Perks You Can Afford

Some companies offer travel, such as a cruise to the Bahamas, to salespeople or even the entire staff if sales or profit goals are met. For a few years Rick Born offered such a trip. The perk was popular but logistically difficult and expensive. Also, some workers couldn't go because they couldn't arrange baby-sitting. So Born decided to take the money he was spending on trips and invest it in lakefront property in a Minnesota resort area.Staffers now take turns bringing their families to one of six company-owned houses--a benefit that's admittedly not cheap. But Born says that he was spending the money anyway, and this way he's building equity through mortgage payments.

Feed employees' bodies. And their souls. The easiest way to an employee's heart? Through the proverbial stomach. That's why Jack Schacht, president of National Trade Association (NTA), in Glenview, Ill., provides monthly in-house luncheons for the company's 50 employees. He finds that the luncheons promote camaraderie and offer a chance to celebrate birthdays at the commercial barter company. Mark Zweig of Zweig White & Associates, a $3.1-million consulting and publishing firm in Natick, Mass., goes even further and provides his 37 employees with free food and drink all day every day. "Our people work long hours," says Zweig. "We want to make it easier for them to do so." In the soul department, Autumn Harp gives employees two days a year in paid community-service time. Employees have used the time to volunteer at local schools, paint a nearby teen homeless shelter, and rebuild an AIDS clinic damaged by arson. In addition, Autumn Harp offers employees not only a health plan but also a "wellness reimbursement" of $200 a year for anything related to their "mental, physical, or spiritual well-being." Past reimbursement items have ranged from gym memberships to scuba lessons. One employee even put the money toward house paint, arguing that it would make him feel good.

Offer advancement opportunities. One of the best incentives for ambitious people is opportunity. Sharon Anderson Wright of Half Price Books fills management positions by promoting from within, ensuring that long-term employees have a chance to rise--and that new employees have an incentive to stay. "It's dancing with the ones that brought you," says Wright. Firmani provides a well-defined career track, with specific criteria for raises and advancement. For example, employees that bill 1,200 hours a year and make two new-business contacts know exactly how much their salaries will increase as a result.

Pat people on the back. Few perks are cheaper, easier, or more effective than recognition. And recognition can take a variety of forms. At Command Software, an antivirus-software company in Jupiter, Fla., Dyan Dyer created an "Angel of the Month" award that recognizes "random acts of kindness" within the company. One recent winner: an employee who volunteered to house a programmer the company had brought over from Germany and help him get acclimated and find an apartment. That winner received a gift certificate for a local spa, plus a small porcelain angel for her desk.

Far greater than the cost of these mostly modest investments is the value of the employee loyalty you can get in return. For example, Rick Born claims his turnover rate is one-third his industry's average--and he credits the difference to the perks he offers, especially the company-owned vacation homes. "I have employees' kids say to me, 'Thank you, Mr. Born, for letting us go to your cabin,' " he says. "You'd never get that from a kid if you gave his dad a $5,000 raise. I had one guy say, 'I couldn't leave if I wanted to; my family would divorce me.' "

Christopher Caggiano is a staff writer at Inc.

Resources
If you're looking for more ways to perk up your perks without overly driving up your overhead, here are a few books (with admittedly similar-sounding names) to turn to for inspiration. Matt Weinstein's Managing to Have Fun (Simon & Schuster, 800-223-2336, 1996, $11) is inspiring and contains lots of company-tested ideas and anecdotes. Bob Nelson's 1,001 Ways to Reward Employees (Workman Publishing, 212-254-5900, 1994, $9.95) focuses, as the title implies, specifically on rewards, both monetary and nonmonetary. Also very helpful is 301 Ways to Have Fun at Work, by Dave Hemsath and Leslie Yerkes (Berrett-Koehler, 800-929-2929, 1997, $14.95), which also contains a helpful reading list of titles from other publishers.

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