Employee perks can be boring. Most companies allow their workers to go to the bathroom, for example, and several have electricity. But sometimes perks are newsworthy. Google makes a huge deal out of offering breakfast bars and nap pods and on-site massages for their employees. And there are even companies that will provide you with exactly the kind of employee perk you’re looking for, including (not making this up) painting a portrait of your top employee riding on a dragon. I want to work there.
So if you’d like to energize your employees with off-the-wall perks – and maybe get a little fun press out of it – here are 6 ideas that are all more interesting than Google’s boring breakfast bar.
Weekly Snowball Fights
Remember those puffy yarn balls we all threw at each other during recess in elementary school? Can you think of a better or more stress-relieving teambuilding moment? Neither can I.
A Slip-n-Slide
Oh, sorry. Turns out I can think of something more awesome than those snowballs.
The Daily Complimenter
Periodically walk around to each of your employees and tell them how amazing they are, or hire someone to do it for you if you’re too embarrassed. The first time will be ridiculous and everyone will make fun of it; by the third time, they’ll all be asking for it.
Photo Booth Time!
People have a stupid amount of fun with these at weddings. Make sure to include some giant sunglasses and a few feather boas!
Call The Ice Cream Truck!
I’m feeling nostalgic today. I also feel sorry for anyone who doesn’t get a Bombpop at least once a year.
Find the Hidden Treasure!
Hide $100 around the office and give people a few minutes (or hours, or days) to find it. Just give them some parameters or you might have people poking their heads through the ceiling acoustic tiles to see if you put it in the air conditioning ducts. Which you can do if you want, by the way.
Perks don’t have to be expensive in order to bring some happiness to your workforce, and pretty much anything you do will be appreciated. Unless you decide to give everyone a surprise jar of pickles. That’s just going to look weird.
I don’t know if the Snowball Fights idea is a good option. My company is filled with very competitive people and it wouldn’t take very long before the yarn balls were filled with screws and bolts or doused with lighter fluid. Think Lord of the flies meets the Old Testament.