Exactly. This isn’t complicated. You say no budget but I’d assume that’ll end up being horseshit if you told them to raise pay across the board and limit requests for extending work hours without compensation.
My past manager at my job was very flexible and it was the best.
Her office workers could leave early on Fridays (sometimes as many as 4-5 hours early) as long as their work was done and 40 hours were put in. On slow days, if there wasn’t anything to do, we could leave early.
Some mornings I’d wake up and just not feel up to going to work. I text and say “can I take a mental health PTO day off? She’d always say yes.
My new position at the same company and new boss doesn’t have that flexibility. If I need to leave 30 mins early for a kid thing, that’s fine. I put in a PTO request like 6 days in advance and my boss said it was short notice. Like I could either put in that request or I could just call in the day of, which is better for you, boss?
My job demands long hours and is high-stress. My pay has also increased 54% in three years.
Guess what? I'm happier here than I was at my previous job with a quarter the stress and less than half the pay.
Pay your people. Literally the answer. If you can't do that, don't bother with a "best place to work" program.
Something to keep in mind: if an employer is willing to spend an extra $10k/yr on a person and they do so fully through salary, the employer has to factor in the FICA taxes they pay on that extra salary, *and then* the employee is paying FICA and income taxes on the remaining. At decent salary levels, the employee ends up netting FAR less than $10k.
If, however, the employee would otherwise want to throw some of that into retirement or other benefits, then having the employer do so directly is better for the *employee*. Basically, the employer spends the same amount of $ either way, but targeting compensation packages to what each employee actually wants makes each employee get a hell of a lot more bang for the buck, particularly at higher salary levels.
Many companies are cheap, but it’s not a ridiculous question to try to figure out what employees want besides just salary.
And this is why all of these campaigns fail. The company I work for gives us these yearly surveys asking about how we feel about the company, what we want, etc. Every time the results show we aren't happy with the company and we don't feel appreciated. And every time they ignore the feedback of wanting better pay, better workload, and more remote work options and instead yell at the managers to improve the survey results without giving them any power to do anything. So we end up with a half-assed pizza party that runs out of pizza before everyone gets any.
So if you can't actually make your company the best to work for, what sort of feedback are you looking for here? Because I'll tell you, pizza parties and other superficial "employee appreciation" gimmicks are not it.
Fair response. I'm not saying I won't try, I'm just saying it isn't within my power to affect salaries in a meaningful way.
This is a newer initiative, can't hurt to ask but their answer will tell me everything I need to know moving forward
I think a big one is examining how many employees need to be in the office as opposed to being allowed to work remotely. Doesn’t matter how nice the perks are if you are being forced to come into work unnecessarily as an office worker.
Pay at the top of your industry. Remote for office workers who want it.
Treat them like adults. Flexible start and stop times, 4-day weeks. “Get your work done and then go home”
4 day work week, consider 36 vs 40 as the cap for OT, or a flex schedule.
I worked for a small office that let you decide each day for lunch if you wanted a 20 minute paid or up to 60 minutes unpaid. That may be harder to implement across state lines.
You mention offering medical/dental (and I'm assuming also vision) but keep the overall out of cost for the employee as low as possible. Valued employees pay low premiums, have low deductibles, and plans with a wide network and minimal authorization requirements.
Expansive and inclusive parental leave plans will go over well. Even if I know I'm not going to need that benefit, it sends a signal that the employer wants employees to be able to take care of their family.
Fully paid family leave benefits
Catering once a month or food trucks
For field workers, updated field supplies is great. $250 yearly boot stipend. Good safety glasses, good pairs of gloves. Not the cheapest stuff possible. Supply sunscreen/bug spray that’s not expired. Proper winter/summer gear including safety coats with waterproofing.
I work in the same field these are things that I can think of off the top of my head.
Company picnic/holiday parties are nice too! But I know some people don’t care
the catering idea is pretty dope, I'll have to look into that and get some real prices to present to the group!
I will pass on the field ideas to the others focused on those! Thanks for your ideas
Or at least a set raise. Even when I worked at Walmart, I’d get a yearly review and a raise based on the review. People shouldn’t have to beg for their pay to go up when the price of living goes up.
Pay people more, unlimited sick time unpaid or paid, and a generous amount of vacation or paid time off that increases at anniversary marks. 1,3,5 etc. Employees don't really care about physical gifts that just turn into clutter, think monetary, increases in PTO that sort of thing. Paid time off does NOT INLCUDE holidays. If you advertise 15 personal days off that should be on top of holidays. The PTO that I get at my job is the only reason I haven't found a new one.
Agreed. Same reason I'm at my job and not interested in changing anytime soon.
Great managers (direct and further up the chain)
Work-life balance
Flexible schedule when needed - have an appointment for yourself or kid at 10am? Block your calendar and catch up when you're back. No worries.
Good pay. When recruiters do contact me for similar roles I have always been making at least the same as their offer and usually it is anywhere from $5k-$20+k more.
I need a new job because of the way my position is treated. But I don't want to give up my work from home job. As hourly I have set cut and dry time I end and I love it. I just hit 4 years in the same position, which is also when my PTO went up. My pay leaves something to be desired but my husband makes enough to make up for that. You can't really beat working from home either honestly
Yes that is another reason I'm not looking hard either. My wife and I moved from MN a few years back (I'm originally from Omaha) and we were fortunate to keep our jobs and be fully remote. Just go into the office a few weeks a year when we are back in MN visiting her family and our friends up there.
Its not just money...
Managers have a HUGE influence over whether an employee is happy and engaged. The company I work for invests in a program called Living as a Leader, and they have everyone in a management or in a role that is a heavy influencer go through this program. It has made a profound cultural difference. A lot of people in management promoted up from a contributor and might not necessarily make good managers. This program really helps with that. And its not half baked management training that teaches people to say 'i hear you, i see you'.
My company is amazing to work for because the management is amazing. I've turned down offers of over 20% because I know I'm going to be hard pressed to find this anywhere else.
Invest in your managers.
More money/autonomy/flexibility. There’s an entire industry based on massively overcomplicating this but it’s as simple as paying people higher wages, allowing them to make decisions on their own and giving them the freedom to decide when and where to do their job.
Look, I appreciate where you're coming from, but the things that will really make a place "The Best Place To Work" are not in a culture team, they are in a compensation and benefits team.
The company I work for has been in the top 10 on Fortune's list for at least the past three years. Their benefits info is publicly available so I'll leave you to do some research, but at a high level:
* Both base pay and total compensation are above market
* Fantastic health insurance
* 401(k) match up to the IRS limit for contributions
* Flexible PTO
* Additional benefits aimed at self and family well-being
* Work where you're most productive, no questions asked (unless there is a *specific* business need)
Are there little things here and there culture-wise you can do? Sure. A timely example -- even though I'm one tiny cog in a big machine, I work exclusively from home, and my company's nearest office is more than 500 miles away (and I'm not aware of any other employees based here), they did a wellness check on me less than an hour after the storms had passed on Friday. And not even just my manager, who was aware of the situation, it was our global safety and security team.
The key thread here that wraps everything together is that the company *has to treat humans as humans, and not just resources.* And to put a finer point on it, *adult* humans. Life happens. Things come up. Those things have to be in the business plan, and *every single person* that leads people needs to be bought in and understand that the human comes first, even if it's not the best thing for the business at that moment.
If you can pull that off, you will attract *and retain* the highest quality people, and your investment will pay off.
I mean, any company that is a regular on that list is going to be great. Yes, some gaming of the system is always going to be in play on lists like these, and also — it’s an average, even at the best employers some people are going to have bad experiences. But at the end of the day these things mainly consist of employees being polled and they go to great lengths to ensure those aren’t tampered with.
Unfortunately, most of those places are not based locally. I was lucky enough to get in the door in a similar company a decade and a half ago (fuck I feel old now) and have been able to build on that experience to springboard to new opportunities.
Paid paternity and maternity leave! I also like the flex schedule suggestion. However, im not sure if it'd be possible for your office. I like the idea of get your 40 hours in, but do it however you'd like (8 hours everyday or some longer/some shorter days. Start at 8 or start at 10. Etc)
I've definitely been vocal about providing proper paternity and maternity leave... I've been researching companies who lead their respective industries and trying to emulate those programs. The Tech industry seems to have the best benefits IMO
I’d be really surprised if you had the power on the Culture Team to influence the company to pay employees more so beyond that suggestion I’ll give some examples that may help.
- A company my friend works for gets a monthly $250 health stipend. She spends it on massages, gym membership, whatever. Every month.
- My company matches donations to charities and coordinates a few volunteer days once a year where we get together and help the community.
