Great companies, even when they get big, still manage to hold onto their entrepreneurial roots. For many, that means carrying over some pretty awesome perks for their employees. Once thought to be part of the tech bubble, outrageous workplace benefits seem to be growing in popularity, even outside the trendy Silicon Valley offices that spurred it all.
Everyone from energy companies to software developers are catching the culture bug, and it's becoming more of a necessity than a perk. Nowadays, employers are using company perks to stay competitive in the talent wars.
While some perks, like house cleaning services, seem a little excessive, most companies are in the perks game in order to keep company morale high, retain staff and boost brand awareness. Organic snack company Clif Bar, whose products market mainly to the health and environmentally conscious type, encourages a similar lifestyle among its employees, offering stipends to cover marathon registration fees, for example. "We carry our philosophy through to our workplace by creating benefit programs that support our employees’ work-life balance," said Jennifer Freitas, Clif Bar's HR manager.
Others, like car site Edmunds.com, just seem hellbent on turning the typical office routine on its head. According to its benefits package, "ROWE (Results-Only Work Environment) is about accountability and trust, it is a workplace for adults, not a place where babysitting is required because people can't be trusted to do their jobs, to produce the results that are expected of them."
Since we've all heard the rumors, we decided to take a closer look at a few companies that are generously giving back to employees in their own unique way -- and may inspire you to tweak your own company's offerings.
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