Work Perks Your Team Will Love

Company benefits play a big role in job hunting and are sometimes a deciding factor in whether a person accepts a position. In addition to determining whether the benefits being offered meet their financial needs, many employees consider the quality and cost of their work benefits to be a direct measure of how much their employer cares about them. This is true of companies large and small in every industry, veterinary medicine included.

Beyond traditional benefits, which offer financial security and peace of mind, some companies (think Google and Facebook) offer truly unique benefit and other “work perks” that make them stand head and shoulders above the rest. It may not be feasible for your practice to insititute some of the benefits listed here, but consider how they could create a happier atmosphere, improve morale and increase productivity in your practice.

Get creative with what you offer your team; your employees will thank you for it!

Paid Parental Leave: Having a baby is an exciting, overwhelming and exhausting time for both mothers and fathers, and infancy is a crucial time for child and parent bonding. Many businesses offer extended — and often paid — parental leave. Netflix, for example, offers its employees more than six months paid leave with the option to work some days to extend their parental leave.

Employee health is becoming a focus for business owners. It’s no secret that people who exercise regularly are at a lower risk for developing illnesses like heart disease and diabetes. That means fewer sick days taken and more efficiency at work. Offering gym memberships incentivizes employees to take care of their health so they can be in the best shape to get down to business in the practice.

Many employees whose workday starts early skip the most important meal of the day to get a few more minutes of sleep. This can throw off their focus and their metabolism for the rest of the day. Offering employees complimentary breakfast and healthy snacks can go a long way toward improving team focus, motivation and production.

Work-life balance is a must in the stressful atmosphere of a veterinary practice. Employee happy hours not only allow everyone to let loose and be themselves, they also offer a great opportunity for employee bonding, which can create a more cohesive and productive team.

People who work in veterinary medicine have big hearts. Take advantage of this quality by organizing company outings that help the community, such as offering assistance in a local shelter. Giving back to others is known to increase personal positivity, which can also create a more compassionate atmosphere in your practice.

As higher education costs increase, some companies are investing in their employees’ children’s future by offering scholarships and grants. Putting kids through college is stressful, so adding this perk to your business can relieve anxieties that are carried into the practice. Also, some of these students may become technicians or veterinarians themselves and eventually work with you!

Employees who work 40 hours a week might not be able to find the time to do the things they enjoy doing outside of work, like going to baseball games or rock concerts, and ticket prices for sporting events or concerts today can be excessive. Finding ways to decrease the financial burden of having that healthy work-life balance is a simple way of thanking your employees for the hard work they do all year.

Some companies give yearly bonuses in the form of vacations. While this may be expensive to do every year for every employee in the practice, paid trips are great ways to celebrate anniversaries with the practice or important birthdays. Your employees will come back rejuvenated with high energy that can be applied to their work.

To be successful professionally, people need to take care of both their mental and physical health. Offering in-office sessions with therapists and life coaches gives employees an opportunity to work through and let go of their negative emotions. Coaching can also help young employees with goal setting and achieving success throughout their career.