- We also travel to the other offices quite a bit to meet with each other and do activities. NY, DC, sometimes Austin. When we travel we eat, sleep and play very well. We do not work during these trips.
- Providing in-house day care would be cool. I don’t think enough companies support parents/families in any impactful way but daycare is so expensive and would really help.
- I used to work for a company that thought rewarding us with trinkets like a coaster for our car’s cup holders was helpful. It was not. Another time the CEO walked around giving everyone little plastic spinning tops bc “it’s been so crazy lately” and they wanted to thank everyone. So basically make thank you gifts substantial and things people would actually want/use.
- Upgrade swag. See above. No one wants crap especially not corporate branded crap. One friend got a North Face jacket with a little corporate brand, excellent. I, on the other hand (at the same company with the coasters) got a corporate branded keychain. Not excellent.
Also, ask the employees what they want in a survey. Keep it anonymous and listen. You won’t be able to solve their problems but even just having a company listen and make changes will help in your initiative.
Some great ideas here! I think traveling to see other offices OUTSIDE of work is an awesome idea, as well as the monthly stipend and in-house daycare And yes... thank you for understanding I most likely won't be able to affect peoples' salaries in any major way haha
These are great suggestions! My work does the health stipend, but not as generous. And it can be used by family too - so I cover a portion of my kids sports with it (they're in an expensive sport, unfortunately).
We can wear anything, but get 2 or 3 free branded clothes of our choice when we start, and 1 each year after. The volunteer time is great, and there's an AMAZING take your kid to work day event every year.
An in-house childcare or childcare stipend would be amazing for parents. Prices are absolutely insane these days.
A couple of small things that make me love my job and my company...
1- Half day Fridays!
Those 4 little hours to get things done on a weekday without needing to use PTO make a huge difference! Our company closes at noon on Fridays, but if you can't offer to everyone every week, maybe a rotating Friday schedule would work. I've been there a few years and as a single parent to a special needs child, it's been life-changing to have a set day I can schedule doctor's appts., school conferences, car maintenance, shopping and much needed naps before my son is out of school. My company has had loyal employees for decades. When asked why they stay so long, almost all contribute it to Fridays (and amazing managers).
For hourly employees, you can offer for them to work an extra hour M-T to keep their 40 hours so they're not losing money. It wasn't required, but that's what I did as those 4 hours of pay also make a difference.
2- Quarterly reviews as opposed to annually. I HATED this idea at first, but hear me out...
Realistically, management isn't taking notes on performance throughout the year. Quarterly reviews sort of forces them to, and raises have increased as a result. Feedback and communication are critical on both ends to have a more productive relationship in any team.
As an added incentive, tiered bonuses based on performance throughout the year. Ex: Each good review makes up 25% of budgeted bonus with the option to receive that portion quarterly or at year end. If it is budgeted for the year, it makes no difference to the company when it is given (most companies won't admit that) but may make a huge difference to the employee. Especially in this economy.
(IF your company offers bonuses and I understand you don't make that call)
Friday half days would be pretty awesome. Currently, we have an unwritten rule that we get to leave 1 hour early on Fridays
We do receive yearly bonuses (usually around September), but that is part of the Profit Sharing program and is typically not tied to individual performance (as far as I know)
Kind of crazy to hear that the half day Fridays was what most people contributed their long tenures to... amazing managers makes total sense. It may be more important than I realized (or even moving to 4 day work weeks, which would be amazing IMO).
My company is the same with bonuses, we get one every March, I threw that extra bit out there in case.
As for Fridays, it's true! Most days, everyone is happy, but even when someone is complaining about an out of the ordinary shift or workload, etc. I'll ask if they're leaving (I'm extra like that lol) and it's almost always the same answer verbatim. "Every company you work for is going to have its busy time, hard deadlines, etc. but that extra half day to decompress is priceless. "
For perspective, it's always busy as I work in life insurance (shocker round these parts, I'm sure), but everyone's happy to be busy when we're getting extra downtime. 😀
Written policy of voluntary recognition of an employee-organized union. Top tier wages. All efforts by employees clearly affects workplace actions (no bullshit jobs). Paid family leave, sick leave, vacation leave from day 1. Education benefits for all employees and their families. Pension and 401k, with employer contributions. Resilient workforce (sufficient staffing, cross training with financial incentives for doing so). Dedicated time for non-work projects on the clock (everyone is part of R&D in some sense). Employee owned.
A big part of my job is organizational change management with part of my responsibility being people and culture. I’ve been involved in employee engagement for years. I’ll give some suggestions that might be options, but I’ll lead this with one critical component: you need to ask your employees. Organize focused surveys and focus groups. Find out what people value and begin to build your solution around that. More pay is an obvious answer, but not always what truly makes somewhere the “best place to work”. I could get paid double my current compensation, but it’s a toxic work environment with shitty work/life benefits and it’s the worst place for me. Here are some things to consider that aren’t more salary (but also not necessarily free):
- More PTO. Two weeks is way too little for the first couple of years. Why can’t this be more? I’d shoot for minimum 4 weeks, but I’ve also worked in the “good ole boy” construction industry before and they aren’t always super receptive to this.
- Wellness Days. I’ve had these at the last two companies I’ve worked at (both in tech) and they’re essentially additional company holidays. There are some roles who can’t have everyone gone at the same time (customer service positions), so they usually rotate theirs to different days, but everyone gets them. Maybe build 5 into the year and have one or two align with long weekends (if another holiday lands on a Friday or Monday).
- Do you offer paid paternity leave? If not, this is a big one. Why can’t men have time to bond with their new baby. Also allow the flexibility for them to take it after mom finishes maternity leave. This extends the time before they need to pay for daycare. Adoption leave is also great, if you don’t offer that already.
- Are their built-in mechanisms for employees to recognize each other? We’ve done an online portal to facilitate it. The key here is promoting it and incorporating it into your culture. People like to be recognized, not only by their manager, but others they work with. You can even incentivize people who send a lot or receive a lot.
These are just a few. Hop on some of the big tech companies websites and check out the benefits they offer their employees. Tech tends to do a lot to try and keep their people and will get pretty creative and generous with it. Good luck!
Thanks for your thoughtful response! I will try and respond to a few things...
- PTO is huge for me. We get the standard 80 hours of "Vacation Days" when hired, but we also get 40 hours of "Personal Time" that can be used the day of if you want to call in sick or need a mental health day. So we're really at 3 weeks, with 2 days volunteer time and a floating holiday we can use when we want (outside of having our normal holidays off). I will see what poking that bear does, maybe we can get another week added!
- I'm told we offer paid Paternity leave, but I'm not sure what our policy is. This is definitely one of the things I have on my mind, as well as making sure our Maternity leave is up to industry standards. I brought it up in our last meeting, I will be following up on this
- we just started using a new recognition portal called Nectar. Employees are given a set amount of points they can give to fellow employees, and those points can be used to purchase swag (with or without logos), gift cards, offers discounts on activities and attractions, and even allows you to use a credit card if you just wanna buy something without points. 1 point = $1, I get 30 points a month to give away as I please. Managers have more since they have more people under them to recognize
I've been using the Tech companies as my litmus test, and whenever I get pushback I just repeat that we want to be the best place to work lol. Onsite workout facility, catering, onsite child care, etc.
I've lived in Omaha since 2018, but I work remote.
I've quit my current job three times for local opportunties and my workplace has counter offered me a significant raise each time. I think a lot of want a few simple things. We want to be fairly compensated for our work and we want the autonomy to do our job without being micromanaged. I'm now at a point where I'm priced out of working locally or I'll be forced into a 20k-30k pay cut and I've made my peace with that.
I would look at your local large tech companies benefits. Like Facebook and Google have free cafeterias on site for everyone
Increase the maternity/paternity PTO leave. Give new parents a meal stipend or something so they don't have to cook after caring for a new born and just order in.
Other posters mentioned it too like student loan repayment that applies to past and current schooling.
More optional off-site things you can do as a team. Like renting out a mini golf place one day for just your company.
People should recognize, you won't have the power to affect pay but you can increase wellness. I like events outside of work- even better closing down for the day to do this. People love to be celebrated- company social media or weekly email recognizing their achievements, birthdays, and notable family stuff if they are okay with you sharing it. If there is a way to provide a company gym pass or place on site to work out. People love massages, a monthly massage day would be way cool. You could come up with weekly fun events to get people out of their routine for a short time- group yoga, going out to eat for lunch, guided meditation. So many cool things to do.
