Office incentives - company care or a tether to your desk?
The modern office phenomenon is the introduction of workplaces filled with staff benefits and perks far beyond the previous era of complementary tea and coffee but are these simply incentives to never escape the office?
Leading companies like Microsoft, Facebook and Google now commonly supply three meals a day, gyms, areas of relaxation and a range of activities that employees have everyday access to.
A recent survey found that 44% of Google employees are working in excess of ten hours a day and often work late at night or on weekends. This has been made possible due to these office benefits. A common theme when employees were questioned about work life balance was that they spent more time in the office due to having access to anything they needed, including food and spaces for relaxation but additionally attested that they didn’t feel they often used these additional benefits. This poses the question as to whether these benefits are psychologically creating a sense of work life balance despite the fact employees are working longer and harder than ever?
For many years companies have marketed a “family culture” and “sense of community” as a core value in businesses. More recently companies like Google and Apple have focused on integrating benefits for their staff ranging from massage therapists and decompression capsules to free cooking classes and complementary meals.
But at what cost are companies creating all-inclusive office environments to show their care for employees?
This is not a new concept with many companies concentrating on ethos and branding to boost the idea that businesses were invested in the welfare and enjoyment of there employees above profit and performance. However, scientifically speaking, companies concentrating on morale actually benefits themselves too. A study at Warwick University found a 12% productivity increase when people were more content. Perhaps focusing on how companies and management can boost employee morale could also boost profit?
Young people are more than ever choosing their enjoyment at work over previous choices focusing on salary and now that companies are trying to encourage work after the pandemic it begs the question as to what is truly important to the modern worker. It is common for employees to choose employers based off their ethos and community, but the danger is when large corporations utilise techniques to create community as a method to reduce financing the additional hours of work and productivity their staff are providing.
With the introduction of companies focusing of employee care it is additionally imperative that companies aren’t using such benefits to mask the lack of financial benefits for additional work.
The reality of the situation is whilst these benefits are fantastic for staff, companies must be mindful that they are ensuring these bonuses are facilitating healthy working relationships, rather than masking unhealthy work life balance.Integrating a culture where staff feel they have opportunities to take time to themselves and disconnect from work should be focused on. Understanding that whilst with flexibility of working times bring created with new technologies, that companies need to ensure this luxury is not exploited at the price of employee welfare.
There are clear benefits to prioritising employees the difficulty is knowing how to do this?
