Five Simple Office Perks Startups Can Offer to Make Their Employees Go “Wow!”
Singapore has been the bedrock of the modern era for startup companies. Just recently, Facebook partnered with the Infocomm Media Development Authority to run a program to support tech startups.
Though most are enthralled in the excitement of beginning and building something new, startups face the challenge of attracting employees or encouraging them to stay longer.
It’s probably due to the very nature of the business itself: it’s a startup. So non-adventurous employees or those that may not see the potential of the startup business may find the company too risky.
Others may just opt to work for already established or multi-billion dollar companies. The corporate ladder may take longer to climb, but at least the company won’t fold after a month or so.
However, in recent studies and surveys, it has been determined that millennials and the younger generation of employees are not just looking for tenure employee benefits when choosing a company to work for.
They are attracted to the office experience and the intangibles that make their workday pleasurable and convenient.
Here are five surprisingly simple perks that startups offer to entice their employees to apply and stay employed:
The Dress Code
The catch: there isn’t any.
Who knew that something as simple as relaxing the dress code could work wonders for a startup company?
This may be somewhat more of a western influence since corporate America and Europe have been doing this for the past decade.
But now it’s not so much of a cultural thing but rather a generational one.
Millennials and xennials (yes, they’re coming to your workforce!) don’t want to spend countless hours worrying about which tie matches which suit, or if black shoes go with a brown belt for a business look.
Rather, they want to focus their energy on what they can build, conceptualize and contribute.
Besides, what you wear is mostly an expression of who you are. It’s a collaboration of how you feel, how you think, and how you want to communicate yourself to the rest of the world.
And if what you wear, like a suit or business attire, becomes more restraining rather than empowering, then it defeats the purpose of wearing the ensemble.
More and more companies in Singapore have been abiding by this no dress code policy. The likes of Grab, Matchmove, and even MoneySmart have casual or no dress codes in their offices.
The Lighting
Yes, funny as it sounds, this matters. Who would want to work in a dark, foggy or dreary office?
And another funny thing is that you would think this should be a given for most company offices.
But you would be surprised to know that there may still be some work environments that don’t abide by the proper lighting requirements set forth by the Code of Practice SS 531 under the Workplace Safety and Health Act
And even setting that aside, isn’t it just plain logic to provide ample and proper lighting to your employees so they can be efficient at work?
Not just indoor light. Natural light. Startups can’t just install tons of LED lights. It’s costly. But making use of natural light is not only cost-efficient, it’s also helpful for the health of employees that they are able to soak in all that sunshine.
Natural light also has a psychological effect, with almost of employees feeling tired or gloomy without it.
A recent study also revealed that natural light reduces eye strain by more than half! So if that isn’t reason enough to configure your workspace, then you aren’t really designing for your employees at all.
The View
In the older business models, companies only offer office spaces with a view to the much older, more senior, or higher ranking members of the company.
Having an office with a view is a status symbol. It’s a trophy that newly promoted employees wave proudly to signify their recent achievement or success in the company.
And while that isn’t an arguable practice, psychologists and HR practitioners believe there is a better approach: create an office space with a view for all to experience and appreciate.
Startup organizations are more horizontal than vertical. So the notion of offering an office with a view to only a selected few seems a bit off or inapplicable in a startup setup.
A vast majority of employees need a visual break from what they’re often seeing. Be it their desk, their computer screen, or the mountains of paperwork, it’s been found out that 73% of employees find themselves wanting to walk, or look out a window to a place or space farther away, just to clear their thoughts.
Having a nice view of the metropolis, the skyline, or more preferably, nature such as trees or the park, can be such a welcome sight for a dutiful employee. And it’s been proven that having this mental and visual break can enhance employee efficiency and productivity. Photo by Verne Ho from Burst
So startups, go ahead; knock that concrete wall down and replace it with ceiling high glass windows.
The Coffee!
Though this doesn’t need further explanation, we’ll go ahead and delve on it anyway.
Who doesn’t think overflowing coffee is a great office perk? Who? I dare you to raise your hand and you’ll be shocked to find out you’ll be the only one to do so.
Coffee is the ultimate pick-me-upper. It exudes and personifies perk!
This is not a blog that wishes to over glorify the drinking of coffee or to make more caffeine addicts out of readers. But c’mon, being obsessed with coffee is not a new thing.
In fact, Singapore is known for its kopi. Pair with a kaya toast and you’re all set.
Our parents and grandparents and our ancestors who came before them all love coffee! So why would we be surprised that offering free coffee at work would be viewed as a great employee benefit? Simple and inexpensive as it sounds, but it’s true.
Other startups have even gone beyond coffee and are even offering snacks or free breakfast and lunch sessions for employees.
Having an espresso machine or a coffee vending machine at work will not only do wonders for your employees’ productivity; it can also help foster a harmonious work environment.
The Team Activities
Which leads us to the last point: the outings and activities offered to employees. The workforce itself is the best perk you can offer to an applicant to your company.
If you were to ask someone if they would rather choose to work for a company that pays more but has a terrible workforce and work culture over a company that pays less but takes care of its employees and offers recreational group activities and the like, we would probably get the typical answer. Of course he would choose the more high paying job.
However, you can bet that that employee will soon be tired of his work or may become disinterested, disengaged or cynical. It’s because he’s just working to earn money. And everything else office-related is just a byproduct.
But a company who strives to better their employees by offering team building activities or programs geared towards improving work relationships will definitely attract applicants who want to stay long-term.
Startups face a recruitment challenge because of their business nature. But at the same time, they are also presented with the unique opportunity of designing their employees’ work experience.
This is not just because they are smaller in size and thus more customizable organizationally, functionally or logistically.
But it’s also because of the fact that the founders of these startups are former employees themselves who were happy with their previous jobs but were not content with their careers.
They dreamed of something bigger, something more significant, relevant and hands on. And thus the startup is birthed.
And with these five simple office perks, startups can attract the most viable of applicants who may be like-minded and like-hearted with them and can identify with their vision and mission as a startup company.