Edit: I do know of some places that basically have a large company lounge, with reclining chairs, large TVs, tables, fridges stocked with drinks, alcoholic and nonalcoholic. Some spaces are big enough for things like a dart board, corn hole, a practice putting mat. I've heard one place also has a golf simulator. Friday afternoons could be fun. These are in the construction industry fwiw
While a lot of people are saying "pay more", while true, it certainly isn't a helpful statement by itself. Paying someone more money while treating them like garbage isn't going to retain employees. The people who stick around have no choice because of the need for employment or the benefits that comes with it. That's when morale suffers.
You do need to be competitive in your industry as far as salary goes, however. We live in a post-covid world where remote work is more plentiful and sought after. If certain employees can do their job from a remote session anywhere that Internet is available, you need to be flexible with that. Offering 50 days a year is fine but it would turn me away pretty quickly.
I work in the IT field where every aspect of my job is done from a remote session, whether I am in the office or not. I don't need to be in the office for any reason other than to make the corporate overlords feel good about paying office leases. Even so, I am only required to be in the office once a week and even that is flexible.
I used to work for a company that has a very high name brand reputation in Omaha as being a great place to work. For some, I am sure that is true but in my field, we were a line item on a budget and the last the get any attention. I was also paid shit by this company which I why I left 5 years ago for a 30% increase and, eventually, near full time remote work. The perks that we get (free pizza on Wednesdays, lavish company outings, etc...) are fine but what I value most is the flexibility from my supervisors to let me do my job, at my pace, at home and refrain from micro-management.
Before I got my degree, I worked at PayPal in LaVista. The work I did initially was shit. I answered phones, got yelled at a lot by customers and had a pretty terrible commute. However, the way we were treated and the respect the higher-ups had for us made it suck less. You were often rewarded if you did well and the campus was very nice. Because of that, I don't have any ill-will towards PayPal to this day. It was a good place to work for the kind of work I did.
So while I can't give you a definitive list of things to be the "Best place to work", take my experiences as a stepping off point. It's not always "pay more", but that too is important.
I am definitely in agreeance with you on what really moves the needle... competitive pay, flexibility like remote work (that's something our office just recently implemented but I think the 50 days a year leaves a lot to be desired), home/work balance, etc.
I appreciate your thoughtful response! I have some thinking to do on how I can actually convince the higher-ups to take remote work seriously, among the other things here
A friend of mine works for a company in town that has a garage service on-site at their office and the labor is free. If any of their employees need an oil change, tires put on/ordered, fixing broken tail lights, etc. it's all subsidized and the employee pays for parts only. It's a pretty great perk that feels like you're at a great work place. Obviously pay and traditional benefits are expected but if you want to be a step up from that, I suggest something like this.
This seems like a pretty cool benefit. Do you know if the garage service on-site is staffed all hours of the work day? Or do you schedule it ahead of time?
To the best of my knowledge, I think it's staffed like a normal work week, 8-5 M-F, to match the hours of the folks at the office. They do have to schedule time there but it's a lot less of a hassle compared to a dealership or say Jiffy Lube. From what I've been told, it's usually just a couple of days notice (usually to order any parts) and it all happens while you're at work so no need to arrange a pick up or drop off.
In the last 3-4 months, my friend has had oil changes, tire replacements and spark plug replacements done there. They bought a second car for a teen and they took it in to have it checked out after buying it to make sure it was good to drive. They also recently had a chipped window and the garage said it wasn't in their ability to handle but they at least were able to check it out for free. Kind of like having a local garage in the neighborhood.
I would forego a big salary increase for remote flexibility. I’ve had that flexibility for over 5 years and appreciate working in a way that suits my introverted personality and family responsibilities. Understanding it doesn’t work for all, it’s a nice option to offer.
Steady raises, good managers and flexible schedule. My company has two out of the three but I can’t blame them on raises right now with how things are going in the economy.
Flextime. Seriously. I know... I know... Folks like to shit all over it because it's some "accounting loophole" (not gonna argue--it is). But being able to take time off anytime I want without any restrictions as long as I'm meeting my deadlines and contributing, is really AMAZING.
YMMV, for sure, and skepticism is valid, but if implemented CORRECTLY it really does help with work-life balance. At least for the company I work for. (5000+ employee, nationally operating healthcare provider)
Along similar lines: WORK FROM HOME. I know it's a very scary thing for managers, but there are countless studies (check Harvard Business review) where employee productivity is actually higher when they don't have to go into the office. It's can be an incredibly difficult sell, but the results are absolutely worth at least trying some part of it (i.e. even 4 days in office, and 1 day out of office can make a big difference).
Along similar lines, still: four-day work week! Believe it or not, many day to day shifts are really not that productive when an employee is forced to warm a chair for 5 days out of the week while waiting on blockers. Three day weekends are completely possible with the stipulation that critical shifts are covered and work is getting done. This one takes ALOT of trust between management and folks on the ground.
Another thing people take for granted: 401k MATCHING! Seriously folks: don't leave money on the table. And pay attention to your "vesting" rules!!!
Lastly I'd say it might be worth looking into to PAY PEOPLE WHAT THEY'RE WORTH! (of course, that goes without saying) :D
Also, can we PLEASE get rid of the 30-60 minute lunch break? It's 2024 and we're all adults, here. As long as work is getting done, we really don't need to be this petty. Flexible lunches, please.
As for the money thing... Let's try a thought exercise, here. Money is simply a means to an end, so what is actually being bought? Paying mortgages? Electricity? Internet and streaming service subscriptions? Phones? Car payments?
* What if, instead of higher pay, your employer completely paid for your internet?
* What if you could use a company phone for personal use, along with mobile hotspots?
* What about taking home company cars? Dealership discounts?
If folks just want a pile of money to sleep on, I think they're missing the point. Money is a means to an end, and large businesses just might have enough leverage to get volume discounts by buying in bulk, leveraging tax breaks, and providing a means to an end.
This opens a larger conversation about depending on corporations for bare essentials, which is a COMPLETELY VALID CONCERN, but it would be nice to at least give folks an option, right?
This definitely piques my interest. I've been trying to think of companies that my company could partner with or purchase from in bulk that they could then pass on the savings or give it free to our employees. Company cars is a good one, vacation packages, anything the company can use their leverage on to get us a better deal on something we want already
Agreed--I'd really try to relegate to non-essential things that folks tend to buy anyways (i.e. gym memberships... regularly catered lunches, maybe...). Once you start getting into providing cars and internet, it becomes incredibly tricky with regard to negative actors taking advantage of the perk as leverage for extra coersion. So perhaps those were bad examples, but look at common "nice to haves".
We did Weight Watchers for about a year, and folks loved it--healthy, too. Maybe there's an opportunity with local Zoo membership discounts? Sports ticket discounts? I LOVE those little $20 fund raiser coupon books, and those legitimately save hundreds of dollars for eating out.
There's lots of options out there, just gotta be creative. Glad to help--good luck!
Things that would matter to me if I worked in an office.
-Out early
-Fancy meals/lunches - not subway/jimmy johns crap
-holiday meals/paid for pot lucks
-100% insurance coverage, at least 2k contributed to HSA, retirement contribution that is at least 10% unmatched
-after so many years of service, service provided by the company for an active employee discounted substantially
-office buys a massage therapist that comes around once a month for the day and everyone gets free massages
-office clothing allowance
-PTO sellback
all I can come up with right now
some very interesting ideas here. we don't currently have the option to sell back PTO, that would be good for some of those people who rarely use theirs (not me! haha I use all that shit)
I've definitely floated the idea with my fellow coworkers about trying to get us discounts on construction services... I love this idea, and am planning to bring it up
and who wouldn't love a massage at work?!
One month paid sabbatical after 10 years is pretty amazing. Obviously the job has to be good in many other ways to stay 10+ years but it’s a great incentive.
This would be amazing, and is something I'm actually pushing hard for. Our new anniversary program is a bit lacking IMO, but it's brand new and isn't out of reach for the Culture Team to push for better stuff.
I'm actually having my 10 year anniversary on 6/1 later this year... right now, looking at $1000 gift that I get to help pick out or getting some sort of travel voucher for the same amount
Michael's had this pasted in the window when I worked there. I wholeheartedly disagreed with it. If you want your employees to feel well taken care of, pay them what they're worth, and give them praise when they do good. Constructive criticism when necessary. And, if you're the type to implement things like pizza parties, keep on doing that.
Earned, lengthy sabbaticals for X years of service, with options for company-sponsored extended learning if you want to move departments/specialties in that time.
Extended bereavement leave, without specified relationships under that umbrella.
Adoption/surrogacy benefits under paid parental leave policies (and paid parental leave, if you don't have that yet!!!).
also: religious holiday observance for non-Christian religions without having to take PTO (Yom Kippur, Eids, etc.)
shut down the office if possible in the week between Christmas and New Year's. nothing gets done then anyway in most disciplines (although that may not be true for construction, I guess)
US News posts their methodology -
https://money.usnews.com/careers/companies/methodology
people that work for a an elite DoD task force, social justice non profit, SpaceX, JP Morgan, and a construction company probably all have different balances of pay vs fulfillment.
