Who are we kidding? It’s hard to feel motivated when you’re at work. For most people, having a job is a necessity rather than a choice, and the best that they can do is to try and choose a career that they don’t hate. To combat this, companies are introducing innovative ways to help their workforce focus. Wildly unconventional benefits and perks have surfaced over the last few years, with research estimating that increasing happiness can boost productivity by around 12 per cent, showing the benefits of focus. Here, we’ve compiled some of the best company benefits as well as some of the quirkiest perks. Anyone fancy a game of golf in between meetings?
Employee Perks
It’s always nice to be rewarded for the time and effort that you invest into your job. Perks are the fun part and some companies have taken that to the extreme. The office of Southampton-based IT company Peer 1 houses a helter-skelter, putting green, giant swing, and if that wasn’t enough, they now have an office pub dubbed the Sherlock Arms.
Craft beer company BrewDog offers all employees the opportunity to take one week of paid holiday leave to help their new dog settle into their home. Any excuse to get yourself a new furry friend, right?
Money is an undeniable incentive and software company Huddle tempts new starters with a whopping £5,000 joining fee – affectionately known as the Huddle Cuddle.
These perks may be light-hearted but, without a doubt, they help to combat a stressful working environment and no matter what career you’re in, less stress is best!
Company Benefits
Receiving £5,000 for simply being hired is great, but after three years it’s unlikely that the money will still be in your pocket — company benefits are a bit more long-term and are designed to keep staff motivated to remain at the company.
Car dealers Lookers provides employees with a full year of maternity pay for individuals who have been with the company for more than twelve months at the time of birth. Data shows that children’s cognitive development is improved when parents can stay home — either part or full time — in the first year of life. Clearly, this is a hugely beneficial scheme for mums and their babies and takes the pressure off returning to work so that the focus can be on your new family.
Travel fare giant Skyscanner provides a global discount to the meditation and sleep app Headspace. Employees are also encouraged to get involved with Skyscanner’s on-site mindfulness course and their Make Time Wednesday’s prohibit any meetings from being scheduled. By offering opportunities for rest and relaxation, companies are motivating their employees and reaping the benefits of a less stressful work environment.
Employee Progression
Knowing that your job has an opportunity for progression is an undeniable motivation in getting you to work hard. Climbing the career ladder is associated with added benefits and a higher salary — who doesn’t want a new car and more cash to go on holiday with?
Anglian Water has implemented a bespoke training programme individual to each employee’s aims, and it is reviewed at regular intervals to ensure that those goals haven’t changed. They also offer the opportunity to complete specialist external training relevant to your role. It’s simple — more qualifications will lead to more money.
The positive outcome of offering training programmes is demonstrated by Marriott Hotels — the average employment of a hotel manager at Marriott is twenty-five years and around 10,600 employees have been there for more than twenty years.
It’s evident that the importance of motivation has been noticed by many businesses and benefits are being frequently tailored to encourage healthy morale. Whether it’s setting employee’s goals or reducing money worries after the birth of your baby, companies are motivating their workforce to work hard and remain with them. No-one is saying that you’ll turn up to work on Monday morning feeling like there’s nowhere else you’d rather be but, being surrounded by pubs, dogs and positivity is surely not the worst thing — is it?