Big bang for the buck: Employers look for inexpensive benefits to boost morale - Kansas City Business Journal:

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And at MailSouth Inc. in Helena, employeese can watch a movie during lunch in a break room that includeda movie-style popcorn machine. “Anything you do that helps reduce stress and inconveniencein employees’ lives is a real winner,” said Douglaa Dean, the chief humaj resource officer at Children’s Health System. It usuallyg is easier to keep employees contentt when life away from the office isgoing well. But when gas pricesx soar and homevalues drop, any small benefits that companie s can offer their employees can go a long way towardd keeping workers happy and morale high.
And in this many companies are looking any inexpensivew perks or benefits that can makea “Employees are always looking to see what theif company is doing, even in the smalo things,” said Michael Wolfe, the directo of human resources at SourceMedical Inc. in “It reiterates that you care about them, especiallg when you’re going through a difficult time. Littls things add up.” After gas prices begabn barrelingtoward $4 a gallon last Wolfe said SourceMedical offered employees the option of working from home a few days each week wheneve possible, to eliminate the money-burningt commute.
And in the company started providing a servicew called Teladoc that allows employees to speaik with a doctor 24 hours a day without havinh to seetheir primary-care physicia or make a trip to the emergency “Things like that make it easier for our employeew and makes them feel Wolfe said. Maintaining a positive attitude in the workplaces can involve more than justpractica matters. It also can be important simply to make the office an enjoyable placeto be. For in addition to the movie room, MailSouth has several plasma televisiones scattered throughoutits offices. There is also a free on-sitre employee fitness center that includes occasionaolaerobics classes.
And since the company has approximately 30 graphicx artistson staff, employee artwork is displayed throughout the building. “We try to do littlde things to help keep things light inthe office,” said Dawn Hrdlica, the human resources manager at MailSouth. “We’re a deadline-driveh business, so the pace is very fast. These sorts of thingws where people can get away from thei desks and do some fun stuff reallyh does helpwith morale.
” The hectic pace of both work and personakl life is one of the reasons Children’s Health Systemxs began offering employees the chancd to purchase complete take-home “They are getting off a long they’re stressed and they have to pick the kids Dean said. “This is an optiohn to grab someprettty high-quality food to take home to thei family. We want it to be healthy, tast y food. If it’s no better than what you can get at the then I’m not sure you’re helping While budget cuts are sometimes necessaryt during economic downturns, Wolfe said it is importang not to slash or eliminate some of the regular perksx that can help perk up the office.
An employewe might be visually confronted with the declininv value ofa 401(k) only a few timesd a year. Take away free however, and that is noticed every singlde day. “When you startr nickel-and-diming employees and taking away little it makes them feel unappreciated and more like a numbee than avalued resource,” Wolfe said. “An d the cost of some of these things is so minimakthat you’re really not getting that much of a You want to continue to do the smalll things to make sure that your employeess feel valued.” Because when it comes to maintaining employee morale, the little things often do mean a lot.
“I life in general, it’s the small things that get us It’s the daily touches,” Hrdlica said. “Th e thing that keeps employees engaged is how you feel at the end of the day when youleavd work. You get a tremendouss return on investment by just letting peoplew know that youappreciatee them.”