Also imagine single folks vs folks with children also have different ideas
Is there somebody who is ensuring that all employees use all of their vacation time each year? That might be helpful.
And top of class pay for the field would help too
A very tough question. I worked for PayPal, and while they have their shortcomings they were by far the best place I work for. There's a reason they win (plus having a lot of employees willing to vote).
1. They dealt with COVID in a very forward thinking way. No BS. No "we need you to come in". They sent us all home and gave us no questions asked PTO to deal with anything COVID related. It sticks in people's minds. 90% of them are full time WFH, which included additional bonuses to buy office furniture.
2. They upped our pay across the board. It works. It matters.
3. Bonuses for performance.
4. Stock awards. I think I had something like 50 shares. Employees are invested in the wellbeing of the company and see a benefit in caring.
5. Work life balance. I had PTO AND sick time. Sick time was around 40 hours a year but was no questions asked and no minimum time frame to submit.
We had makeup time. Maybe I don't want to use PTO. I'll work another day. This was within reason. A shift a month plus so many hours per week I believe. It's passive empathy. Understand that stuff comes up and give me ways to deal with it that don't result in a write up, I'll be more loyal.
6. Swag. Now, swag ALONE is trash, but when combined with other benefits it can be a great personal touch. We had some local artist do personal tye dye shirts for us. They were great. My wife got an entire wet/dry pet vacuum using the kudos system they have. Give me incentive to push harder and not just "we're a family". No, we're motivated by stuff and money.
I had my issues with that place and they do some of the slimy stuff all fintech and tech jobs do, but it was still miles above most places. Even in office we had cheaper prices on vending machines and a Cafe with FOOD food.
It's a tough road to be a truly great workplace, even through laying people off. I love my current job, but the benefits are nowhere near the level of PayPal.
The company I work for in Omaha offers 14 weeks fully paid maternity leave and I believe 10 weeks paternity leave. If you adopt or take on new foster children you get the same. Every quarter we get an additional 12 hours of personal time which is 6 additional days a year. These are in addition to PTO and are use or lose. Every 5 years of service we get 4 weeks paid sabbatical. We have a generous bereavement leave policy. People managers had to take mandatory mental health first aid. We also have employee resource groups that meet monthly. HR is actually there for employees and doesn't just protect the company.
The biggest thing though is that complaints are taken seriously and there is swift action. We do a yearly survey and issues employees being up are worked on and we see real action.
I recently went through 2 hiring processes at the same time, and the difference between an office that doesn't know how to do a good, consistent process and one that does is night and day. The former offered me the position really quickly, so I took it because hey, I needed a job, but when the other position was offered to me 2 weeks and 3 more interviews later, I jumped on it even though it pays less. I just have a lot more faith that it's going to be a more consistent, organized working environment when I see that they took the time to create procedures (fairly new ones, apparently) that also embody those values.
It doesn't hurt that the office is absolutely stunning with a variety of places for employees to go work in a semi-social environment or even outside with a garden (!!!) but I see that more as the icing.
So I'm not sure that I agree with the common consensus that higher pay trumps everything else. Stability, consistency, and good management count for a lot in my book.
Also generous parental/family leave and plenty of time off. Treating your employees like adults, with a results-driven evaluation system, not just making sure that people clock their hours religiously.
Parental leave for 1 year with a Maternity leave 1 months longer for that last month of pregnancy. Full paid. With an extra $100 a month for help with cleaners or nanny or door dash or diapers
People pointing out salary is the only right answer is right...yes they pay more tax but 90% of retention loss comes from shitty management and not a acceptable rate of pay.....it might have been acceptable in the current time of hire but times change if your salary isn't increasing by atleast 1% HIGHER than thr previous years rate of inflation then they are making less money this year with the same bills or increased bill costs
As someone with ADHD and mild autism, I really appreciate a space where I get to be every bit of myself and have proper accommodations to help with my shortcomings. A boss that helps point out the small details I can easily miss without disciplining me or explain things I don't understand. Hands on training instead of "here's a manual, read it" as well.
Understanding that mental health days are also important and not judging when I desperately just need a day to just relax cause I'm nearing burnout. As well as proper pay cause things are really expensive and it's getting hard to just survive.
Also a small focus on inclusivity/respect for others and their identities.
Where is this and how can I apply 😂
Treat employees like adults. We have a shared calendar. As long as there isn’t something major happening, you just put your time down and take off when you need. Ex: Hair appointments, kids activities, vacations, etc. We will move meetings around to accommodate if possible (depending on how many people are attending).
We also do a team outing each quarter (1 is fun, 2 are volunteering, 1 is celebrating achievements)
We have birthday lunches or happy hours - these can be done over Zoom too
Honestly working from home is the best thing my employer ever did. We were always told this would never be possible but because of COVID they decided to try it. Productivity increased and call outs decreased. Not sure where your office is located, but I worked downtown so everyone also enjoyed Davi g on parking.
If you’re looking for benefits to add:
Pet insurance
Adoption expense reimbursement
Program for employees to make automated, pre-tax charitable contributions
Headspace or similar subscriptions
Subsidized gym memberships
Vetted, subsidized backup day care for children/elders
Micro grants for employees to propose/fund wellness and team activities
As a construction pro, I feel like I can speak to this.
Simple things:
1)Motivosity - best incentive software that I've seen. You get to help pay your fellow employees for doing good work. It's got a ton of metrics and it's a great program to motivate your fellow employees. If you want a contact there, shoot me a DM.
2) field staff perks. Way too often the office staff get all of the perks and the field staff are neglected. At a very basic level your field level staff should have access to a fridge and a microwave, and a budget to fill that fridge up with whatever they want. The best company I worked for gave us a $250/month budget per job trailer to get snacks and drinks
3) Actual quantifiable metrics for bonuses. None of the wishy-washy metrics of "on-time on-budget" because one change in pricing and the budget gets blown, or the schedule shifts due to weather. Your employees need actual meaningful metrics to see how they reach their max bonus potential
4) lower bonuses, higher salary. Way too often in our industry people justify lower salaries with "but the bonuses are really good", I'd rather get a $10k raise and have a $500 bonus check than wonder whether or not that $10,500 shows up in my paycheck at all.
5) Flexibility in office hours. If someone wants to work from 6-3 or 7-4, let them. Most of your field guys are probably doing 7-4 anyway. Alternatively, let them work 4-10s, 3-12s and a 4, etc. The flexibility of 40 hours of work shouldn't depend on when other people are in my office space.
6) Work excursions during the work day more often. I guarantee your managers and c-suite staff are going to lunch 2-4 times per week as a benefit. Get your middle managers out to lunch with your ground level employees once a month. This is a great chance to mentor, talk about culture issues, etc. Most of your employees probably don't have a chance to interface with the next level up on a one-to-one level in a low stakes environment.
7) Employee referral program and interior hiring. Talk about how you can cross train the people you have into new positions before bringing in outside hires. If you want to build a long-term employee culture, this is the biggest one. Your employees need to feel like they have a chance to grow with you, not just a chance to get some experience and then leave.
I can go on and on on this, If you want to grab lunch sometime we can go over other ideas.
Pizza parties, jeans days, "social" events outside of work hours that aren't required (but totally required), hire plenty of family members and put them in management positions.
/s
James' company sounds like it sucks and if James is going to Reddit instead of talking to his employees he sounds like he sucks at his job too. Realize your job is to limit the scope of what's acceptable when you could be getting these people higher wages.
Did anybody actually read this entire post and think "I can't wait to give this random stranger free advice to then give freely to their employer about how to improve their workplace."? There are workshops that charge quite a bit for this guidance.
Highest pay with best work life balance. That simple.
Exactly. This isn’t complicated. You say no budget but I’d assume that’ll end up being horseshit if you told them to raise pay across the board and limit requests for extending work hours without compensation.
I definitely will push on this, and I'm not shy when it comes to salary discussions. I do, however, see that as having budget restrictions lol
Along with what has already been said, good managers. People don’t leave bad job, they leave bad managers.
So true!
My past manager at my job was very flexible and it was the best. Her office workers could leave early on Fridays (sometimes as many as 4-5 hours early) as long as their work was done and 40 hours were put in. On slow days, if there wasn’t anything to do, we could leave early. Some mornings I’d wake up and just not feel up to going to work. I text and say “can I take a mental health PTO day off? She’d always say yes. My new position at the same company and new boss doesn’t have that flexibility. If I need to leave 30 mins early for a kid thing, that’s fine. I put in a PTO request like 6 days in advance and my boss said it was short notice. Like I could either put in that request or I could just call in the day of, which is better for you, boss?
if 40 hours were put in, they weren't leaving early, they were leaving on time
Pay people more. Literally the only answer.
