Despite a competitive jobs market many employers, particularly in specialist sectors like IT, have concerns about staff retention, and some are going to extraordinary lengths to ensure their workforce is merry and content.
So how do you ensure that YOUR staff are motivated and happy? Should you consider more flexible hours, extra training, or, like one of German’s largest insurance companies, hire 20 prostitutes and reward your 100 best salesmen with a “sex party”? No, perhaps not.
German insurance company’s aside, here is an entertaining list of a handful of the most bizarre staff perks, including free iPads and botox.
1. CNN rated Internet giant Google the ‘best to work’ thanks to its impressive strategies to motivate staff. Each Google employee has access to a ball pit and is never further than 15 metres away from free food and drink!
2. Coming in second, and proving it’s not what you know, but who you know, was Quicken Loans, whose manager owns the Cleveland Cavaliers and offers employees tickets to all games and concerts.
3. Outdoor clothing company, Patagonia, has a passion for surfing and lets its staff dive in anytime. They even let them know when the swell’s good with regular surf announcements.
4. If you’d prefer a more ‘laid back’ approach, staff at Workman Publishing in America are encouraged to take an afternoon nap.
5. For all you gamers out there, Sony provides its staff with a PlayStation room.
6. Meanwhile gas producer, Chesapeake, creates a chilled atmosphere by offering yoga, free Scuba diving lessons, and even free Botox!
7. For food connoisseurs, it’s worth knowing that Bloomberg has an onsite chef that cooks its staff food to order, while its cupboards are stocked full of free breakfasts.
8. Love birds looking to tie the knot can get married for free in Erickson’s Retirement Community, as the firm owns a chapel on site.
9. The world’s most renowned software company, Microsoft, has built an impressive shopping mall exclusively for its employees, which boasts shops, restaurants, a cycle repair centre and a pub.
10. Oprah Winfrey, meanwhile, is up there with the best employers. She took all her staff and their families on a cruise of the Mediterranean. In addition, Winfrey has dished out generous bonuses of $10,000, iPads, and holidays to Hawaii. It’s alright for some!
