Perks and Pricing

Why employees don't always appreciate the little things. Plus, how to set prices.

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Benefits

Q My friend does a lot for his workers, including taking them to lunch once a week. At first they were grateful, but now they don't even say thank you. What should you do when employees stop appreciating perks?

Eric Vance
Salt Lake City

There are several reasons gift horses get their mouths looked in. Sometimes employees view a perk as a paltry substitute for competitive compensation. Sometimes they resent that underperforming colleagues receive the same rewards. Sometimes they don't value the perk or have received it so often they take it for granted. (That fifth gift certificate to TGI Friday's is worth the same as the first, but the recipient would prefer a day off, thank you very much.) Sometimes they're a bunch of ingrates.

In any case, employees' motivations matter less than your friend's in offering the free meals. Chances are he didn't start Taco Tuesdays just to be thanked. If he's never explained his objective, employees may view those lunches as regular weekly meetings--especially if table talk concerns work. Your friend should make his objective clear. If the goal is to boost morale, he could use the lunches as a forum to acknowledge employees' individual contributions. If it's to motivate, he could invite industry experts to speak during the meals. If it's to reward, he should tell employees that--and ask them if they'd rather spend the money on something else, advises Peter Cappelli, professor of management at the University of Pennsylvania.

If your friend does stick with the lunches, less is probably more. "He may be trying to do the right thing, but over time will his employees really find 50 of those lunches a reward?" asks Richard Wellins, senior vice president at Development Dimensions International, a human resources consultancy. Paring back the number of lunches could make face time with the CEO seem more like a perk and less like part of the job, reasons Wellins. Even employment relationships, it seems, require playing a little hard to get. On the other hand, he adds, perhaps taking staffers out individually would rekindle their interest. Having the boss's ear to themselves every few months might be more valuable than a group outing every week.

One other possibility to consider: Maybe your friend takes his staff to lunch because he enjoys their company. In that case, employees' rejection may be especially painful. "For CEOs, there's a very blurry boundary between our business and ourselves," says Denise M. Rousseau, professor of organizational behavior at Carnegie Mellon University. Spending time with his nonwork buddies may make your friend feel better. For a start, you could take him to lunch.

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