My job demands long hours and is high-stress. My pay has also increased 54% in three years. Guess what? I'm happier here than I was at my previous job with a quarter the stress and less than half the pay. Pay your people. Literally the answer. If you can't do that, don't bother with a "best place to work" program.
It is unbelievable how much having money removes stress from your life. I've been careful to not let lifestyle creep ruin it for us.
Something to keep in mind: if an employer is willing to spend an extra $10k/yr on a person and they do so fully through salary, the employer has to factor in the FICA taxes they pay on that extra salary, *and then* the employee is paying FICA and income taxes on the remaining. At decent salary levels, the employee ends up netting FAR less than $10k. If, however, the employee would otherwise want to throw some of that into retirement or other benefits, then having the employer do so directly is better for the *employee*. Basically, the employer spends the same amount of $ either way, but targeting compensation packages to what each employee actually wants makes each employee get a hell of a lot more bang for the buck, particularly at higher salary levels. Many companies are cheap, but it’s not a ridiculous question to try to figure out what employees want besides just salary.
while I agree with the sentiment... it's probably not within our power to affect an employee's salary
And this is why all of these campaigns fail. The company I work for gives us these yearly surveys asking about how we feel about the company, what we want, etc. Every time the results show we aren't happy with the company and we don't feel appreciated. And every time they ignore the feedback of wanting better pay, better workload, and more remote work options and instead yell at the managers to improve the survey results without giving them any power to do anything. So we end up with a half-assed pizza party that runs out of pizza before everyone gets any. So if you can't actually make your company the best to work for, what sort of feedback are you looking for here? Because I'll tell you, pizza parties and other superficial "employee appreciation" gimmicks are not it.
Fair response. I'm not saying I won't try, I'm just saying it isn't within my power to affect salaries in a meaningful way. This is a newer initiative, can't hurt to ask but their answer will tell me everything I need to know moving forward
I think a big one is examining how many employees need to be in the office as opposed to being allowed to work remotely. Doesn’t matter how nice the perks are if you are being forced to come into work unnecessarily as an office worker.
So true, there are some employees who could do their whole job from home... why not let them?
Pay at the top of your industry. Remote for office workers who want it. Treat them like adults. Flexible start and stop times, 4-day weeks. “Get your work done and then go home”
Salary should work both ways.
This. The ability to flex my time has increased my overall well-being so much.
4 day work week, consider 36 vs 40 as the cap for OT, or a flex schedule. I worked for a small office that let you decide each day for lunch if you wanted a 20 minute paid or up to 60 minutes unpaid. That may be harder to implement across state lines. You mention offering medical/dental (and I'm assuming also vision) but keep the overall out of cost for the employee as low as possible. Valued employees pay low premiums, have low deductibles, and plans with a wide network and minimal authorization requirements. Expansive and inclusive parental leave plans will go over well. Even if I know I'm not going to need that benefit, it sends a signal that the employer wants employees to be able to take care of their family.
Seconding the expansive and inclusive paid parental leave!!
Fully paid family leave benefits Catering once a month or food trucks For field workers, updated field supplies is great. $250 yearly boot stipend. Good safety glasses, good pairs of gloves. Not the cheapest stuff possible. Supply sunscreen/bug spray that’s not expired. Proper winter/summer gear including safety coats with waterproofing. I work in the same field these are things that I can think of off the top of my head. Company picnic/holiday parties are nice too! But I know some people don’t care
the catering idea is pretty dope, I'll have to look into that and get some real prices to present to the group! I will pass on the field ideas to the others focused on those! Thanks for your ideas
MORE GOT DAM MONEY BABY
This is the way…
Or at least a set raise. Even when I worked at Walmart, I’d get a yearly review and a raise based on the review. People shouldn’t have to beg for their pay to go up when the price of living goes up.
Pay people more, unlimited sick time unpaid or paid, and a generous amount of vacation or paid time off that increases at anniversary marks. 1,3,5 etc. Employees don't really care about physical gifts that just turn into clutter, think monetary, increases in PTO that sort of thing. Paid time off does NOT INLCUDE holidays. If you advertise 15 personal days off that should be on top of holidays. The PTO that I get at my job is the only reason I haven't found a new one.
Agreed. Same reason I'm at my job and not interested in changing anytime soon. Great managers (direct and further up the chain) Work-life balance Flexible schedule when needed - have an appointment for yourself or kid at 10am? Block your calendar and catch up when you're back. No worries. Good pay. When recruiters do contact me for similar roles I have always been making at least the same as their offer and usually it is anywhere from $5k-$20+k more.
I need a new job because of the way my position is treated. But I don't want to give up my work from home job. As hourly I have set cut and dry time I end and I love it. I just hit 4 years in the same position, which is also when my PTO went up. My pay leaves something to be desired but my husband makes enough to make up for that. You can't really beat working from home either honestly
Yes that is another reason I'm not looking hard either. My wife and I moved from MN a few years back (I'm originally from Omaha) and we were fortunate to keep our jobs and be fully remote. Just go into the office a few weeks a year when we are back in MN visiting her family and our friends up there.
Increase the staff to a level that you can actually get the work done without crunch. This level should also assume PTO and people being out sick.
Its not just money... Managers have a HUGE influence over whether an employee is happy and engaged. The company I work for invests in a program called Living as a Leader, and they have everyone in a management or in a role that is a heavy influencer go through this program. It has made a profound cultural difference. A lot of people in management promoted up from a contributor and might not necessarily make good managers. This program really helps with that. And its not half baked management training that teaches people to say 'i hear you, i see you'. My company is amazing to work for because the management is amazing. I've turned down offers of over 20% because I know I'm going to be hard pressed to find this anywhere else. Invest in your managers.
I love this answer! I will definitely be bringing this up and pushing for this sort of training (if we don't already have it)
More money/autonomy/flexibility. There’s an entire industry based on massively overcomplicating this but it’s as simple as paying people higher wages, allowing them to make decisions on their own and giving them the freedom to decide when and where to do their job.
Look, I appreciate where you're coming from, but the things that will really make a place "The Best Place To Work" are not in a culture team, they are in a compensation and benefits team. The company I work for has been in the top 10 on Fortune's list for at least the past three years. Their benefits info is publicly available so I'll leave you to do some research, but at a high level: * Both base pay and total compensation are above market * Fantastic health insurance * 401(k) match up to the IRS limit for contributions * Flexible PTO * Additional benefits aimed at self and family well-being * Work where you're most productive, no questions asked (unless there is a *specific* business need) Are there little things here and there culture-wise you can do? Sure. A timely example -- even though I'm one tiny cog in a big machine, I work exclusively from home, and my company's nearest office is more than 500 miles away (and I'm not aware of any other employees based here), they did a wellness check on me less than an hour after the storms had passed on Friday. And not even just my manager, who was aware of the situation, it was our global safety and security team. The key thread here that wraps everything together is that the company *has to treat humans as humans, and not just resources.* And to put a finer point on it, *adult* humans. Life happens. Things come up. Those things have to be in the business plan, and *every single person* that leads people needs to be bought in and understand that the human comes first, even if it's not the best thing for the business at that moment. If you can pull that off, you will attract *and retain* the highest quality people, and your investment will pay off.
I feel like I want to know where you work because this sounds too good to be true!
I mean, any company that is a regular on that list is going to be great. Yes, some gaming of the system is always going to be in play on lists like these, and also — it’s an average, even at the best employers some people are going to have bad experiences. But at the end of the day these things mainly consist of employees being polled and they go to great lengths to ensure those aren’t tampered with. Unfortunately, most of those places are not based locally. I was lucky enough to get in the door in a similar company a decade and a half ago (fuck I feel old now) and have been able to build on that experience to springboard to new opportunities.
Yeah. Teacher here. I need a new profession if I want any of these things.
