October 2010

Fancy travel. A VIP parking spot. Fruit baskets. What perks are you offering your employees?

MEANINGFUL perks matter when it comes to attracting and retaining top talent, especially in the current financial environment.

Problem: Rewards like executive parking, first class air travel and country club memberships often create or expand the gulf between employees and their managers, while sending the wrong signals in the current climate. And employees can see through those petty make-up gifts like fruit baskets or restaurant gift certificates (which were obviously donated to the company).

Solution: Make it personal. Leah Shepherd at Workforce Management notes that employers are focusing on nonfinancial rewards and customizing recognition at the local level.

“The personal touch always makes the reward seem sweeter-especially when there’s little or no money attached,” she writes in this (link) article.

Some of those localized perks may include:

• Paid days off
• Lunch with senior executives
• Personalized thank-you messages from supervisors or fellow employees
• Flexible work schedules
• Personal artistic tributes

In Shepherd’s article, Theresa Chambers, chief motivation officer for Recognition Works in Seattle, is quoted as saying: “What I’m seeing is less focus on formal awards and more on building a culture of appreciation on a local level.”

Another idea is to focus on perks that will enhance executive’s health, productivity, security and financial well-being. Those perks might include:

• Physical examinations
• Reasonable change of control benefits
• Severance and outplacement provisions

The importance of hiring, motivating and retaining top-notch, well suited executive talent cannot be overemphasized. Good executives outperform averages ones and exceptional executives can make the difference. In the aftermath of the recession where employees have just about had all they can take, this is more true than ever.

Reward your execs with perks that matter.

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