational. She spent the time thinking about her employees and choosing employees each month that she was going to do something personal for that month. Normally that “something personal” was something as simple as taking an employee out to lunch or buying someone tickets to a game. But the results were amazing.

“In a highly competitive industry, I didn’t lose a single A player in over four years, because I had a system for taking care of [employees] that went above and beyond the standard employee reward program,” Cantando says.

The Importance of Perks

Most experts agree that perks overall play an important role in the relationship between employee and company, especially in recessionary times. “Perks hold people to an organization,” says John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a Chicago-based global outplacement firm. “If an employee likes his or her boss and the work is challenging, and if the company has a set of perks that are adapted to what that person needs, then it’s hard for the employee to leave. He or she may not” be able to replicate that situation in another organization.

That’s the situation you want your employees to be in—and perking up your perks can help you make that happen. Read more about attracting and retaining employees here.