BCBusiness

22 BCBusiness octoBEr 2016 It's tempting to conclude that this signals the death of the perk entirely, but businesses outside of technolo•y—those who likely did not overpay for employee ball pits or Thursday kickball recesses— should not drop the perk entirely from their HR toolkit. Perks are powerful when applied with forethought. And they may, in the end, be more far more …exible in attracting and keeping employees than mere dollars. "Salaries can actually paint you into a corner," says professor Daniel Skarlicki of UBC's Sauder School of Business, whose area of research is compensation and leadership. Annual salary increases are typically small for most employees, he points out, and so they do not moti- vate much. But they tend also to operate with what he calls a "ratchet eŒect"—meaning that once you give a raise, it cannot be withdrawn without enor- mous demotivating eŒects. An even bigger issue with salaries is that employees attribute value to them without reference to any absolute scale but based instead on social comparisons. Research has long conŽrmed this: we're happier in the biggest house on a street of small houses than we are in a huge house where the other houses are huger. Perks, on the other hand, prove much more di'cult to compare. Weekly hot yoga classes or a Michelin-starred chef in the kitchen? It's hard to know on which side of that fence the grass is greener. "One size does not Žt all with perks," says Sandra Reder of Vertical Bridge, a human resources consultancy in Vancou- ver that advises clients on how to attract and retain key employees. Knowing that their employees are typically outdoorsy types, for example, Mountain Equipment Co-op probably wouldn't give them perks in the form of opera tickets. Employee discounts on MEC gear would work better all around, as that's a perk that builds the brand internally while also responding to the life employees are actually living. Perks can also be a way of creating employee experiences that mesh with their values and contribute to a sense that their work is meaningful. "Younger employees in particular want to work for a place demonstrating corporate social responsibility," says Reder. The best of these so-called CSR programs do not necessarily involve vast contribu- tions of money by the company itself. Seed the giving—ideally to a charity selected with employee involvement—and then let employees themselves contribute. The result, she says, is an engaged employee community that senses the connection between their work and their core beliefs. Both Reder and Skarlicki agree, further, that the best perk programs are designed with generational diŒerences in mind. Millennials are values driven, so if your workforce is 20 to 30, think about a CSR program; think about on-site bike storage. If you're hiring people a few years older, think about daycare assistance or …ex-time arrange- ments that allow people to better structure time with their family. Of course, there remain risks with perks. Skarlicki warns about perk lockout, where a perk to assist employees with families excludes a whole tranche of the workforce that has no kids. A certain amount of balancing and awareness of employee demographics is necessary. Worse perhaps is the perks arms race phenomenon—where, in a hot job market, companies Žnd themselves trying to one-up each other. It's arguably that line of thinking that brought us to in- house masseuses and private Kid Rock concerts in the Žrst place. But in the end, the poten- tial rewards of a well-designed perk program—having carefully considered the workforce, its demographics and its values—are likely to have far greater motivat- ing and engagement eŒects than any across-the-board salary increase or bonus that a given company could aŒord. And engagement is the key, because you want to keep people. "The cost of hiring," Reder reminds us, "is much greater than the cost of retaining." Perks ThaT MaTTer sourcE: thE crEativE Group (roBErthalF.com) that's roughly how much of canada's sugar production is created at the 13.5- acre rogers sugar refinery complex on Vancouver's waterfront—so when you sneak a treat this month from your Halloween cache, consider that the sweet- ness in those foil-wrapped chocolate eyeballs or spooky jelly worms may have originated close to home. the refinery—recognizable by the gothic-looking warehouse near the Ironworkers Memorial bridge—has a production capacity of 240,000 tonnes, but last decade's high dollar and tight trade quotas in sugar-hungry markets like the U.S. and Japan have limited demand in recent years, says Sandra Marsden, president of the canadian Sugar Institute. "We've not fared well in trade agreements—our markets are open and everyone else's are closed," she says. "but we've been very engaged in trade negotiations, and if the tPP is implemented the industry stands to benefit. With its good agricultural inputs, there's lots of opportunity in b.c." by Melissa Edwards 10% Sweet Dreams NUMEROLOGY the creative Group, a robert half staffing agency geared to the cre- ative industries, has a list of "five persuasive perks to enhance recruitment and retention." they are: 1. Workplace well- ness programs. paid gym memberships and on- site yoga classes "is the perk that keeps on giving." 2. Free food (and good coffee). an "appetizing perk" that saves time and money. 3. Work from anywhere. allow employees to "choose the location and space that is most conducive to getting the job done." 4. Concierge services. provide access to a service that helps with tasks such as dry cleaning or basic auto servicing. 5. Transportation or parking reim- bursement. For employ- ees who have to travel long distances, pay their tolls, parking or transit costs. tickets. Employee discounts on gear would work better all while also responding to the life perk that keeps on For employ- ees who

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