5 ms·

Overrated. When you are running a business you have to consider income, labour and employee retention. Businesses generally spend "extra" money in order to save

by fergie 6y ago

Overrated. When you are running a business you have to consider income, labour and employee retention. Businesses generally spend "extra" money in order to save labour or generate income. That skiing trip to the Alps that you organised for your workers last year? That saved you 10 times as much in recruiting, on-boarding and pay rises. That really expensive enterprise SAAS that you bought? Its boring, but it freed up time for your sales people to generate 3 times more business. etc.

malavwarke 6y ago
yup true that instead of just been frugal everywhere try to optimize for the overall growth even if the effects of it might be indirect or may be seen in the near future. Thanks for sharing your perspective:)
FpUser 6y ago
>"That skiing trip to the Alps that you organised for your workers last year..." In my other life when on job interviews sometimes they would describe various perks (free food, drinks, twice a year retreat, pool tables, Friday night outings etc. etc. ) as an advantage of working for their company. Maybe I am weird but my internal thoughts were - can I just have it in cash and I'll find my own ways to organize my life. Do not need any help in this department.
- sunsetSamurai 6y ago
  You and everybody else is thinking that, but management knows that it's' cheaper to offer all these perks than give everybody a nice raise.
  - throwaway-8c93 6y ago
    It's not cheaper. However, employee compensation is a contractual obligation. Benefits and perks can be unilaterally revoked by employer at any point.
    - FpUser 6y ago
      So are the bonuses. Have extra money to spend - give it to me. Do not throw party in remote location which I am not looking forward do attend. Of course it is you money and you are free to spend those however you like. But this way of team building does not work for every person. I have no lack of friends but I do not remember acquiring those in on company outings. Not denying it might work for other people though.
- malavwarke 6y ago
  haha can relate to that
- paradox242 6y ago
  Yes, I do not like employer-mandated "fun". I'm a fucking weirdo and I'll have fun on my own terms, thanks.
  - xyzelement 6y ago
    What a crappy attitude that leads nowhere:) Think about it like this: "employer-mandated fun creates opportunities for me to expand my network and connections which help me make more money. As an added bonus, I might as well enjoy it."
    - ftoscano 6y ago
      > What a crappy attitude that leads nowhere:) Erm, so we're mandating what people should do now? Yours seems to be a rather black/white view of such events, when (since it involves humans) it's on a spectrum: There are people who do not want to spend their time with their work colleagues. There are people who do not want to be forced to spend with their work colleagues. There are people who dislike that unless you spend time with their work colleagues in corporate sponsored events you will be sidelines. And that's assuming that the corporate event is good at all. Which, quite frankly, most aren't.
      - xyzelement 6y ago
        >> Erm, so we're mandating what people should do now? I am just a guy on the internet but I've been around the block so I share what I truly believe is the best advice. >> unless you spend time with their work colleagues in corporate sponsored events you will be sidelines. That's a naïve view. People don't sit in a conference room saying "ftoscano didn't come to the bar last night, let's ostracize him" - it's just that the more opportunities to bond with your team that you pass up, the worse your communication with them is (compared to what it could have been if you invested in it) which legitimately makes you less impactful at work. >> And that's assuming that the corporate event is good at all. Which, quite frankly, most aren't. Debatable but not the point. The point is that these things already exist and they are opportunities for you to build up your career (and maybe even allow yourself to have fun.) You can chose to hate it and not participate but like I said, that's strictly worse for you so why adopt that attitude?
- xyzelement 6y ago
  You are not weird but you are missing the point of why companies do it. These things have the benefit of enabling you to get to know your colleagues, establish networks, break down communication blocks, etc. In other words, in addition to being fun, they also benefit you as an employee and the company overall. That's why the companies spend money on it and in my experience they get return on it. Hope this helps.
  - Kudos 6y ago
    Exactly, the pool table itself doesn't help with retention nearly as much as the relationships people build while using it does.
  - FpUser 6y ago
    >"These things have the benefit of enabling you to get to know your colleagues, establish networks, break down communication blocks, etc." Frankly simple work related interaction were more than enough for me to "get to know". If both parties felt interested enough we'll hook up out of work. At least that was my experience.

