Foragers Guide To Employee Perks

Once upon a time the corporate line on employee incentives was "you can keep your job." Requests from the boss for overtime were perilous to refuse, top-performing employees were rewarded with a month of premium parking, and bonuses --if bonuses were to be had-- were handed out at Christmas time along with a sweater vest bearing the company's logo.

Today, however, with our globally-expanding marketplace and tech savvy workforce, the competition for talent has become fierce. Young professionals now weigh the employee benefits, quality of life locales, workplace design, stock options and salary incentives of companies in muliple time zones.

In other words, the calendar/fridge magnet combo just doesn't cut it anymore. 

Employers, eager to keep young workers satisfied, productive and loyal have looked to slicker perks and bonuses. How slick? Concierge services, gym memberships, and even exotic mystery trips. 
 
For the past decade, extremism in extras has remained more familiar to West Coast software businesses and high-tech startups bursting with young talent — talent that can easily leave for another start-up that pays better and springs for, say, Free Beer Fridays.

Michigan, slow to catch on, seems to finally be evolving in attitudes about employee benefits.

"I think we have a history here in the Midwest of having bureaucratic cultures … in-the-swamp, always-in-the-old-way culture," says Alesya Opelt, senior director of marketing at ePrize, a Detroit-based company that works with interactive prizes for its clients' websites. "[Some companies] just don't believe people want those interesting perks; they'd rather see the fruit basket on the desk every week."

The Google tour

So for those unaware of the brighter side of "benefits," a visit during the recent open house of Google's new AdWords office proved revelatory; cereals and snacks were never far from reach, omnipresent like some commercially packaged manna. The cafeteria provides catered meals free of charge while visiting masseuses pamper with massages that Google offers at co-pay. A full gymnasium is planned for the basement and there's a special "mother's room" for breastfeeding (even though the office does not, yet, have any new mothers). In short, the Ann Arbor office features many of the same amenities and services available at Google's Mountain View, CA headquarters.

It's not corporate Candyland; it's the Internet giant's dedication to employee satisfaction. These built-in perks are meant to augment and supplement employees' lifestyles, says Grady Burnett, head of online sales and operations.

Regionalists salivated when Google announced that it would be opening up shop and hiring 1,000 workers over the next five years. While the Ann Arbor office has hired people from all over the area, what is most intriguing is the number of people who have moved back from elsewhere.

"[People] wanted to build a career in Michigan and saw Google as an opportunity," says Burnett, himself a Michigan alum.

Cognizant that they are far from Silicon Valley, The AdWords office reflects a pro-Michigan attitude, featuring conference rooms and offices named after different Michigan cities. In the Paradise, Michigan room for example, a mural of the UP city's famous Tahaquamenon Falls spills down the wall, thanks to a local artist. Environment is important to a business's appeal and working the Michigan angle is a clever touch. Free food is nice, but Google's clear interest in the state might result in the coolest long-term benefits.

Burnett navigated the tour around stray exercise balls and a hammock (left over from one department's entry in the cubicle decorating contest), past windows showing off a 360-degree view of Ann Arbor. "I think the biggest perk is the people we work with," he says modestly.

Around the world in a long weekend

Covergence marketing group Brogan & Partners creates innovative PR for its clients, but its attractive perks have grabbed attention for the company, too.

Since the agency started 23 years ago, Brogan has taken its employees on quarterly trips. Most of the time it's the basic office-outing: bowling, or a dinner out at a local restaurant. But once a year, there's the weekend-long mystery trip that's the stuff of legend to outsiders who've only heard rumors.

"We've tried to choose unusual destinations to try to add to people's lives … places people wouldn't generally go on their own," says Maria Marcotte, managing partner.

The trip unites employees in the main Birmingham-based office with those in the agency's Research Triangle, NC branch. While Brogan opted to go low-key with this year's trip (Washington, D.C.), past years have included Amsterdam, Reyjavik and London.

The annual trip costs — much like the company's other notable perks: weekly visits from a manicurist and a kitchen stocked with fresh fruit from Eastern Market — are factored into employee retention.

"Yes this is costly, but when you start looking at values of workers and cost of keeping them and retaining them — there's a business model that says you want to provide interesting perks and perks people like so that you have retention," Marcotte says.

Clients understand the day off. (And spending even less time in the office may actually be a good thing, says a new study).

"[It] makes sense for them that people who are working on their business every day are doing something innovative and exciting," Marcotte says.

Cultivating culture

While Brogan & Partners resides in a 130-year-old Victorian mansion (now clothed in bright paints and leopard-print pattern), ePrize embraces the old but brings it up-to-date at its Detroit headquarters, a former brewery.

Keeping the original brewery brick but incorporating curvy IKEA-esque colors and shapes, the office looks a bit like the Jetsons meet Henry Ford's first factory.

