The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Companies offer quirky perks like guitar lessons, tattoos
Some firms say ‘quid pro quo’ for workers only fair.
Sabbaticals, massages or a home maid service? Bike maintenance, tattoos or guitar lessons? Some small and medium-sized companies are offering quirky and enviable perks to try to attract and keep the best workers.
The hundred staffers at marketing firm Velvet Media can periodically spend a month working at any of its offices — Denver, Tokyo, Bangkok or Venice, Italy — with the company paying their expenses, co-CEO Daniele Gatti says.
Many businesses provide such out-of-the-norm perks because they want staffers to have a rewarding environment — something likely to resonate as peoplewho deal with work email and respond to texts at all hours demand more satisfaction at work.
“We extend work into employees’ lives,” says Neil Vaswani, CEO of Corestream, a benefits consulting company. “We have to start extending them a little bit of quid pro quo.”
Alook at the unusual benefits at some companies:
Quirky perks
Monthly maid service, money toward “whatever makes you happy” — like yoga, manicures or pottery classes.
Who’s offering them: The Zebra, an Austin, Texas-based car insurance comparison website, with about 100 employees.
Why: “When you design perks, you think about providing tools that are differentiators when you’ re trying to attract top talent ,” says chief operating officer Joshua Dziabiak.
Other benefifits: Unlimited paid time off, a company gym, or reimbursement for an outside gym membership.
Pushing the edge: “We were trying to be kindo f radical about it. If someone is working all day, putting their efforts into their job, what is something people can’t stand doing when they come home from work? Cleaning,” Dziabiak says.
Quirky perks
Monthly massages, Uber and Lyft rides.
Who’s offering them: C3 Metrics, a Portsmouth, NewHampshire-based company that analyzes advertis-
ing and website viewership, with about 40 employees.
Why: “Technology work can be stressful at times,” says co-founder Jeff Greenfield. “Massages not only counteract some of the impact of standing in front of the screen, they’re amove toward a healthier lifestyle.”
The company began offering free U berri des after one staffer was charged with a DUI. Employees can use them for any reason.
“We want employees to make the safe and smart decision not to drive ,” Greenfield says.
Other benefifits: Catered lunch daily, gym memberships, weekends that begin by 3 p.m. on Fridays.
Putting his money where his heart is: “Whenever I hire someone, I kind of fall in love with them,” Greenfield says.
Quirky perk
30-day paid sabbatical every three years, vacation expenses, $1,000 reimbursement for any kind of lessons, including guitar, cooking or flight school.
Who’s offering them: Basecamp, a Chicago-based maker of project management software, with about 50 employees.
Why: “We want to find opportunities that benefit people outside of the office,” says CEO Jason Fried, who says the perkswere the result of employees’ suggestions “plus our own thoughts about what makes a better company.”
Other benefifits: Four-day workweek in the summer, massages, free dry cleaning
Worth the cost?: Fried estimates Basecamp spends about a quarter of amillion
dollars annually on these perks. But, he says, “we think this is some of the best money we can spend.”
Quirky perks
Performance rewards of a staffer’s choosing can include tattoos, massages, dinner or concert tickets; employees can work at home one day a week and be on call or work remotely the day after a national holiday.
Who’s offering them: Tinsel, a New York-based event design and planning company, with about 10 fulltime staffers.
Why: Co-owner Erica Taylor says she and her business partner, Adette Contreras, wanted to reward staffers whose jobs include odd hours, early mornings, nights and weekends. “We want to make sure they feel we’re investing in them, that it’s reciprocal.”
The partners also wanted to treat their staffers better than their own bosses treated them.
Other benefifits: Staffers can bring dogs to work; the company has outings like beach days, New York skyline cruises or roller skating days.
Beyond money: “We asked, what goes beyond ‘Here’s another bump up in your check.’ We wanted something that feels more personal and thoughtful,” Taylor says.
Quirky perks
Bose noise-canceling headphones, soccer tickets, Amazon gift cards, daily lunch es at nearby restaurants.
Who’s offering them: Geniuslink, a Seattle-based company that manufactures software to stream line online
retailing, with about a dozen full-time employees
Why: “It allows us to compete against startups that have a lot of money to throw around,” says CEO Jesse Lakes. Another reason for the headphones: Those who need to concentrate can have a hard time in an open work environment where other people are talking.
Other benefifits: Unlimited snacks and beverages, free parking or public transportation.
That’s not why they call it work: “If we’re not having fun, then what’s the point of doing a startup,” says Lakes, who previously worked at Microsoft.
Quirky perks
New mothers can bring babies under six months old to work (no new fathers have asked yet), the company pays for bicycle gear and maintenance, and Pilates classes are held in the office twice a week
Who’s offering them: Adventure Life, a travel company based in Missoula, Montana, with about two dozen employees
Why: “We need to walk the talk by encouraging people to do many of the activities that we offfer to our customers,” says CEO Brian Mor- gan.
Other benefits: Gym membership, dogs are allowed at work, 50 percent reimbursement for classes like cooking, learning a language, continuing education, also a 50 percent reimbursement for fees on activities like marathons.
Quirky perks
Yoga equipment, shuffleboard, a pool table, a rock climbing wall, and bicycles at the office.
Who’s offering them: The Melting Pot, a restaurant franchisor with about 65 employees at its home offiffice in Tampa, Florida.
Why: “Take a look at job satisfaction. There’s been a steady decline since the late 1980s,” says CEO Bob Johnston. “We have an obligation to give people a good work environment.”
Other benefifits: Employees can bring their dogs to work, and can work from home one day a week.