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I never understood perks. I work where I work because I like the people, the technology, and the product in that order. The lack of money and success create an

I never understood perks. I work where I work because I like the people, the technology, and the product in that order. The lack of money and success create anxiety, but an abundance of these in terms of what an employee can hope to achieve do not influence my decision about where I work. As for perks, I don't care about trivial asides that people think up in order to retain talent. This is an artificial device that will not stop the bleeding. Don't waste your time doing this if it's something you have to think up in order to achieve yet another metric. If you're going to do something fun do it because you want to do it because you yourself would enjoy it and know that at least a few of the others on your team would too. But then you're not doing it for retention, you're doing it because you want to. Bottom line is if the factors don't add up, an employee will leave, but things like people, technology and product are what candidates should consider before they join, and they're not likely to change much over the duration of an employment, so if someone is leaving, they probably didn't know what they were getting themselves into, something big changed, or they think they are really failing. Or maybe they just found a new thing that interests them, in which case let them go.

BadassFractal 14y ago
Same here. There's no amount of ping pong or free soda that will make me put up with a bad team, bad management or lack of purpose I can care about. I also hope that a good PC with good monitors and a decent desk and chair should not be considered part of the perks.
rdl 14y ago
Perks which improve my productivity are things I care about (good computer, ability to get needed books and other resources, functional IT support, fast Internet connection, private office when/if desired, wfh when optimal, comfortable chair, easy commute/parking). For most of those things I'd trade $1 in salary for $0.50 or less allocated to them optimally. Not having to deal with admin stuff like expense or hour tracking is worth $5 in salary for $0.50 in benefit. Free food, on site gym, nice offices, etc I'd trade at a discount to salary, like$1 in salary for $2-3 in perks.
- mjwalshe 14y ago
  and in the USA at least the IRS is very lax in clamping down on "benefits in kind". In the UK HMRC wanted to tax us on the free tea and coffe that the company had introduced so that was the end of that. This is not hearsay I saw the letter from HMRC
- rprasad 14y ago
  [Reply to the dead comment; you need to be logged in witht showdead to see it.] Benefits in kind does not refer to work equipment, since those aren't things you get to take with you--the company owns that stuff, you just get to use it. Benefits in kind means something like receiving a personal laptop on company dime that you can take with you even if you leave.
yannickt 14y ago
Your post reminded me of an article Steve McConnell wrote in 1996 about consulting at Microsoft. "While Microsoft was still involved with OS/2, the OS/2 development group requested that the company install a washer and dryer in their building so that they wouldn't have to go home to do their laundry. Although the group never got its washer and dryer, the message was clear: this team wanted to work. It didn't ask for promotions, more money, bigger offices, or fancy carpet; it asked for management to remove every conceivable roadblock so that it could concentrate on shipping a product." Source: http://www.stevemcconnell.com/articles/art05.htm http://www.stevemcconnell.com/articles/art05.htm Perks are an effective retention strategy only if they enable an already motivated employee to get more work done. And for the employee to be motivated, the work has to be rewarding.
SatvikBeri 14y ago
The perks are largely about (1) having something cool to talk about, and (2) feeling respected. Perks aren't the only possible way to achieve these but they're a good indicator. With my friends I can't talk about the details of the awesome technical projects I'm doing at work-they won't find it interesting. But I can talk about how fun it is that we have tons of autonomy, about 30 different board games in the office that we play at lunch every day, a beanbag chair we can use for naps, and have a foosball table.

BadassFractal 14y ago

Same here. There's no amount of ping pong or free soda that will make me put up with a bad team, bad management or lack of purpose I can care about. I also hope that a good PC with good monitors and a decent desk and chair should not be considered part of the perks.

rdl 14y ago

Perks which improve my productivity are things I care about (good computer, ability to get needed books and other resources, functional IT support, fast Internet connection, private office when/if desired, wfh when optimal, comfortable chair, easy commute/parking). For most of those things I'd trade $1 in salary for $0.50 or less allocated to them optimally. Not having to deal with admin stuff like expense or hour tracking is worth $5 in salary for $0.50 in benefit. Free food, on site gym, nice offices, etc I'd trade at a discount to salary, like$1 in salary for $2-3 in perks.

mjwalshe 14y ago
and in the USA at least the IRS is very lax in clamping down on "benefits in kind". In the UK HMRC wanted to tax us on the free tea and coffe that the company had introduced so that was the end of that. This is not hearsay I saw the letter from HMRC
rprasad 14y ago
[Reply to the dead comment; you need to be logged in witht showdead to see it.] Benefits in kind does not refer to work equipment, since those aren't things you get to take with you--the company owns that stuff, you just get to use it. Benefits in kind means something like receiving a personal laptop on company dime that you can take with you even if you leave.

yannickt 14y ago

Your post reminded me of an article Steve McConnell wrote in 1996 about consulting at Microsoft. "While Microsoft was still involved with OS/2, the OS/2 development group requested that the company install a washer and dryer in their building so that they wouldn't have to go home to do their laundry. Although the group never got its washer and dryer, the message was clear: this team wanted to work. It didn't ask for promotions, more money, bigger offices, or fancy carpet; it asked for management to remove every conceivable roadblock so that it could concentrate on shipping a product." Source: http://www.stevemcconnell.com/articles/art05.htm http://www.stevemcconnell.com/articles/art05.htm Perks are an effective retention strategy only if they enable an already motivated employee to get more work done. And for the employee to be motivated, the work has to be rewarding.

SatvikBeri 14y ago

The perks are largely about (1) having something cool to talk about, and (2) feeling respected. Perks aren't the only possible way to achieve these but they're a good indicator. With my friends I can't talk about the details of the awesome technical projects I'm doing at work-they won't find it interesting. But I can talk about how fun it is that we have tons of autonomy, about 30 different board games in the office that we play at lunch every day, a beanbag chair we can use for naps, and have a foosball table.