It’s no secret that the tech giant Google, is a leader in offering excellent employee benefits. They have excelled in their ability to think of all the perks their employees could want and provide for them, often before they have even thought to ask.
Whilst the contractual policies behind Google are admirable and a little enviable, it does not stop at paid maternity and paternity leave or great health insurance. Oh no! Imagine being able to eat every meal for free at work.
When we say eat for free we are not just talking about a snack bar with a few stale digestives and a couple of broken hob nobs. Google has out done itself with micro kitchens and campus cafes always open and fully accessible for employees to select their meals from an array of breakfast, lunch and dinner options.
After all that food what more could you possibly want? Well, a way to work off that extra pudding and create some space for the next day’s free food supply of course. Yes, believe it or not, that has been thought of too, on campus gyms fully equipped and providing a selection of workout classes are sure to keep Googles employees in shape and energized.
Just think what these two benefits alone could do for your excess cash stash at the end of every month.
So, if our hunger is satiated, and our figure is on form what else could possibly make us happy? Yes, you guessed it, hobbies are one of the highest ranking de-stress techniques. Who doesn't long for the weekend to come, giving us chance to indulge in our chosen pastime.
Google have tuned into this with one of our favourite reported perks - the well documented 20%-time policy. This policy encourages Googlers to spend 20% of their time pursuing passion projects, Google even go so far as to provide education subsidies and tuition reimbursements.
Encouraging employees to maintain a healthy work life balance and supporting them in their endeavours is something we think would secure Google a place in the great employer record books - even without the free food.
This is just a small selection of the perks Google employees have talked about receiving over the years, there really does seem to be something for everyone. A quick query on your favourite search engine will yield a ton of results to scroll through and marvel at, with many articles featuring employees reporting genuine deep-seated job satisfaction.
We are seeing more and more employers taking notice of the advances in employee satisfaction policies throughout the Western world and starting to review their own policies.
Finding areas, no matter how small that can be tweaked to improve working conditions and contractual benefits for all employees is a must whether you have just 1 or 1,000 workers in your team.