What Makes Some Work Perks More Utilized Than Others?

There’s no point in investing in a perks and benefits program if nobody uses it. Great work perks can be a way to draw in and reward employees, help them find community and meaning in their work, and offer a chance to approach their jobs with renewed energy.

Lindsay McGregor and Neel Doshi, authors and tech developers who focus on high-performing corporate cultures, explained some of the key elements of successful and effective office perks, as well as what goes wrong with other perks.

“The irony of some of the more opulent office perks is that they’re unrelated to the kind of work that needs to get done in the office in the first place,” McGregor and Doshi write for FastCompany. “The temptation to slack off is even greater when employees don’t have the tools they need to do a great job, don’t understand what’s expected of them, or are given unreasonable expectations.”

So if you’re considering bulking up your office perks program and want to add items that will make a difference for employees, make sure to ask a few questions first:

Does it give meaning to their work?
Pulling out the stops with flashy perks might grab attention, but it won’t keep employees interested and invested unless there are substantive structures below the surface. Evan Porter, a former employee at a digital marketing agency that offered bean bag chairs and ping pong tables, told Bloomberg news those small efforts only masked a larger systemic problem, which contributed to his decision to leave.

“I don’t think it has much lasting impact, if the other things aren’t in place, like having a clear path to growth and salary – the real benefits that you need,” he said. “I don’t think it really helps keep people around in the long haul.”

For many workers, if a perk doesn’t speak to the bottom line, either by saving/earning them money – like subsidizing lunch or a gym membership – or giving them tools to increase career skills and earning capacity on their own, it may just be a blip on the radar of reasons they decide to stay at their job.

Does it build community?
At best, office perks can be a mutually beneficial investment that improves employees’ quality of life and thus, makes them more loyal to – and by extension, productive for – the company. And loyalty is inspired by feeling you belong to something unique, to a community that cares for you.

Hosting a Popup restaurant program in the office gives employees a chance to come together for a meal, rather than scattering from the building to find individual food options around the neighborhood. A company-sponsored intramural sports team offers a fun way for coworkers to engage in team-building exercises and foster connections that they can take back to group projects at work.

In keeping with the health-oriented and community-building perks, consider subsidizing entry fees for a relay or obstacle race like Tough Mudder and encouraging employees to form groups that train and race together.

Does it address employees’ pain points?
Everybody wants to offer up a plethora of perks like Google, but there’s only one Google. The rest of us have to work with our unique resources and our employees’ unique needs. A 20-something web developer at Google’s main campus in California will have different living expenses and priorities than the mid-western accountant with a family. Recognizing the differences at your company will help you avoid wasting money on perks that won’t satisfy your staff or keep them around.

So, skip the purple slide and the napping pods. Talk to your employees about the elements of their lives that cause stress and distract them from doing their best work at the office. Do they actually want a golf simulator? Or would they rather have a chance to attend an interesting industry conference or subscribe to cutting-edge publications related to their field? You won’t know until you ask.

An ill-fitting, underutilized perk can be twice as damaging as no perk at all, by wasting money and revealing a lack of understanding about what employees really want and need from their employers. On the flip side, a well-designed perks and benefits program that combines practical items and fun gestures can reinforce a corporate culture that prioritizes strong management and respect for employees at all levels.