As I was riding to work on Friday morning (I carpool with my friend Dave) I realized that I didn’t have anything for breakfast. I usually have a box of cereal in my desk (since my company provides free milk to all of its employees) which I eat a bowl of every morning. Typically I come into work sit down at my desk, do about an hour of computer work (mostly responding to e-mails and creating different Excel files for different projects) and while I’m doing this I enjoy a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal. Today was going to be different because I didn’t have my cereal, so I had Dave drop me off at the building which has our cafeteria in it.
I don’t frequent the cafeteria much since I also bring my lunch to work, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had Dunkin Donuts coffee brewing. I grabbed a medium DD coffee and a prepackaged bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats and headed to my building to start my day. As I was walking out, I noticed a few of my colleagues heading into the cafeteria, I said “Hi”, and that’s when it hit me. We often take all of these little things for granted, but there are a LOT of perks that companies give us that make our work environment really rewarding. And by making our work environment rewarding, they get increased productivity and value added to the job.
There are a lot of great incentives added by today’s companies that not only help the company, but help the individual employee as well. One that I value a great deal and is available at my company is a fitness center. Granted it isn’t the size of a normal gym, but the fitness center we have on campus has free weights, cardio equipment, and a few different types of weight machines. It has enough equipment that you can get a decent workout in, feel good about it, and feel like you accomplished something.
Companies offer fitness programs for various reasons. Exercise helps keep their employees in shape and also keeps them sharp. Here is a website that lists some of the benefits of company sponsored fitness centers and fitness programs:
http://naturalhealthcare.ca/benefits_of_a_wellness_program.phtml
Not only does it help save the company money, but it increases employee productivity, and it helps give employees a healthier lifestyle. At some point I would like to see these types of programs incorporated into all companies. I know this most likely will not happen, but regardless, I think these programs are important, if not essential. I often hear people saying that stress from work is taking years off of their life. These types of programs not only increase productivity, but they can also potentially ADD years to an employee’s life. What could be better than that?
I think incentive programs are a great way to increase employee’s productivity. It’s interesting to see how certain programs roll out though. Sometimes an incentive program starts as a great idea, but then it becomes expected. Imagine if your employer stopped the free milk! People would be upset for sure.
ReplyDeleteThere are usually more positives than negatives; however, employers usually look at the negatives. I’m talking about the bigger kind of incentives; days off, free lunch, work from home days. Right now, we had a first quarter incentive at work. We’re allowed to work from home and leave early on Friday if certain criteria are met, but we don’t affect the outcome at all. It was always extra work to ask for permission to work from home, and we always thought it seemed like a negative thing that we wanted to use our incentive program. I just think it’s funny when a program is rolled out, and then you feel scrutinized for using it. Then what’s the point!
The incentive programs are a great way to show employees a small way of rewarding them and also a way to please them while motivating and creating a healthy work environment. Employees like the recognition from the companies they work for. Having a cafeteria that will provide things employees may forget or need to be productive is a good thing. In the short-run making this decision companies may think of the costs, but in the long run it may cause a loyalty and sense of being apprecited from employees. Happy, healthy employees make a better company.
ReplyDeleteI also think that companies that have a grief consuelor or stress programs also help employees, in deaths, change in job positions, stress from work or home. Can all be programs that can help both the employees and the firms in many ways.
I think many companies are shifting to perks like the one you mentioned. My company is building an addition which will basically double our size and we will finally be getting a full service cafeteria and there is also talk about a fitness center too.
ReplyDeleteRight now our lunch room sits about 25 employees at the max.. and with about 300 employees working on site, it is almost humorous to walk new employees through the tiny lunchroom.
Fitness centers on site are great for a number of reasons. As you mentioned, yes, it makes employees healthier which adds years to their lives. But it also can bring down the cost of health insurance.. which is helpful to both the employees and the company. It can also increase morale and be great for building relationships among employees that you may otherwise not interact with.
To add to Sonya's point.. I think many companies do offer an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) in order to confidentially help employees who are dealing with a crisis, whether it be financial, marital, etc.
The most companies do for their employees, the more loyalty they will have in this 'free agent' job market mentality.