Soft Incentives: All Fun and Games
June 09, 2008
How some companies are finding success with soft benefits
By Ben Chapman
A tidy cash bonus once a year is nice, but it seems awfully boring when you think of the creative soft benefits that some companies employ, like rooftop volleyball courts, doggy day care and locally sourced organic foods, to name just a few.
In fact, soft incentives like these might be coming to an office near you. That's because more and more firms are using creative approaches to incentives in the workplace. These factors are powerful motivators for employees, and are being used as effective counterparts to travel or merchandise incentives. And workplaces loaded with nice touches aren't just the domain of boutique companies or those on the bleeding edge. Big-name companies also execute extremely effective soft incentives, according to Dan Schawbel, a social media specialist at EMC Corporation, a $35 billion IT firm headquartered in Boston.
For example, says Schawbel, "eBay sets aside spaces at two of its San Jose campuses, decorated in earth tones with plump pillows and tatami floor mats, as prayer and meditation rooms so employees can decompress during the workday." Google provides employees bonuses toward the purchase of a hybrid or electric car, and Microsoft offers dry cleaning and postal services at its Redmond, Wash., campus, plus free grocery delivery.
Indeed, highly motivated workplaces exist in all corners of industry. Read on for a few notable stories of soft incentives that contribute to organizational success.
Programmed for Motivation
Bellevue, Wash.–based software company Zango has a colorful corporate headquarters that helps motivate its highly creative employees. Vice president of human resources Ring Nishioka helps manage a variety of soft incentives designed to create an optimal environment for the company's 220 workers. "We want culture that's created by the employees," says Nishioka, "and we want people who create a better place to work."
One of the most effective motivational features of the Zango office is the building's rooftop, which boasts a regulation-size volleyball court with competition-grade netting, plus a collection of propane grills and seating with tables. The roof sees a lot of use, says Nishioka. "Every Friday we try to leave our desks at five, and go outside, if it's sunny. The company provides beer and snacks, and people will hang out on the roof until seven or eight at night."
A sense of cohesion is a powerful incentive for employees of Zango, which has built community-enhancing mechanisms into nearly every aspect of the organization. "One of the things that I appreciate about working here is that anyone can talk with one of the executives," says Nishioka. "Everybody here has an open- door policy." The inclusiveness of executives is just one example of community at the company, which makes great efforts to provide information on a company-wide level, helping create a sense of a unified team. "I think that what makes Zango a great company is that everyone is on the same page," Nishioka explains. One of the creative ways the company promotes equal access to information is through the use of seven 42-inch plasma screens located throughout the company's nine divisions. The screens display monthly revenue goals for the corporation in addition to operational goals that are specific to the departments, where the screens are displayed in prominent places. The displays are also used for more explicit team-building purposes, like announcing employees' birthdays and their anniversaries with the company. When new hires join Zango, their names and photos are shown on the displays, as an electronic introduction to the organization. "Somebody found an old picture of me from a prior life, on the Internet, and put it up on the displays," Nishioka relates. "Everyone thought it was funny."
Fun by Design
Extra vacation days and paid leave can help motivate, but fun time on the job can be an effective incentive as well. Small Baltimore-based design and visual communications firm Orange Element takes a creative approach to its monthly Fun Day, a daylong opportunity for team members to shut off their computers and do something recreational together. "Not only is it an opportunity to blow off some steam, but it really does help us grow as a team," says Aaron Moore, principal and creative director. "We've found that in an industry riddled with deadlines and high-pressure situations, taking a break to refocus creates happier, less-stressed employees, which in turn creates even better work."
The office field trips can provide intellectual experiences that are in line with the company's creative goals as well. "So much of design is about perspective—and it's hard to have a good sense of perspective when you're stuck in an office all the time," Moore says. "Fun Days get us out of the office to experience new things and help us keep an open mind."
Orange Element Fun Days so far have included paintball at a partner firm, snowboarding, baseball games, golf and duckpin bowling, all in the name of a good time. "I think there is a direct correlation between the amount of fun we are all having here and the quality of the work that we produce," says Moore. "Making sure that we're having fun allows us to be fun people, and that's a big part of what our clients love about us."
Orange Element maintains the fun the rest of the month with a lighthearted blog, which employees contribute to, and a pinball machine and putting mat set up in the office. And they aren't just for show, says Garret Ohm, marketing director.
"The perception is that design firms are lavish spaces with rooms filled with toys. But the harsh reality is that in most firms, this is only a façade," he says. "Most employees are too scared to endure the countless evil stares from upper management if they try to spend any time during the day doing non-billable work." Not so at his office, where "the games are used all the time."
 Food for Thought
Employees appreciate having food in the workplace, but one way to kick it up a notch is to offer organic foods, as is the case at Parkland Health & Hospital System in Dallas, which in October of last year started a program to offer locally sourced organic goods for sale in the workplace.
By drawing on nearby organic farmers and distributors, Lakesha L. Ladell, exercise science & kinesiology wellness program educator, conceived and executed a small organic market in a conference room. As a seasonal item in the fall, pumpkins were a major draw, in addition to other fruits and veggies. "Working in the health care industry, we had read that there might be health benefits associated with organic food, and we wanted to give it a try," she explains. "We started it out as a one-day session of a farmers market in a conference room, and now we've moved it to an on-site food shop." All the revenue generated in the sale of the organic food goes back to the hospital.
The hospital's employees appreciate the availability of healthy food, and even regard organics as a special bonus within the category of healthy food. "There's definitely a segment of our employees that want organic foods," Ladell says. "It's growing."
Food is a locus for fun at other companies too, like McMurry, a Phoenix-based marketing communications firm. "We do a 'Free Food Friday' the third Friday of every month in all three of our offices," says Strategic Communications Specialist Katie Haney. "Enough food to feed everyone is brought in from restaurants around the city. One month is Mexican, one month is Asian cuisine, one month is pizza and salad, another month could be a baked potato bar. It's a fun thing to bring everyone together to just relax. Sometimes we'll mix in a bingo game or something to that effect just for hoots." The company also has free Starbucks coffee, a discounted snack bar, and free pies at Thanksgiving, all contributing to an upbeat work environment.
 Sidebar: Going to the Dogs
Some creative managers use animal magnetism to retain top talent. When the owners of Mount Pleasant, S.C.–based Sylvan Dell Publishing heard that one of their sales managers was paying to kennel his dog during the workweek, they instituted on-site "doggy day care" for the pup, which led to another sales manager getting a puppy and parking it in the publisher's canine kindergarten. "Sometimes we're up to four or five dogs in the office, but it's great," says employee and dog-lover Angie Dzalamanow. "There's nothing better than taking a puppy-love break along with the coffee." Woof woof.
 Sidebar: Fit for Success
A healthy work environment is par for the course at Chicago-based National Futures Association (NFA). Besides providing reimbursement and discounts for things like smoking-cessation programs and Weight Watchers, NFA also runs sports teams and a Web-based holiday exercise program, with rewards of gift cards and pedometers. But Director of Human Resources Nancy Bohanon says the most compelling health program at the company is its optional annual health screenings. "The screening has a blood draw with a full panel of tests, plus we do a lifestyle assessment, which identifies risks for things like diabetes," she says, adding that about 100 of 240 employees in the Chicago office usually participate. The company's prime motivation for the programs is to control health care costs, but by improving employee health, they're improving morale as well, Bohanon says. "It's the right thing to do."
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