Quora Question of the Week: 5 Best Startup Perks

May 24, 2013

Job satisfaction is something every employee wants, but few are lucky enough to experience during their careers. Long work days, stressful commutes, demanding deadlines, and stagnant salaries combine to make work seem … well, like work. The good news, according to the Quora community, is that it’s very possible for employees to find satisfaction at the office, and it comes in the form of attractive company perks. Let’s take a look at the top five perks that Quora members deemed most appealing to the everyday employee.

“What’s the most attractive perk, besides food, that an early-stage startup can offer its employees?”

Question originally posted on Quora by Startup Culture.

Top 5 Company Perks for Startups

Do You Know What You're Worth?

Location (81 votes*) – It’s no mystery that traffic and/or a long commute is hardly ever enjoyable, especially on a daily basis. Therefore, living relatively close to the office helps eliminate some of the stress from annoying daily commutes to and from the workplace. However, it’s not always possible to conveniently live in close proximity to your job, which leads me to perk #2 – Flextime!

Flextime/telecommute (32 votes) – Flexible schedules and the option to telecommute are huge bonuses. As mentioned above, long commutes are not awesome by any means, therefore having the option to work remotely (more specifically, at home) allows for more flexibility and freedom, which many people in typical corporate jobs would die for! Flextime also encourages a healthy work environment for talent to thrive.

All-you-can-read Amazon corporate account (24 votes) – This is a perk that we had never heard before, but the Quora community thought it was worthy enough to grace the top five. Who would have thought that having unlimited access to books related to your work and/or career would be so highly desired? As the Quora member, Byron Gibson, who posted the answer indicates, “Personally, I’d love that even more than a 401k.” Whatever floats your boat, right?

Massage/pampering (16 votes) – Need we say more? Who wouldn’t like a massage or a little pampering on the company’s dime every once in a while? Working takes its toll on a person’s body on a daily basis, causing aches and pains in places you never thought possible. Even the ergonomic equipment stops helping after a while, but a massage would definitely be a great distraction from the inevitable pain that goes hand-in-hand with hard work. As the aerobics queen Jane Fonda said, “No pain, no gain!”

Google’s 20 percent time program (13 votes) – Basically, Google allows employees to use 20 percent of the work week to work on other special projects … or, in other words, take the equivalent of a day a week to work on whatever the heck they want. Talk about perks. Why isn’t this one at the top of the list?

In today’s job market, beggars can’t be choosers, so landing a job is huge for the eager job seeker. However, the reality is, the honeymoon phase quickly wears off if the employee doesn’t have quality of life at work. Hopeful candidates actively scouring employment opportunities should seek out employers that have minimal turnover and offer a work environment that they find appealing. After all, the last thing you want is to get hired only to discover that you absolutely despise the company. Landing a job is easy, but landing a career is the real deal.

Food for Thought:

“It’s hard to get your dream job. But most people can and do enjoy their work if they can get personal satisfaction from it and do it in a pleasant environment. So if we’ve created the best workplace possible, the natural result of that is happy employees making customers happy, which usually has a positive effect on the bottom line, making it easier to improve the work environment. That’s a win all the way around, and it’s exciting to keep that wheel turning.” – Tim Hohmann, Company Captain, AutomationDirect

Tell Us What You Think

What are some of the best company perks you’ve heard about lately? What would be the one perk you’d want at your current job? Share your thoughts on Twitter or in the comments section below. Sharing is caring.

company perks