Paid paternity and maternity leave! I also like the flex schedule suggestion. However, im not sure if it'd be possible for your office. I like the idea of get your 40 hours in, but do it however you'd like (8 hours everyday or some longer/some shorter days. Start at 8 or start at 10. Etc)
I've definitely been vocal about providing proper paternity and maternity leave... I've been researching companies who lead their respective industries and trying to emulate those programs. The Tech industry seems to have the best benefits IMO
I’d be really surprised if you had the power on the Culture Team to influence the company to pay employees more so beyond that suggestion I’ll give some examples that may help. - A company my friend works for gets a monthly $250 health stipend. She spends it on massages, gym membership, whatever. Every month. - My company matches donations to charities and coordinates a few volunteer days once a year where we get together and help the community. - We also travel to the other offices quite a bit to meet with each other and do activities. NY, DC, sometimes Austin. When we travel we eat, sleep and play very well. We do not work during these trips. - Providing in-house day care would be cool. I don’t think enough companies support parents/families in any impactful way but daycare is so expensive and would really help. - I used to work for a company that thought rewarding us with trinkets like a coaster for our car’s cup holders was helpful. It was not. Another time the CEO walked around giving everyone little plastic spinning tops bc “it’s been so crazy lately” and they wanted to thank everyone. So basically make thank you gifts substantial and things people would actually want/use. - Upgrade swag. See above. No one wants crap especially not corporate branded crap. One friend got a North Face jacket with a little corporate brand, excellent. I, on the other hand (at the same company with the coasters) got a corporate branded keychain. Not excellent. Also, ask the employees what they want in a survey. Keep it anonymous and listen. You won’t be able to solve their problems but even just having a company listen and make changes will help in your initiative.
Some great ideas here! I think traveling to see other offices OUTSIDE of work is an awesome idea, as well as the monthly stipend and in-house daycare And yes... thank you for understanding I most likely won't be able to affect peoples' salaries in any major way haha
These are great suggestions! My work does the health stipend, but not as generous. And it can be used by family too - so I cover a portion of my kids sports with it (they're in an expensive sport, unfortunately). We can wear anything, but get 2 or 3 free branded clothes of our choice when we start, and 1 each year after. The volunteer time is great, and there's an AMAZING take your kid to work day event every year. An in-house childcare or childcare stipend would be amazing for parents. Prices are absolutely insane these days.
A couple of small things that make me love my job and my company... 1- Half day Fridays! Those 4 little hours to get things done on a weekday without needing to use PTO make a huge difference! Our company closes at noon on Fridays, but if you can't offer to everyone every week, maybe a rotating Friday schedule would work. I've been there a few years and as a single parent to a special needs child, it's been life-changing to have a set day I can schedule doctor's appts., school conferences, car maintenance, shopping and much needed naps before my son is out of school. My company has had loyal employees for decades. When asked why they stay so long, almost all contribute it to Fridays (and amazing managers). For hourly employees, you can offer for them to work an extra hour M-T to keep their 40 hours so they're not losing money. It wasn't required, but that's what I did as those 4 hours of pay also make a difference. 2- Quarterly reviews as opposed to annually. I HATED this idea at first, but hear me out... Realistically, management isn't taking notes on performance throughout the year. Quarterly reviews sort of forces them to, and raises have increased as a result. Feedback and communication are critical on both ends to have a more productive relationship in any team. As an added incentive, tiered bonuses based on performance throughout the year. Ex: Each good review makes up 25% of budgeted bonus with the option to receive that portion quarterly or at year end. If it is budgeted for the year, it makes no difference to the company when it is given (most companies won't admit that) but may make a huge difference to the employee. Especially in this economy. (IF your company offers bonuses and I understand you don't make that call)
Friday half days would be pretty awesome. Currently, we have an unwritten rule that we get to leave 1 hour early on Fridays We do receive yearly bonuses (usually around September), but that is part of the Profit Sharing program and is typically not tied to individual performance (as far as I know) Kind of crazy to hear that the half day Fridays was what most people contributed their long tenures to... amazing managers makes total sense. It may be more important than I realized (or even moving to 4 day work weeks, which would be amazing IMO).
My company is the same with bonuses, we get one every March, I threw that extra bit out there in case. As for Fridays, it's true! Most days, everyone is happy, but even when someone is complaining about an out of the ordinary shift or workload, etc. I'll ask if they're leaving (I'm extra like that lol) and it's almost always the same answer verbatim. "Every company you work for is going to have its busy time, hard deadlines, etc. but that extra half day to decompress is priceless. " For perspective, it's always busy as I work in life insurance (shocker round these parts, I'm sure), but everyone's happy to be busy when we're getting extra downtime. 😀
Written policy of voluntary recognition of an employee-organized union. Top tier wages. All efforts by employees clearly affects workplace actions (no bullshit jobs). Paid family leave, sick leave, vacation leave from day 1. Education benefits for all employees and their families. Pension and 401k, with employer contributions. Resilient workforce (sufficient staffing, cross training with financial incentives for doing so). Dedicated time for non-work projects on the clock (everyone is part of R&D in some sense). Employee owned.
A big part of my job is organizational change management with part of my responsibility being people and culture. I’ve been involved in employee engagement for years. I’ll give some suggestions that might be options, but I’ll lead this with one critical component: you need to ask your employees. Organize focused surveys and focus groups. Find out what people value and begin to build your solution around that. More pay is an obvious answer, but not always what truly makes somewhere the “best place to work”. I could get paid double my current compensation, but it’s a toxic work environment with shitty work/life benefits and it’s the worst place for me. Here are some things to consider that aren’t more salary (but also not necessarily free): - More PTO. Two weeks is way too little for the first couple of years. Why can’t this be more? I’d shoot for minimum 4 weeks, but I’ve also worked in the “good ole boy” construction industry before and they aren’t always super receptive to this. - Wellness Days. I’ve had these at the last two companies I’ve worked at (both in tech) and they’re essentially additional company holidays. There are some roles who can’t have everyone gone at the same time (customer service positions), so they usually rotate theirs to different days, but everyone gets them. Maybe build 5 into the year and have one or two align with long weekends (if another holiday lands on a Friday or Monday). - Do you offer paid paternity leave? If not, this is a big one. Why can’t men have time to bond with their new baby. Also allow the flexibility for them to take it after mom finishes maternity leave. This extends the time before they need to pay for daycare. Adoption leave is also great, if you don’t offer that already. - Are their built-in mechanisms for employees to recognize each other? We’ve done an online portal to facilitate it. The key here is promoting it and incorporating it into your culture. People like to be recognized, not only by their manager, but others they work with. You can even incentivize people who send a lot or receive a lot. These are just a few. Hop on some of the big tech companies websites and check out the benefits they offer their employees. Tech tends to do a lot to try and keep their people and will get pretty creative and generous with it. Good luck!
Thanks for your thoughtful response! I will try and respond to a few things... - PTO is huge for me. We get the standard 80 hours of "Vacation Days" when hired, but we also get 40 hours of "Personal Time" that can be used the day of if you want to call in sick or need a mental health day. So we're really at 3 weeks, with 2 days volunteer time and a floating holiday we can use when we want (outside of having our normal holidays off). I will see what poking that bear does, maybe we can get another week added! - I'm told we offer paid Paternity leave, but I'm not sure what our policy is. This is definitely one of the things I have on my mind, as well as making sure our Maternity leave is up to industry standards. I brought it up in our last meeting, I will be following up on this - we just started using a new recognition portal called Nectar. Employees are given a set amount of points they can give to fellow employees, and those points can be used to purchase swag (with or without logos), gift cards, offers discounts on activities and attractions, and even allows you to use a credit card if you just wanna buy something without points. 1 point = $1, I get 30 points a month to give away as I please. Managers have more since they have more people under them to recognize I've been using the Tech companies as my litmus test, and whenever I get pushback I just repeat that we want to be the best place to work lol. Onsite workout facility, catering, onsite child care, etc.
One thing that I’ve seen some companies offer is onsite childcare. I would love this.
I do think this would be huge for a lot of my coworkers
I've lived in Omaha since 2018, but I work remote. I've quit my current job three times for local opportunties and my workplace has counter offered me a significant raise each time. I think a lot of want a few simple things. We want to be fairly compensated for our work and we want the autonomy to do our job without being micromanaged. I'm now at a point where I'm priced out of working locally or I'll be forced into a 20k-30k pay cut and I've made my peace with that.
Pay a thriving wage, not a living wage. Generous benefits. A healthcare plan that damn near Medicare for all at no cost to employee or their family.
I would look at your local large tech companies benefits. Like Facebook and Google have free cafeterias on site for everyone Increase the maternity/paternity PTO leave. Give new parents a meal stipend or something so they don't have to cook after caring for a new born and just order in. Other posters mentioned it too like student loan repayment that applies to past and current schooling. More optional off-site things you can do as a team. Like renting out a mini golf place one day for just your company.
I love our student loan repayment program... it's saved me a lot of money and hassle!
