Health. Dental. 401k (if you’re lucky)—employee benefits used to be simple.
The cookie-cutter benefit list has expanded over the years. Renovated workspaces, “Bring Your Dog to Work Day”, company bars; the list of office “perks” is hardly recognizable from what it was twenty years ago. This suite of offerings has transformed the 9-to-5 from something synonymous with a hostage situation to a place where one might actually thrive. Or be productive. Or actually, find inspiration.
Business owners are making an investment in the overall morale of the workforce. While articles are constantly being written on the “growing trend” that people might actually — gasp — enjoy what they do, I would like to argue one thing:
Happiness is not a trend.
Happiness is something we are all entitled to, at all times of day, and yes, that includes the workday. Just because we’re on payroll and have standard hours, doesn’t mean happiness does. It doesn’t have a timecard to punch-out and it certainly doesn’t set an OOO reminder between the hours of nine and five. Work is where we spend the majority of our daylight hours. There’s no reason it shouldn’t be enjoyed.
At Zerocater, we’re all about making work our happy place. (In all fairness, we do feed people for a living, and what reasonable person could be upset while doing that?) So to all you business owners looking to boost the overall attitude in your office, we commend you. If you’re still looking for ideas on how to get started, we love the way these D.C. companies have embraced it:
You gotta’ look good to play good:
The Motley Fool believes strongly in pampering their employees, down to their hair and nails. A hairstylist comes to the office twice a month, while mani/pedis are offered bi-monthly. Motley Fools can even sign up for massages twice a week. The reasoning? It all comes down to convenience. Management wants employees happy, and if they don’t have time to run out and get a haircut, they will bring that to you.
The greener side of life:
Has someone ever said to you, “It’s such a nice day outside!” only for you to think, “Oh really? I didn’t even notice because I haven’t left this desk in two weeks. Fathom Creative, a D.C. based ad agency, is giving their employees their daily dose of vitamin D by planting their own rooftop garden. Calling the space, “Fathom Farm,” the green thumbs of this agency has been planting flowers, veggies, fruit, and even fresh herbs.
Walk it out:
Standing desks and office treadmills might be popular amongst freelancers and others who work from home. However, Social Code planted a treadmill directly in their office. Any employee can jump on at any time to walk, distress, or shake-out any desk stiffness. The treadmill maxes out at four miles an hour, or a twenty-minute mile.
Bring in man’s best friend:
It’s not too terribly uncommon to have an office mascot or pet. TrackMaven, a digital marketing agency, is quite passionate about their office fur-mascot, Maven. Maven is a corgi who not only claims a spot on the company’s team page on the website, but also has his own Instagram account and over 900 followers on Twitter.
Work on a schedule right for you.
LivingSocial offers a plethora of office perks, with its most popular being a flexible workday policy. Employees are given multiple work styles to choose from, with the option to work from home.
What steps have you taken to embrace happiness at work? Let us know in the comments!
