Cool Work Perks

My favorite radio station in Central Ohio is 104.9 The River (River Radio – Uplifting & Encouraging®).  While I was listening this past week, the DJs were having a conversation about cool work perks they experienced from their parents’ jobs growing up.  This immediately made me think of my grandmother.

First of all, I have to say that my grandma is one of the coolest ladies on the planet.  She is loving, caring, and she was my first influence to learn about the love of Jesus.  She is also a total badass.  When her mother died young, my grandmother took it upon herself at the age of 16 to raise her 3 younger siblings.  She then met my grandfather and had 3 kids of her own.  She is the epitome of hard work.  One day, she decided a wall in the house was in her way and she took it down with a hammer.  She also taught me the importance of keeping a good home – ‘we don’t live in dirt’ are her words I hear every time I clean.  It was never about having money or prestige; it was about class and honor.  I was taught to take care of the things I was blessed with. 

When I was growing up, my grandma was the food service director for a local school district.  My parents were juggling jobs and three kids, so my grandma helped out.  Sometimes my mom would drop us off to her at the high school so she could go to work early and my grandma would then take us to school.  Fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and little containers of chocolate milk for breakfast? – Yes please!  It was awesome.  What a fun way to start the day!  And if that wasn’t enough – do you remember the rectangle-shaped school pizzas?  We had a box of them in our freezer!  It was a great time to be a kid.  To us, those were the ultimate work perks. 

Today, I look at work perks a little differently.  I really admire companies that are thinking outside the box to provide comp & benefit offerings to employees that truly meet their needs.  I read about an organization that was giving new hires a week of ‘pre-PTO’ – a paid week off prior to starting their new job.  They reasoned they wanted new hires to come in rested and ready to go.  Cool! 

It’s tough to do – and having 5 generations in the workforce doesn’t help.  How can an organization possibly implement a strategy that provides what employees really want and value?  I think back to when I started working and my sole focus was on salary.  Then I became a mom and my needs changed.  When I moved into leadership roles, my expectations also shifted.  I now value flexibility and autonomy above anything else.  It’s the circle of employee life. 

What cool work perks did you get to experience growing up?  And what are your favorite ones now?