NIU

Perks for Employees and Customers

Posted by Stacy on Monday, October 27, 2008 3:52 PM

The other day one of the girls in my sorority was talking about finding a job after graduation in May. She has always been the type to do things ahead of time so now she has 3 job offers (while most of my other friends who are graduating have none right now). So for the past few days she has been weighing the pros and cons of each job and trying to decide which one is right for her. One of the jobs is working for a company that she interned with so she already knows the ins and outs of that particular company, but the other two she really only knows what she has researched about. I think she is really stuck between doing something she's been doing for the past 2 years (where she interned) and knows is good and going out there and trying something new but not knowing for sure whether she'll like it or if it will be right for her. One thing though that she talked about were the perks to each job. Two of the jobs offered her corporate gifts including sporting tickets and a car (one was in addition to a company car). And while the third doesn't offer a car, they offer to pay for gas (and these aren't jobs where she has to travel so it really is an added bonus).

It seems that now more than ever employees are reaping benefits that were purely for clients before. Like tradeshow giveaways and promotional products for the customers, employees are finding themselves with more and more perks whether it be pre-paid gas cards, a company car or tickets to sporting events, this company is using these gifts to real in the over qualified employees (who probably have better offers like my friend Erin) but not only that, they are using them as an advertising tool as well.

Having a satisfied employee is like giving away logo merchandise. They are advertising your company for you when they tell friends and family about their great experience and perks with the job. Especially if they are driving a company car or taking friends or clients to a baseball game with tickets from the company. These are all ways to real in both the clients and the employees and they are sincerely working. Hopefully when I get into the real world the same incentives will be available.