Wise Startup Blog

The most powerful asset in any company is the people. For a company like Google, you have the best minds in the world, and then contrast them with General Motors and you see my point. We just chronicled the best Google job perks, and there is a lot small businesses can learn from them.

How To Retain Top Talent

Buy Your Employees Lunch
It seems simple, and almost sounds wasteful, but when you put the number to the paper, buying your employees lunch can be one of the best financial decisions you make. Let’s look at the numbers:

• 20 Employees, Paid at $20 / Hour
• Average Lunch Break 1 Hour
• Total Cost:$400 (In lost productivity)
• Cost For Lunch Per Person $4
• Total Cost For Lunch:$80
• Total Savings:$320

As you can see, if you’re spending $4 per person (say a pizza costs $12 each), you’re saving $320 in productivity, plus you keep your employees happy be saving them at least $4 per person on lunch.

Dual Monitors
This is another great cost-saving measure for companies, and an easy way to show your employees that you care. For anyone that’s ever worked on a single 15″ monitor, dual monitors are like moving from your twin in college to a queen once you graduate.

Dual monitors are like night-and-day compared to a single, small monitor. Having two monitors allows your employees to increase their productivity, get more work done, and reduce eye strain and stress. This is often an overlooked perk, but it is crucial for any company looking to get the most out of their best talent.

Flexible Scheduling
This is yet another great perk for employees that doesn’t cost your company any money at all. Life and work share a delicate balance, so to accommodate work-life balance, flexible scheduling can allow your employees to work around their schedules. This can work in a couple of ways:

• Allow your employees to have a 1 hour buffer period. If they’re scheduled to come in at 9, it’s okay if they come in at 8, and it’s also okay if they come in at 10.

• Telecommuting. Often times, employees can spend upwards of 2 hours commuting to and from the office. If they spent this same 2 hours working, you would see a huge increase in productivity, and a lot happier employees. Set aside certain days that employees can telecommute. Try to schedule all meetings on one day, so employees can work from home on off-days.


Let Your Employees Pick Their Computer
Humans love choice. So why not empower your employees with a choice in their computer. If you’re in the Internet industry, your company lives and dies by its technology. So often, companies buy 20 of the same machine, and when a new employee is hired, they are issued the standard (usually a Dell) computer. Facebook offers employees the choice of a Lenovo Ultraportable or Apple Macbook Pro.

So they say: PC or Mac? They only buy 2 machines, but suddenly that choice is empowering. When looking at making new hardware purchases, narrow your choices down to 2 options. You don’t have to go the complete Mac vs. PC route, but why not give employees the choice between a desktop and laptop (if they have a laptop, they can work from home too). Mix things up further by adding on additional monitor choices, and you’ve got a pretty happy, personalized employee.

When building a great company, the greatest resource you have are your employees. The goal of management is to foster innovation, growth, and to enable your employees to do their greatest work. Bill Gates didn’t build the Windows empire by himself, and as much micro-management as Steve Jobs does, he didn’t build the iPod on his own. All of the great CEOs have empowered their workforce to be great, so use these ideas as a starting point and start empowering your top talent, and they’ll reward you by staying on as loyal employees.