Many companies today offer a smorgasbord of potential benefits, allowing employees to build customized packages that suit their needs. Rather than provide truly valuable advantages and support systems for their team members, other companies choose to rely on gimmicks to stand out and appeal to potential employees.
While they may seem enticing at first, gimmicky “benefits” will eventually fail to deliver for the company and its employees. Disillusioned employees may spread the word about how the business sold them on perks that didn’t pan out. Then, instead of improving hiring and retention as intended, offering this kind of benefit only increases a business’s odds of losing its best talent.
To help, 13 members of Forbes Coaches Council explore some of the things companies try to pass off as benefits and explain why relying on such gimmicks won’t work out the way either party expects it to.
Forbes Coaches Council members explore gimmicky employee benefits and the reasons why they don't work.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.1. Unlimited Paid Time Off
Unlimited PTO as a perk was quite popular, but it still seems like a gimmick. It creates a gray area around family and medical leave for the company if an employee takes weeks off. And studies have shown that employees tend to take less time off if their company offers unlimited PTO. I’d rather offer employee wellness and mental health programs as perks, especially right now. - Jessica Miller-Merrell, Workology
2. Maternity Leave Policies
Maternity leave policies are disguised as caring incentives and benefits, but more often they punish new moms and dads with reductions in salary or payment clauses. If anything, the financial burden placed on parents is greater during this time. Redesigning these policies to really boost the psychological contract between the firm and the employee engenders loyalty and trust. - Arthi Rabikrisson, Prerna Advisory
3. Generic Gifts For Appreciation Day
Celebrating employee appreciation days with generic gifts is more of a gimmick. Whether it’s flowers for secretaries or swag with the company logo on it for everyone, they are viewed as shallow and meaningless. The impact is gone in a day. Rather, encourage each manager to send a personalized email to each direct report that expresses appreciation for something specific that the employee has done. Better yet, pick up the phone. - Julie Kantor, JP Kantor Consulting
4. Work-Life Balance
A gimmick is talking about “work-life balance!” Stop using that phrase now. Putting “work” first is offensive to your people. Try creating work styles, spaces and policies that actually impact the lives of your employees. Help them create a life rhythm that improves their world, serves them and their families and helps them dream. An engaged, happy employee does better work for your company. - David Taylor-Klaus, DTK Coaching, LLC
Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?
5. Employee Of The Month
The trick of naming an employee of the month should be avoided, especially if it is not accompanied by a monetary bonus or another type of advantage. Most often it becomes an occasion for disturbing the personal relationships between employees. For most, the title corresponds to the one who did the dirtiest work, and there’s nothing attractive about imitating that. - Jill Douka, Global Academy Of Coaching
6. ‘Games’ To Drive Health Changes
Employee benefits involving “games’’ to drive health changes can present several challenges and unintended consequences. What are the expectations? Are they clear? Do the employees do this during work hours or after? How are employees who choose not to participate perceived? Does discrimination occur? Can employees “game the system” to collect rewards without really doing the work? - Faith Fuqua-Purvis, Synergetic Solutions Consulting LLC
7. All-Hands Meetings
Some leaders promote the all-hands meeting as a benefit because it gives all employees access to the CEO and others at the top. That is indeed a terrific benefit when it is sincere outside of the meeting. When that same CEO speeds past employees without speaking to them or even simply greeting them, the benefit becomes a gimmick. People will only attend if forced to, and this is the ultimate sign of a gimmick. - Kelly Tyler Byrnes, Voyage Consulting Group
8. Q&A Sessions With The Owner
I coached a business owner who had his staff join him for a video conference call each week for an hour for the “benefit” of being able to ask him questions, as he was an expert in his field. The staff confided in me that they hated the meetings; they detested that he kept talking about it as a benefit of working for his company when, in reality, he was the person who enjoyed the time and not them. - Doug Holt, Doug Holt Online
9. Recreation Spaces
Any benefit that does not align with your culture is a gimmick. Pool, ping pong and foosball tables come to mind. Many companies jumped on the bandwagon of installing “recreation” spaces in the workplace without realizing that their company culture does not support people taking breaks from work time to play. Sure, it might look cool that you have a pool table, until you realize nobody actually uses it. - Cheryl Czach, Cheryl Czach Coaching and Consulting, LLC
10. Free Food And Car Washes
Gimmicks are just that, gimmicks. Free food, car washes and dog walking are great—and won’t work in a pandemic. Plus, while seemingly helpful, they don’t get to what people really need: to feel heard, valued, inspired and respected for their boundaries, as well as to be provided with an environment where cultivating psychological safety, trust and respect is a must. - Esther Weinberg, The Ready Zone
11. On-Site Laundry
While it sounds like a great option, on-site laundry is a gimmick. The reason I feel it doesn’t work is because it plays into this idea that you will be working so much, you won’t have time to do your own laundry. If you see this “perk” listed, just know that it means you will be logging many hours in the office. Note that this is a bit different during the Covid-19 pandemic, but still a red flag! - Emily Kapit, ReFresh Your Step, LLC
12. Office Gyms
One of the more gimmicky things businesses offer as a “benefit” is a gym in their workplace. People won’t stop their days to work out. This means they’ll either have to come to the office earlier than normal or stay later than usual, taking more time away from them being at home. Fitness can be a release from work, and when it happens at work, it is hard to separate the two. - Jon Dwoskin, The Jon Dwoskin Experience
13. Branded Merchandise
Many employers give out merchandise: hats, shirts, mugs and maybe even face masks during the Covid-19 pandemic, all with the company logo on them. Do this. But recognize that this is not a gift or a benefit your employees will appreciate! It may help people feel part of the team, but mostly it’s promotion for your brand. To give employees a real gift, give them something with their own name or initials on it, not yours. - Darlene Murphy, Coachworth, LLC