by fergie 6y ago

malavwarke 6y ago

yup true that instead of just been frugal everywhere try to optimize for the overall growth even if the effects of it might be indirect or may be seen in the near future. Thanks for sharing your perspective:)

FpUser 6y ago

>"That skiing trip to the Alps that you organised for your workers last year..." In my other life when on job interviews sometimes they would describe various perks (free food, drinks, twice a year retreat, pool tables, Friday night outings etc. etc. ) as an advantage of working for their company. Maybe I am weird but my internal thoughts were - can I just have it in cash and I'll find my own ways to organize my life. Do not need any help in this department.

sunsetSamurai 6y ago
You and everybody else is thinking that, but management knows that it's' cheaper to offer all these perks than give everybody a nice raise.
- throwaway-8c93 6y ago
  It's not cheaper. However, employee compensation is a contractual obligation. Benefits and perks can be unilaterally revoked by employer at any point.
  - FpUser 6y ago
    So are the bonuses. Have extra money to spend - give it to me. Do not throw party in remote location which I am not looking forward do attend. Of course it is you money and you are free to spend those however you like. But this way of team building does not work for every person. I have no lack of friends but I do not remember acquiring those in on company outings. Not denying it might work for other people though.
malavwarke 6y ago
haha can relate to that
paradox242 6y ago
Yes, I do not like employer-mandated "fun". I'm a fucking weirdo and I'll have fun on my own terms, thanks.
- xyzelement 6y ago
  What a crappy attitude that leads nowhere:) Think about it like this: "employer-mandated fun creates opportunities for me to expand my network and connections which help me make more money. As an added bonus, I might as well enjoy it."
  - ftoscano 6y ago
    > What a crappy attitude that leads nowhere:) Erm, so we're mandating what people should do now? Yours seems to be a rather black/white view of such events, when (since it involves humans) it's on a spectrum: There are people who do not want to spend their time with their work colleagues. There are people who do not want to be forced to spend with their work colleagues. There are people who dislike that unless you spend time with their work colleagues in corporate sponsored events you will be sidelines. And that's assuming that the corporate event is good at all. Which, quite frankly, most aren't.
    - xyzelement 6y ago
      >> Erm, so we're mandating what people should do now? I am just a guy on the internet but I've been around the block so I share what I truly believe is the best advice. >> unless you spend time with their work colleagues in corporate sponsored events you will be sidelines. That's a naïve view. People don't sit in a conference room saying "ftoscano didn't come to the bar last night, let's ostracize him" - it's just that the more opportunities to bond with your team that you pass up, the worse your communication with them is (compared to what it could have been if you invested in it) which legitimately makes you less impactful at work. >> And that's assuming that the corporate event is good at all. Which, quite frankly, most aren't. Debatable but not the point. The point is that these things already exist and they are opportunities for you to build up your career (and maybe even allow yourself to have fun.) You can chose to hate it and not participate but like I said, that's strictly worse for you so why adopt that attitude?
xyzelement 6y ago
You are not weird but you are missing the point of why companies do it. These things have the benefit of enabling you to get to know your colleagues, establish networks, break down communication blocks, etc. In other words, in addition to being fun, they also benefit you as an employee and the company overall. That's why the companies spend money on it and in my experience they get return on it. Hope this helps.
- Kudos 6y ago
  Exactly, the pool table itself doesn't help with retention nearly as much as the relationships people build while using it does.
- FpUser 6y ago
  >"These things have the benefit of enabling you to get to know your colleagues, establish networks, break down communication blocks, etc." Frankly simple work related interaction were more than enough for me to "get to know". If both parties felt interested enough we'll hook up out of work. At least that was my experience.