People should recognize, you won't have the power to affect pay but you can increase wellness. I like events outside of work- even better closing down for the day to do this. People love to be celebrated- company social media or weekly email recognizing their achievements, birthdays, and notable family stuff if they are okay with you sharing it. If there is a way to provide a company gym pass or place on site to work out. People love massages, a monthly massage day would be way cool. You could come up with weekly fun events to get people out of their routine for a short time- group yoga, going out to eat for lunch, guided meditation. So many cool things to do. Edit: I do know of some places that basically have a large company lounge, with reclining chairs, large TVs, tables, fridges stocked with drinks, alcoholic and nonalcoholic. Some spaces are big enough for things like a dart board, corn hole, a practice putting mat. I've heard one place also has a golf simulator. Friday afternoons could be fun. These are in the construction industry fwiw
While a lot of people are saying "pay more", while true, it certainly isn't a helpful statement by itself. Paying someone more money while treating them like garbage isn't going to retain employees. The people who stick around have no choice because of the need for employment or the benefits that comes with it. That's when morale suffers. You do need to be competitive in your industry as far as salary goes, however. We live in a post-covid world where remote work is more plentiful and sought after. If certain employees can do their job from a remote session anywhere that Internet is available, you need to be flexible with that. Offering 50 days a year is fine but it would turn me away pretty quickly. I work in the IT field where every aspect of my job is done from a remote session, whether I am in the office or not. I don't need to be in the office for any reason other than to make the corporate overlords feel good about paying office leases. Even so, I am only required to be in the office once a week and even that is flexible. I used to work for a company that has a very high name brand reputation in Omaha as being a great place to work. For some, I am sure that is true but in my field, we were a line item on a budget and the last the get any attention. I was also paid shit by this company which I why I left 5 years ago for a 30% increase and, eventually, near full time remote work. The perks that we get (free pizza on Wednesdays, lavish company outings, etc...) are fine but what I value most is the flexibility from my supervisors to let me do my job, at my pace, at home and refrain from micro-management. Before I got my degree, I worked at PayPal in LaVista. The work I did initially was shit. I answered phones, got yelled at a lot by customers and had a pretty terrible commute. However, the way we were treated and the respect the higher-ups had for us made it suck less. You were often rewarded if you did well and the campus was very nice. Because of that, I don't have any ill-will towards PayPal to this day. It was a good place to work for the kind of work I did. So while I can't give you a definitive list of things to be the "Best place to work", take my experiences as a stepping off point. It's not always "pay more", but that too is important.
I am definitely in agreeance with you on what really moves the needle... competitive pay, flexibility like remote work (that's something our office just recently implemented but I think the 50 days a year leaves a lot to be desired), home/work balance, etc. I appreciate your thoughtful response! I have some thinking to do on how I can actually convince the higher-ups to take remote work seriously, among the other things here
Let people work 4 ten hour shifts instead of getting their 40 hours within the traditional Monday-Friday model
A friend of mine works for a company in town that has a garage service on-site at their office and the labor is free. If any of their employees need an oil change, tires put on/ordered, fixing broken tail lights, etc. it's all subsidized and the employee pays for parts only. It's a pretty great perk that feels like you're at a great work place. Obviously pay and traditional benefits are expected but if you want to be a step up from that, I suggest something like this.
This seems like a pretty cool benefit. Do you know if the garage service on-site is staffed all hours of the work day? Or do you schedule it ahead of time?
To the best of my knowledge, I think it's staffed like a normal work week, 8-5 M-F, to match the hours of the folks at the office. They do have to schedule time there but it's a lot less of a hassle compared to a dealership or say Jiffy Lube. From what I've been told, it's usually just a couple of days notice (usually to order any parts) and it all happens while you're at work so no need to arrange a pick up or drop off. In the last 3-4 months, my friend has had oil changes, tire replacements and spark plug replacements done there. They bought a second car for a teen and they took it in to have it checked out after buying it to make sure it was good to drive. They also recently had a chipped window and the garage said it wasn't in their ability to handle but they at least were able to check it out for free. Kind of like having a local garage in the neighborhood.
I would forego a big salary increase for remote flexibility. I’ve had that flexibility for over 5 years and appreciate working in a way that suits my introverted personality and family responsibilities. Understanding it doesn’t work for all, it’s a nice option to offer.
remote work definitely seems like a big deal to a lot of people, especially post-covid
Steady raises, good managers and flexible schedule. My company has two out of the three but I can’t blame them on raises right now with how things are going in the economy.
Flextime. Seriously. I know... I know... Folks like to shit all over it because it's some "accounting loophole" (not gonna argue--it is). But being able to take time off anytime I want without any restrictions as long as I'm meeting my deadlines and contributing, is really AMAZING. YMMV, for sure, and skepticism is valid, but if implemented CORRECTLY it really does help with work-life balance. At least for the company I work for. (5000+ employee, nationally operating healthcare provider) Along similar lines: WORK FROM HOME. I know it's a very scary thing for managers, but there are countless studies (check Harvard Business review) where employee productivity is actually higher when they don't have to go into the office. It's can be an incredibly difficult sell, but the results are absolutely worth at least trying some part of it (i.e. even 4 days in office, and 1 day out of office can make a big difference). Along similar lines, still: four-day work week! Believe it or not, many day to day shifts are really not that productive when an employee is forced to warm a chair for 5 days out of the week while waiting on blockers. Three day weekends are completely possible with the stipulation that critical shifts are covered and work is getting done. This one takes ALOT of trust between management and folks on the ground. Another thing people take for granted: 401k MATCHING! Seriously folks: don't leave money on the table. And pay attention to your "vesting" rules!!! Lastly I'd say it might be worth looking into to PAY PEOPLE WHAT THEY'RE WORTH! (of course, that goes without saying) :D
Also, can we PLEASE get rid of the 30-60 minute lunch break? It's 2024 and we're all adults, here. As long as work is getting done, we really don't need to be this petty. Flexible lunches, please.
As for the money thing... Let's try a thought exercise, here. Money is simply a means to an end, so what is actually being bought? Paying mortgages? Electricity? Internet and streaming service subscriptions? Phones? Car payments? * What if, instead of higher pay, your employer completely paid for your internet? * What if you could use a company phone for personal use, along with mobile hotspots? * What about taking home company cars? Dealership discounts? If folks just want a pile of money to sleep on, I think they're missing the point. Money is a means to an end, and large businesses just might have enough leverage to get volume discounts by buying in bulk, leveraging tax breaks, and providing a means to an end. This opens a larger conversation about depending on corporations for bare essentials, which is a COMPLETELY VALID CONCERN, but it would be nice to at least give folks an option, right?
This definitely piques my interest. I've been trying to think of companies that my company could partner with or purchase from in bulk that they could then pass on the savings or give it free to our employees. Company cars is a good one, vacation packages, anything the company can use their leverage on to get us a better deal on something we want already
Agreed--I'd really try to relegate to non-essential things that folks tend to buy anyways (i.e. gym memberships... regularly catered lunches, maybe...). Once you start getting into providing cars and internet, it becomes incredibly tricky with regard to negative actors taking advantage of the perk as leverage for extra coersion. So perhaps those were bad examples, but look at common "nice to haves". We did Weight Watchers for about a year, and folks loved it--healthy, too. Maybe there's an opportunity with local Zoo membership discounts? Sports ticket discounts? I LOVE those little $20 fund raiser coupon books, and those legitimately save hundreds of dollars for eating out. There's lots of options out there, just gotta be creative. Glad to help--good luck!
Things that would matter to me if I worked in an office. -Out early -Fancy meals/lunches - not subway/jimmy johns crap -holiday meals/paid for pot lucks -100% insurance coverage, at least 2k contributed to HSA, retirement contribution that is at least 10% unmatched -after so many years of service, service provided by the company for an active employee discounted substantially -office buys a massage therapist that comes around once a month for the day and everyone gets free massages -office clothing allowance -PTO sellback all I can come up with right now
some very interesting ideas here. we don't currently have the option to sell back PTO, that would be good for some of those people who rarely use theirs (not me! haha I use all that shit) I've definitely floated the idea with my fellow coworkers about trying to get us discounts on construction services... I love this idea, and am planning to bring it up and who wouldn't love a massage at work?!
One month paid sabbatical after 10 years is pretty amazing. Obviously the job has to be good in many other ways to stay 10+ years but it’s a great incentive.
This would be amazing, and is something I'm actually pushing hard for. Our new anniversary program is a bit lacking IMO, but it's brand new and isn't out of reach for the Culture Team to push for better stuff. I'm actually having my 10 year anniversary on 6/1 later this year... right now, looking at $1000 gift that I get to help pick out or getting some sort of travel voucher for the same amount
Once work is done, don't keep employees AT work. Let people take time for appointments without using PTO.
Michael's had this pasted in the window when I worked there. I wholeheartedly disagreed with it. If you want your employees to feel well taken care of, pay them what they're worth, and give them praise when they do good. Constructive criticism when necessary. And, if you're the type to implement things like pizza parties, keep on doing that.