"First of all, I think you can see we have a very non-traditional working environment," Opelt says. "We want to attract the best and brightest in the area and we know the way to do that is by giving them what they want." Opelt is frank when it comes to ePrize's employees: "We're here to serve them, not the other way around."

ePrize offers onsite manicures, yoga and martial arts classes (and outside gym membership discounts), unlimited Coke products for employees, and subsidized lunches from different caterers each day — which can be enjoyed on the building's deck with a view of Detroit.

The company's concern for its employees crosses into unexpected territory by offering free carseats to new parents and --from one of the first clients-- the services of Designate, a provider of free rides to those who have had too much to drink while out.

"We believe culture is key to our business," says Opelt. "We really believe the only way to get people to think outside the box is to lead by example."

When ePrize thinks outside of the box, the perk providers benefit alongside the recipients. Because the majority of employees park offsite by the neighboring Detroit Zoo, ePrize buys its employees zoo memberships. Visits are free for an employee and a guest, and with the Detroit Zoo's recent woes, filling its paths helps convince potential donors that the community still needs the zoo.

The reasoning behind all this material madness

Though few local companies are willing to spring for daily catered meals and massages there are some honorable mentions:

The corporate employees at the staffing firm Arrow Strategies enjoy the use of a free concierge service, where the concierge will do everything from picking up items at the store to letting out the dog. Coupled with generous incentives --i.e.. Arrow corporate went on an all-expenses-paid trip to Mexico after reaching all its team goals-- the company earns a positive reputation with employees.

On a smaller, more delicious scale, the folks at Zingerman's reap myriad food rewards. Partners of the seven Zingerman's businesses celebrated with dinner at the Earle after turning in their employee reviews on time, while the delivery and catering staffs range from morning donuts to a full-blown, catered party by maintaining "on time" services.

So, why do these companies go to the trouble of arranging manicures every Monday or establishing partnerships with personal counseling services? Simple: They want their employees to be happy. Or more specifically, happy enough to return to work every day for many years to come. In today's global marketplace, the competition for professionals has become fierce. Creative perks go beyond the obvious advantage of an increased salary by tangibly reinforcing the company's commitment to its employees and building a reputation to attracts talent.

Some companies, however, have figured out that perks can go beyond "stuff" and venture into a professional style and attitude.

Quality of work = quality of life

Menlo Innovations, an Ann Arbor-based software company (featured in a recent metromode video), gives its team members all the cheese puffs and animal crackers they can eat. Dress code is lax; on a given day, Oxford shirts, fannypacks and charity race sweatshirts can be spotted, sometimes all on the same person. And the company recently started a free chair-massage raffle for those who turn in their time sheets in punctually. But these represent just part of the allure.

"I think the intangible [perks] are most important to people," says Jim Rodgers, a Menlo solution architect and a former Menlo client. "[It's] about this being a place people want to come."

There are no divisional offices, cubes or doors at Menlo. Instead of the conventional office caste system, president Richard Sheridan works from a desk smack dab in the middle of his employees, who are paired in teams. This means he's next to Steven Wasik --a University of Michigan econ major outside of Menlo-- and five-year company veteran Lisamary Babik. For this week. Pairs are switched up every week for maximum "idea-mixing." Full-staff meetings can be called by anyone with a simple "Hey Menlo!," while an electronic dartboard calls the daily 10 o'clock meeting. The meetings themselves are something to behold: Everyone stands and a token is passed around, much like in grade school when a bouncy ball or eraser would grant speaking privileges by contagion. 

It's all about employee satisfaction. 

"Their rewards are their ability to work with other like-minded individuals," Sheridan says. The company does so well with its "all together now" structure that it offers success seminars to other companies. Those who tour Menlo's headquarters (situated in a historic Kerrytown building) sometimes end up applying to join the team.

"This is just a very satisfying place to work," Rodgers says, though he admits that the Menlo style isn't for everyone. As a project-focused group with a get-it-done mentality, there's flexibility as long as you're doing your share. When he took a few hours off to attned his daughter's 4th grade picnic, Rodgers was the only father at the event. Sheridan says there are even greater allowances, such as when a recent Menlo member took six months off to trek to South America.

"We're not afraid to let people leave and come back," he says.

Creating an environment like Menlo, where employees genuinely seem to enjoy coming to work, free manicures or not, should be the ideal of every company's goal. Team members should have a say in their own quality of work/life balance. Free lunches and yoga classes won't be an "extreme perk" when Michigan businesses adapt to the idea that they can impact their employee's quality of life. 

So, if you're stuck at a firm that thinks discounted soda machines and company calendars breed loyalty, you might want to start looking for greener pastures. Or at the very least, see if you can get a sweater vest in a more flattering color.