19 Employee Perks Ideas To Try This Year

 It is more important than ever in the war for talent to ensure that your organization delights employees. In the list below we have provided ample employee perks ideas that your human resources team can discuss adding to your employee engagement, retention and attraction strategies.

1. Unlimited Vacation Time

While this may sound difficult to implement, it can actually make your organization more efficient and productive. As it eliminates the need to track vacation time, systems and managers can spend energy previously devoted to that on other more important items.

2. Sabbatical Program

A sabbatical program is a great way to ensure your employees stay innovative and engaged long term with your organization. As many more organization implement sabbatical programs, this will become a top contender on our list of employee perks ideas.

3. Work From Home Policy

Employee perks ideas don’t always have to benefit the employee, they can also benefit the organization! Many businesses can save on overhead costs by eliminating office space, and also through lower salaries as many people are willing to take a pay cut for this flexibility.

4. Financial Education

Providing a class or program to your employees that engages them with personal finance information can ensure that they are sound financially. When your employees are secure, they are better able to focus on their job at your organization!

5. Tuition Assistance/Reimbursement

This might be one of the most obvious employee perks ideas to try! However, many companies forget the importance of offering and encouraging employees to participate in this program.

6. Local Discounts

These are fairly easy to create through way of partnerships with local businesses. They are usually very happy to get extra business from your employees! Tickets to your cities sports team will keep your employees happy that their work goes the extra mile to show appreciation.

7. Free Lunch

Free lunch has become one of the most common benefits on our employee perks ideas list, especially in the Silicon Valley. This allows companies to show appreciation to their employees, as well as keep them engaged at the workplace.

8. Doggie Daycare

Allowing your employees’ puppies to come to work with them will keep them happy and appreciative of your company.

9. Health Club Onsite

Providing a gym or other health benefits onsite is one of the most important employee perks ideas that we have listed. It ensures the long-term physical and mental health of your workforce!

10. Flexible Hour Policies

If your workload doesn’t demand it, there should be no reason to demand your employees be at the office during set hours. Allowing them to take ownership of their own work hours will leave them feeling invigorated about their own work.

11. Paternity Leave

One of our more progressive employee perks ideas; this allows fathers the same courtesy as mothers when their child is born.

12. Extended Maternity Leave

Providing more leave time for your employees that have become mothers to bond with their children has many perks! It allows for your employees to come back to work more refreshed and it will develop their appreciation for your organization.

13. Adoption Leave

Similar to maternity or paternity leave, this allows for parents of newly adopted children to take leave to bond with their child.

14. Adoption Assistance

This employee perk idea is based on the large financial cost your employee takes on to adopt a child. Providing them with some sort of financial help will go a long way in goodwill towards your organization.

15. Gender Reassignment Surgery Assistance

This benefit allows transgender employees to undergo gender reassignment surgery at a lower cost, or for free, with the assistance of your organization. The procedure can be life changing for your transgender employees, and will strengthen the bond between them and the organization.

16. Leadership Development

One of the most popular benefits from our employee perks ideas list, this allows your most ambitious employees the chance to prepare for their future career aspirations. It also allows the organization to prepare for leadership roles that will become open in the future.

17. Retirement Lifestyle Planning

As more than ten thousand baby boomers will retire from the workforce in the next decade, it is important that organizations support their employees going through this transition. 

18. Paid Volunteer Days

This employee perks idea is a great way to make a positive impact on your community. It also allows employees to feel good about the volunteer work they do, and their organization.

19. Student Loan Debt Assistance

As more millennials struggle with massive student loan debt payments, providing assistance will allow your employees to focus more on their work at your organization. This will benefit your objectives, as well as create an appreciation of your organization.

Raymond Lee

Raymond Lee is the President of Careerminds, a global outplacement company based in Wilmington, Delaware. He has over 20 years of human resource, outplacement, and career consulting experience. He has his bachelor’s in psychology and holds a Master’s Degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Louisiana Tech University. He is active in SHRM and ATD. Raymond’s been featured on SiriusXM Business Radio, CareerTalk, and the Wall Street Journal and he’s published a book titled, Clocking Out: A Stress-Free Guide to Career Transitions.