Offering employee perks has become essential for attracting and retaining top talent in the workplace. From health insurance, healthy snacks and flexible working hours, to paid parental leave and mental health support, office perks can ensure employees feel appreciated for their hard work. But certain company perks can feel less positive when they require excessive admin or other unnecessary complications. By choosing the right employee perks, you'll experience less pressure as an employer, and make it easier for employees to make the most of their benefits.
In this article, we'll explore why office perks should be hassle free and some employee perk ideas you can introduce to improve employee satisfaction and company culture.
The role of perks in employee experience
You can't take talented employees for granted. Nowadays, new talent and current staff are looking for more from jobs than salary alone. To hire and retain top talent, you'll want to offer office perks that leave employees feeling valued and supported, with the resources to succeed.
Offering employee perks has numerous benefits, from improving your workplace culture to taking care of employee wellbeing. You could focus on mental health benefits such as offering flexible hours for staff, wellness programs to prioritise self-care, or gym memberships to take care of their physical health.
When chosen carefully, employee perks can help you differentiate your workplace from others and retain your employees for the long haul. But the true value of employee benefits lies in how easy they are to set up and use. Unless employees can easily access and enjoy them, they're not worth the effort, right? You'll want to choose employee benefits that seamlessly integrate into your business and employees' work lives, so they can make the most of their company benefits and improve their overall satisfaction. When perks are easy to use, they'll positively impact your business and workforce.
Problems with complicated employee perks
When employee perks are complicated, they can frustrate both business owners and employees and struggle to deliver their benefits and perks. Here are some common problems that can impact the effectiveness of certain employee perks.
- Excessive and unnecessary paperwork: When employees face long processes such as multiple forms, approvals or receipts, to access the office perk
- Unclear policies: When employees struggle to understand what's covered or how to access the perks
- Restrictive eligibility criteria: When perks are limited to certain groups of people this can lead to resentment by certain team members
- Impact on employee happiness/morale: Rather than feeling valued, employees feel excluded from the perks or the complexity of the perk discourages them from using it
Hassle-free employee perks and benefits
The more hassle-free your employee perks and benefits are, the more straightforward they are to use and integrate into your employees' day-to-day lives. Here are some employee perk ideas you could introduce to their benefits package to empower employees without any inconvenience.
Flexible working options
Giving employees the option to work remotely and have flexible hours without a complicated approval process. Flexible working allows employees to schedule their work in a way that works best for them and promotes a healthy work-life balance. For example, an employee may have the option to adjust their hours to attend a family commitment, manage childcare or book a personal appointment without needing to take time off.
Flexible hours may increase productivity too, with employees working when and where they feel most productive. Some may find working from home boosts their productivity, with fewer distractions in their home office space, producing better quality work as a result.
Easily accessible wellness benefits
Encourage employees to take care of their physical and mental health with easy-to-use wellness in the workplace programs. Just make sure these perks are easily accessible without unnecessary eligibility requirements or endless paperwork.
You could offer free or discounted gym memberships, or maybe your office building offers fitness classes you could offer employee discounts for or reimburse as a business. Make sure you also encourage employees to spend time on wellness by offering mental health support, such as meditation apps or free counselling or coaching sessions.
Free food and drinks
Offering free food and drinks in your office is an affordable and effective option, which requires no additional steps to redeem, making it hassle-free. Even keeping the cupboards stocked with tea and coffee, or offering fresh fruit boxes, is a simple and effective way to keep employees feeling energised. You could even go the extra mile and offer free lunches now and then, or allow employees to claim their lunch costs back when attending work events.
Career development opportunities
Offering professional development opportunities is one of the most effective employee perks, giving skilled employees the opportunity to improve their knowledge and support their career growth. These programs can also boost your company culture, by demonstrating your commitment to helping your staff achieve their professional goals.
You could provide access to resources such as online courses, workshops, tuition reimbursement, or even mentorship opportunities. When employees feel that their workplace values their development, they're more likely to stay loyal to the business. Investing in learning and personal development isn't just a perk, it keeps employees happy and motivated to succeed.
Recognition and rewards
Great perks can be as simple as recognising and rewarding your employees' hard work. When employees feel their hard work is recognised, it can boost morale and company culture as a whole. You could keep it simple such as offering gift cards, days off or simply shouting out successes in team meetings. By celebrating achievements, your employees will feel valued and appreciated which can improve employee retention and productivity as a result.
Boost employee engagement with office fruit boxes
The simpler and more accessible employee perks are, the more effective they'll be. Like fruit, for example. Fruit can boost employee engagement in the workplace and it’s really tasty too.
Give your team's energy and morale a boost with affordable office fruit boxes. Ripe's office fruit boxes are a hassle-free, affordable office perk that is easy to manage. You can keep your staff energised with the freshest, most delicious fruit around and you can even add other office staples like coffee, tea and other tasty snacks. We deliver quality office fruit boxes across London - get in touch today and reward your employees for their hard work.