A recent post over on Forbes.com is getting some traction in social media and the perspectives are interesting.
You will find the post in the Dear Liz Ryan column where a writer poses the question as to why he should accept lower pay in exchange of ‘great benefits’ and a tremendous culture.
In this day and age these kinds of claims are a feeble attempt to justify below market compensation and you would do well to really examine the mechanics of a potential offer that might be made to you.
Many things are held up as benefits that a prospective employee should take into consideration but here are a bunch that are influential perhaps but don’t put cash in your pocket and ostensibly don’t have a monetary value when you look at compensation as a defining factor.
Cultural and environmental factors
- After work socials
- Annual holiday parties
- Beer Friday
- Business casual attire
- Dress down Friday
- A flat organization structure
- A leadership open door policy
- A fun or cool work space
- Free hot and cold beverages
- Snacks
- Sports event tickets
- Flexible work from home plans
- A nice laptop or mobile devices like tablets
- Corporate apparel
- A foosball, ping pong table, mini-golf putting course or slot cars
- A deck, a patio, picnic tables or a basketball hoop
- Gym equipment, lockers and/or showers
- Paid company lunches
- Retailer discount schemes
![pay-day-soon[1]](http://www.o-s-p.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/pay-day-soon1.jpg)
As compensation plan the following items are generally accepted as being the norm as part of a compensation package
- Health plans and benefits
- Retirement plans and benefits
- Stock options
- Personal Performance bonuses
- Corporate Performance bonuses
- Paid vacation/time-off
- Paid sick days
- Subsidized or paid public transport schemes
- Subsidized and on-site child care
Although these items have value – they are not cash in hand and ultimately that is a heavily influencing factor for employees particularly those with scarce skills. According to a survey conducted by FastCompany the top five benefits ranked by employees are :
- Health care insurance (e.g., medical, dental): 40%
- Vacation/paid time off: 37%
- Performance bonus: 35%
- Paid sick days: 32%
- 401(k) plan, retirement plan and/or pension: 31%
Some particularly interesting benefits offered by some prominent companies and cited by folks on Glassdoor are :
- Google provides the surviving spouse or partner of a deceased employee 50% of their salary for the next 10 years. (Overall benefits rating: 4.6)
- Adobe shuts down the entire company for one week in December and one week over the summer. (Overall benefits rating: 4.6)
- Facebook provides $4,000 in “Baby Cash” to employees with a newborn. (Overall benefits rating: 4.7)
- PwC offers its employees $1,200 per year for student loan debt reimbursement. (Overall benefits rating: 4.0)
With the COVID-19 Pandemic switch to WFH and Hybrid working circumstances for many, this now becomes a significant additional factor in evaluating a prospective employer.