There is a rule among all companies (or there should be) and that is to treat your people correctly: they are your most valuable asset. When you treat your people respectfully and correctly, you can get the best out of them. Happy workers are productive and eager to be there, and the salary that you have offered everyone on your staff list is not a scorecard. It’s a minimum that you should be offering for individual skill levels before you consider the other benefits that you should have in their contracts.

Company perks aren’t a burden on your budget; they should be seen as an opportunity for you to shower your staff in thanks. Taking advantage of perks and benefits that aren’t monetary means that you are going to be more appealing as a business when it comes to hiring new staff. Most staff won’t be enticed by a good salary if that’s the only reason to work for you; perks make you attractive and the key is to understand what your staff would want the most. Some people value having access to employment discrimination lawyers as part of your company legal team. Others value knowing that there are employee development programmes on hand for when they are ready to take the next step in their career. A lot of people would prefer extra benefits than have an increase in their pay, which says a lot for employment benefits, doesn’t it? Some of the most popular options for employee benefits are listed below:

Health Insurance. Whether your staff already have health insurance coverage or not, you are able to offer a private plan that could cover more than their basic Medicare.

Vacation Time. The law may not give much time for vacations, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t add time off for your staff as a way to entice them to do well.

Bonuses. Giving performance bonuses doesn’t mean that you have to bump up salaries. Bonuses can be in the form of anything that you want them to be; from baskets of fruit on a Friday to tickets to a show.

Paid Sick Days. When staff can see an employer offering paid time off when they’re unwell and need to recover, they’re more drawn to them. It shows you to be a caring employer who knows that their staff matters.

Flexible Work Schedule. Working from home, between school hours, coming in early and leaving early – all of these things are examples of flexible working. If you make the effort to ensure that your staff know this is an option, you’ll appeal to the parents and those who require more appointments during work time.

Tuition Reimbursement. Student loans are a huge burden but paying tuition fees in return for time served working for you is a great way to bring in the top talent around.

You need to dangle a carrot and let your new staff eat them up; perks matter for people, and you need to figure out which will be best for yours.