One of the worst things that can happen to a company is having huge employee turnover month after month. This impacts a business in a variety of ways including lost clients, loss of company culture, and even cash flow problems as new employees cost thousands of dollars to train before they are profitable. There are going to be those people that will leave at any sight of a pay raise but many people can be influenced to stay due to employee friendly perks and policies. These policies are as follows as well as how to implement these effectively.
Working From Home
The holy grail of many people’s professional lives is being given the opportunity to work from home. This adds a sense of freedom and trust from the company that is valued by the employee. Those employees that have had dreams of traveling the world now have this opportunity without it impacting their professional lives immensely. This does mean that people have to work their way up to this honor though. Tracking productivity before and after the work from home change is also important. If the person is performing the same or better then continue to allow them to work from home. If their production has suffered put them on notice that they will have to increase production the next month in order to keep working from home.
Free Parking In a Busy City
A safe and secure parking garage with license plate recognition can be worth its weight in gold. Some cities charge thousands of dollars a year to simply park your car where you live. There are automated systems that can be used in order to reduce the costs associated with hiring someone to work the gate. This can also generate income for the company during off hours as parking comes at a premium in certain locations. Little things like marked parking spots can help increase loyalty as the employees will feel like they are valued. Large institutions like universities can implement these and end the ongoing war between employees and the parking enforcement staff. Hospitals are another great place to implement license plate recognition for security reasons as many of the staff has 24 hour shifts. This can help maximize profits for the hospital while increasing security immensely. Adding revenue monthly without having to hire another employee is an easy business decision. Busy cities can help bring in quite a bit of money on nights and weekends to businesses with accessible and convenient parking.
Provide Lunch
There are small things like providing lunch, snacks, and energy drinks that make a huge deal to younger employees. Not having to go out for lunch can help reduce those “extended” lunches that some employees take thinking management does not notice. Caffeine has also been shown to increase productivity especially for those after lunch doldrums that impact a majority of the office. These lunches can be written off as a business expense so this can be useful at tax time as well as keeping your employees well-fed and happy.
Outline Career Paths Clearly
One of the most frustrating things about working for a small company or a startup is not having a clear idea of what lies ahead in your career. This can lead people to think that nothing is going to change in their day to day professional lives for the foreseeable future. This can also give management the idea of hierarchy as this is not always as drawn out as it should be in certain startups. Requirements for each promotion should also be drawn out like the sales manager should have led the company in sales for a few months. Education requirements can allow people to realize they might need to invest in their education in order to climb the corporate ladder.
The right perks will allow you as a company to reduce employee turnover and build a culture that stresses taking care of employees. People will often be ready to sacrifice a little bit of salary if they enjoy going to work on a daily basis. Find out what motivates your employees and give it to them as keeping them happy is as important as you as a founder keeping them productive.
