While most companies don't have to luxury of offering staff extravagant perks, a recent survey shows businesses don’t have to break the bank to keep their employees happy.
Something as simple as flexible work hours or the option of working from home was considered the perk most effective in attracting quality staff, motivating and increasing engagement, according to respondents in the 2014 PayGlobal Work Perks Survey.
The survey looked at non-remunerative compensation in Australia and New Zealand and involved 251 participants from the HR and payroll sectors.
For the Australian respondents, flexibility was followed in the popularity stakes by access to learning and development opportunities, free meals or drinks and social team-building at work.
According to the survey, 65.4 per cent of the Australian respondents were already offered access to learning and development, 53.8 per cent had morning tea or work drinks, 51.3 per cent had the option of flexible work hours or working from home, 30.8 per cent received gym membership or fitness perks, 20.5 percent received health and life insurance and 5.1 per cent got therapeutic massages.
PayGlobal CEO Stephen Canning sees some work perks as simply meeting the current market, but backing up perks with a positive work culture is important, he says. “There’s a really great culture here at PayGlobal, which we call ‘living the values’. I love working for a values-led organisation. I genuinely enjoy both thanking our people for living the values, and passing on glowing feedback to them from prospects, customers, partners, and from other people in our organisation.”
Survey respondents named free overseas holidays, overseas study, free lunch every day, massages, extra leave and bonuses among the best perks they’d heard of.
But not everyone is after a workplace freebie – 8.4 percent of participants thought that more fun, encouragement, recognition and support at work would be the most effective perks.
Read the original survery here
