5 Ways to Be Competitive Without High-End Employee Perks

When you sit down with a candidate and they ask about company perks, you may be hesitant to answer. You may not (yet) be in a position to offer year-end bonuses, discounts on trips, and pool tables in the break room. But there are creative and scrappy ways to show candidates the benefits of working for you—and why they would want to be a part of the team. These are the incentives you should talk about.

To be effective, though, you need to start by first understanding what the current workforce needs and wants. A pizza party every Friday is nice, but it’s not what really motivates employees. They want perks that really show that the company values and cares about them.

If you’re looking for ways to attract and retain employees—even when you can’t compete against other companies on all benefits—look no further. Here’s a list of the most meaningful (and affordable) perks.

1. Create a Fun Work Environment

Most people don’t want to go to a job that is boring and dull. Now, you can’t always make each employee’s workload completely interesting, but you can have a fun work environment. Allow people to decorate their workspace if possible. If your physical work environment can’t support a personalized workspace, get the team involved in decorating the entire restaurant for various holidays.

And speaking of holidays, don’t be afraid to have fun celebrations. Encourage the team to dress up, organize a few in-house games, and host friendly competitions. This will give your employees more reasons to be excited about coming to work.

There are also things you can do outside of work to foster a fun work environment. This could be organizing a softball or bowling team or getting involved with volunteer groups and inviting your staff to join. These types of activities not only promote healthy team-building, but they also show you (a general manager or business owner) are a person who cares about more than just making money.

2. Offer Flexible Schedules and Time Off 

More and more, people are finding that they want a balance in work and life. The days when a person would arrive at work early and stay until the sun went down, all the while telling their children they will have to miss dinner together, is over. Employees want the flexibility that allows them to meet up with family and friends for special occasions. For some, that might look like being home every night by 6 p.m. for dinner. For others, that might be starting work after school drop off at 9 a.m. every weekday. It costs very little to grant employees this flexibility and it goes a long way in showing your employees you care about their needs and priorities. 

Another appealing, low-cost perk is special days off. For a days’ pay, you can give your employee their birthday and/or their work anniversary off as a way to thank them for another year of service.

3. Have Recognition Programs

You might be surprised to learn how little recognition programs cost and how much of a difference they can make. For as little as the price of paper and a treat, you can implement an employee-to-employee recognition program that encourages fellow employees to say thank you to each other for helping out in a rush, lending a hand with cleaning up a mess, and giving someone a break when they were feeling stressed.

Recognition programs can also be implemented cheaply. As a manager, you can say thank you with an “employee of the month” plaque and by granting that employee prime parking, a gift card, or a small bag of goodies. The tokens associated with recognition programs may be small in monetary value, but when the sentiment is rooted in genuine gratitude, the impact on employees is large. Employees want to know they’re making a difference.

4. Give Out Swag

Branded t-shirts, hoodies, and hats are affordable (and useful) and promote a sense of team among your employees. Giving your team new swag is not only a fun way to unite them and show appreciation, it’s also a great way to get your employer brand in front of potential future hires. (After all, who doesn’t want to be part of a crew that regularly gets cool, free apparel?)

Swag comes in all forms and price points. Mugs, pens, and hand sanitizer also are other inexpensive and practical items that you can give to your employees to signal the same message.

5. Make Things Easy

Who doesn’t love a low-stress work environment? An easy and low-cost way to do this is to reduce clutter and implement easy work procedures. See where you can cut unnecessary steps from processes, and be open to new ideas your employees may have on how to simplify tasks. One suggestion from your team could be the one change that drastically improves operations, makes your restaurant more efficient, and ups your reputation as a prime employer who gives everyone a voice. 

Another way to make work easy is to use new technologies. And, having the best tech is not always as expensive as it might seem. There are a variety of tools and apps designed to make work and communication easier for employees and employers, even starting well before an applicant becomes an employee. When hiring, for example, using technology that allows you to automatically engage with an applicant before another company does is a game-changer—for you and the job seeker who’s eager to get a job.

Conclusion

So, the next time you have a scheduled interview with that new dishwasher or grill cook, know that you can still be competitive. With a great work environment and simple perks, you can be competitive with the larger corporations and grow your business with a happy and productive staff. For more information, contact one of our specialists who can give you extra strategies with hiring in a competitive marketplace.