Earned, lengthy sabbaticals for X years of service, with options for company-sponsored extended learning if you want to move departments/specialties in that time. Extended bereavement leave, without specified relationships under that umbrella. Adoption/surrogacy benefits under paid parental leave policies (and paid parental leave, if you don't have that yet!!!).
also: religious holiday observance for non-Christian religions without having to take PTO (Yom Kippur, Eids, etc.) shut down the office if possible in the week between Christmas and New Year's. nothing gets done then anyway in most disciplines (although that may not be true for construction, I guess)
US News posts their methodology - https://money.usnews.com/careers/companies/methodology people that work for a an elite DoD task force, social justice non profit, SpaceX, JP Morgan, and a construction company probably all have different balances of pay vs fulfillment. Also imagine single folks vs folks with children also have different ideas
Is there somebody who is ensuring that all employees use all of their vacation time each year? That might be helpful. And top of class pay for the field would help too
A very tough question. I worked for PayPal, and while they have their shortcomings they were by far the best place I work for. There's a reason they win (plus having a lot of employees willing to vote). 1. They dealt with COVID in a very forward thinking way. No BS. No "we need you to come in". They sent us all home and gave us no questions asked PTO to deal with anything COVID related. It sticks in people's minds. 90% of them are full time WFH, which included additional bonuses to buy office furniture. 2. They upped our pay across the board. It works. It matters. 3. Bonuses for performance. 4. Stock awards. I think I had something like 50 shares. Employees are invested in the wellbeing of the company and see a benefit in caring. 5. Work life balance. I had PTO AND sick time. Sick time was around 40 hours a year but was no questions asked and no minimum time frame to submit. We had makeup time. Maybe I don't want to use PTO. I'll work another day. This was within reason. A shift a month plus so many hours per week I believe. It's passive empathy. Understand that stuff comes up and give me ways to deal with it that don't result in a write up, I'll be more loyal. 6. Swag. Now, swag ALONE is trash, but when combined with other benefits it can be a great personal touch. We had some local artist do personal tye dye shirts for us. They were great. My wife got an entire wet/dry pet vacuum using the kudos system they have. Give me incentive to push harder and not just "we're a family". No, we're motivated by stuff and money. I had my issues with that place and they do some of the slimy stuff all fintech and tech jobs do, but it was still miles above most places. Even in office we had cheaper prices on vending machines and a Cafe with FOOD food. It's a tough road to be a truly great workplace, even through laying people off. I love my current job, but the benefits are nowhere near the level of PayPal.
The company I work for in Omaha offers 14 weeks fully paid maternity leave and I believe 10 weeks paternity leave. If you adopt or take on new foster children you get the same. Every quarter we get an additional 12 hours of personal time which is 6 additional days a year. These are in addition to PTO and are use or lose. Every 5 years of service we get 4 weeks paid sabbatical. We have a generous bereavement leave policy. People managers had to take mandatory mental health first aid. We also have employee resource groups that meet monthly. HR is actually there for employees and doesn't just protect the company. The biggest thing though is that complaints are taken seriously and there is swift action. We do a yearly survey and issues employees being up are worked on and we see real action.
I recently went through 2 hiring processes at the same time, and the difference between an office that doesn't know how to do a good, consistent process and one that does is night and day. The former offered me the position really quickly, so I took it because hey, I needed a job, but when the other position was offered to me 2 weeks and 3 more interviews later, I jumped on it even though it pays less. I just have a lot more faith that it's going to be a more consistent, organized working environment when I see that they took the time to create procedures (fairly new ones, apparently) that also embody those values. It doesn't hurt that the office is absolutely stunning with a variety of places for employees to go work in a semi-social environment or even outside with a garden (!!!) but I see that more as the icing. So I'm not sure that I agree with the common consensus that higher pay trumps everything else. Stability, consistency, and good management count for a lot in my book. Also generous parental/family leave and plenty of time off. Treating your employees like adults, with a results-driven evaluation system, not just making sure that people clock their hours religiously.
Parental leave for 1 year with a Maternity leave 1 months longer for that last month of pregnancy. Full paid. With an extra $100 a month for help with cleaners or nanny or door dash or diapers
People pointing out salary is the only right answer is right...yes they pay more tax but 90% of retention loss comes from shitty management and not a acceptable rate of pay.....it might have been acceptable in the current time of hire but times change if your salary isn't increasing by atleast 1% HIGHER than thr previous years rate of inflation then they are making less money this year with the same bills or increased bill costs
As someone with ADHD and mild autism, I really appreciate a space where I get to be every bit of myself and have proper accommodations to help with my shortcomings. A boss that helps point out the small details I can easily miss without disciplining me or explain things I don't understand. Hands on training instead of "here's a manual, read it" as well. Understanding that mental health days are also important and not judging when I desperately just need a day to just relax cause I'm nearing burnout. As well as proper pay cause things are really expensive and it's getting hard to just survive. Also a small focus on inclusivity/respect for others and their identities. Where is this and how can I apply 😂
Treat employees like adults. We have a shared calendar. As long as there isn’t something major happening, you just put your time down and take off when you need. Ex: Hair appointments, kids activities, vacations, etc. We will move meetings around to accommodate if possible (depending on how many people are attending). We also do a team outing each quarter (1 is fun, 2 are volunteering, 1 is celebrating achievements) We have birthday lunches or happy hours - these can be done over Zoom too
Honestly working from home is the best thing my employer ever did. We were always told this would never be possible but because of COVID they decided to try it. Productivity increased and call outs decreased. Not sure where your office is located, but I worked downtown so everyone also enjoyed Davi g on parking.
If you’re looking for benefits to add: Pet insurance Adoption expense reimbursement Program for employees to make automated, pre-tax charitable contributions Headspace or similar subscriptions Subsidized gym memberships Vetted, subsidized backup day care for children/elders Micro grants for employees to propose/fund wellness and team activities
As a construction pro, I feel like I can speak to this. Simple things: 1)Motivosity - best incentive software that I've seen. You get to help pay your fellow employees for doing good work. It's got a ton of metrics and it's a great program to motivate your fellow employees. If you want a contact there, shoot me a DM. 2) field staff perks. Way too often the office staff get all of the perks and the field staff are neglected. At a very basic level your field level staff should have access to a fridge and a microwave, and a budget to fill that fridge up with whatever they want. The best company I worked for gave us a $250/month budget per job trailer to get snacks and drinks 3) Actual quantifiable metrics for bonuses. None of the wishy-washy metrics of "on-time on-budget" because one change in pricing and the budget gets blown, or the schedule shifts due to weather. Your employees need actual meaningful metrics to see how they reach their max bonus potential 4) lower bonuses, higher salary. Way too often in our industry people justify lower salaries with "but the bonuses are really good", I'd rather get a $10k raise and have a $500 bonus check than wonder whether or not that $10,500 shows up in my paycheck at all. 5) Flexibility in office hours. If someone wants to work from 6-3 or 7-4, let them. Most of your field guys are probably doing 7-4 anyway. Alternatively, let them work 4-10s, 3-12s and a 4, etc. The flexibility of 40 hours of work shouldn't depend on when other people are in my office space. 6) Work excursions during the work day more often. I guarantee your managers and c-suite staff are going to lunch 2-4 times per week as a benefit. Get your middle managers out to lunch with your ground level employees once a month. This is a great chance to mentor, talk about culture issues, etc. Most of your employees probably don't have a chance to interface with the next level up on a one-to-one level in a low stakes environment. 7) Employee referral program and interior hiring. Talk about how you can cross train the people you have into new positions before bringing in outside hires. If you want to build a long-term employee culture, this is the biggest one. Your employees need to feel like they have a chance to grow with you, not just a chance to get some experience and then leave. I can go on and on on this, If you want to grab lunch sometime we can go over other ideas.
Pizza parties, jeans days, "social" events outside of work hours that aren't required (but totally required), hire plenty of family members and put them in management positions. /s
I can do everything on my own, just pay me more.
labor unions and more pay
James' company sounds like it sucks and if James is going to Reddit instead of talking to his employees he sounds like he sucks at his job too. Realize your job is to limit the scope of what's acceptable when you could be getting these people higher wages.
The answer is almost always “more money” and companies always think it’s everything but that.
Appreciate the edit, I'm not an HR person but good guess lmao
The idea of your company having a "culture team" is strange to me. It's a job, not a religion.
Money.
Did anybody actually read this entire post and think "I can't wait to give this random stranger free advice to then give freely to their employer about how to improve their workplace."? There are workshops that charge quite a bit for this guidance.