

Ask HN: Actually good perks - joshu

So, I'm running a small startup and I'm trying to figure out things that would actually make people happier.<p>So far we've got:<p>- good chairs<p>- you can get whatever monitor you want<p>- you can get good headphones<p>- you can subscribe to music services<p>What other perks have you really enjoyed at your job? Or otherwise made life good.
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abstractbill
I consider choice of chair/laptop/monitor/headphones/etc a bare necessity, so
it's good you have those ;)

If you want to make me _really_ happy as an employee, just assume that I'll
probably be leaving one day to do my own startup, and give me a helping hand
along the way. Good examples might be public recognition of really good work
(e.g. in company blog posts), introducing me to people, and giving me the
opportunity to learn about things I'm not already an expert at.

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rdouble
\- One of those stand/sit desks

\- Quiet.

\- No funny looks if I want to work from 5am - 3pm

Prefer table tennis to foosball. Would rather have a "music room" instead of
either, but that's a bit much to ask for.

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ajdecon
As a startup employee, the biggest quality of life boost for me is that our
company actually has an office manager/general gofer, and treats him well.
It's amazingly important to have someone around whose job it is to handle
tasks not related to the core business, but which are not easily outsourced.

Obvious? Maybe. But I've worked for, and observed, too many small companies in
which either a co-founder founder ends up doing office-manager crap or it gets
offloaded onto the first tech employee who's convenient. It should not be the
tech staff's job to restock the fridge, replace office supplies, handle
invoicing, pay the rent, ...

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marklabedz
The two big ones me are interesting work and trust/flexibility to allow me to
complete a goal in the way I see fit.

Beyond those two, I've really come to appreciate a comfortable working
environment. In my case, that means having an office that is up to date,
relatively few stains on the carpet, working infrastructure in conference
rooms (I'm always shocked how many people have to deal with broken plugs,
barely function Polycoms, etc).

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jefe78
Free snacks/drinks are always nice. Having lunch delivered also keeps people
at their desk, working longer.

Edit - I used to work for a company that offered a daily lunch budget, on the
condition that it be delivered. You were free to eat anywhere you wanted, but
realistically, you stayed in/around the building.

In the event that you had to stay after-hours, you were alloted a dinner
budget to order in with everyone that had to stay.

Also, we had fresh fruit delivered as needed and Monday/Wednesday/Friday,
fresh bagels and pastries were delivered.

We worked our butts off, knowing we didn't have to go home and make dinner/do
groceries.

This was over in Denmark...I've only worked for one company in North America
with as awesome a setup.

Implementing any of the above would probably go a long way.

~~~
joshu
I like this. Except in California, there are no good bagels. :(

~~~
notacylon
<http://www.izzysbrooklynbagels.com/> :)

~~~
joshu
I grew up in NY. Not even close.

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cfinke
The biggest perks that have mattered to me have been abstract:

1\. Transparency. When you're open with every member of the company about
what's really going on, it decreases gossip and improves morale.

2\. If your company has direct interaction with customers, a company culture
that gives every employee the authority to make whatever decisions are
necessary to make the customer happy is invaluable - no "You'll need to talk
to a supervisor." (I read an article about a largish company that operates
this way, but I can't recall which one it was. I want to say Zappos.)

Also, free soda.

~~~
joshu
We're too small for things not to be transparent, honestly. I'd say morale is
super high now.

I like the idea of direct interaction but it's too early for us (no product
yet.)

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mkinnan
FOOD - I eat stuff all day long and it is the one thing I find to be the best
as far as perks. Above all, keep it all free or have some kind of 'honor code'
pay container where you have a bunch of snacks, drinks, etc and employees
could give 50 cents for a soda, juice drink, or whatever. There are other
things like bringing fruit or vegetable platters for afternoon snacks when it
might be a longer day than most.

PERSONAL PARKING SPACE - I know this is really not doable in most
circumstances, but I HATE coming to work a few minutes late and not having any
place to park.

FLEX TIME - Some companies have flex time where you can work lots of extra
hours this week and next so that you could take a few days of next month.

Whatever you do for perks, I think it is vital to make your employees feel
appreciated. Sometimes just telling them 'great job' on stuff can go a long
way.

Just another thought, how about asking your employees what perks (within
reason) they would like. Ask what would make them excited to come to work and
not want to leave.

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icco
I've heard that Twilio gives all of their employees Kindles and a ebook
stipend. That seems nice. We have a company "library" which any employee can
borrow or add to, which is nice.

But in all honesty, a good chair, a nice monitor/mouse/keyboard combo, a good
set of headphones and a window are all I need to code.

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spooneybarger
no set number of sick days, vacation etc.

you do your job, you get to take time off as you need/want.

~~~
joshu
That's what we're currently doing, and I'm waiting to see if anyone abuses it.
Work from home as necessary, too...

~~~
spooneybarger
if they abuse it, let them go. don't punish others because someone you hire
will eventually abuse it.

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minalecs
If you have some gamers , lan parties during work hours is always fun, maybe
combining it with the beer fridays. We would bring in Xbox's sometimes as well
and play multiplayer on there. Plus its a team building exercise.

Do it once in awhile during office hours helps a lot. As much as I love my co
workers, somedays I hated spending time with them all day, and then sort of
feeling forced to hang out with them after work or else feel like not being
part of the team.

~~~
maxbrown
Is this really worth doing? Seems like a large productivity sink... Did it
make you happier _enough_ at work to be able to rationalize it?

~~~
minalecs
If you expect to only do things for your employees that get them to sit at
there desk longer to work more, then its probably not right for you. Yeah
perks are good, but good fun and camaraderie in a startup is invaluable.

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edw519
Interesting work.

I know that this isn't exactly what you were asking for, but when the work is
interesting, it's amazing how little else you notice. And when the work is
boring, nothing else seems to help.

OK, OK, let me add a few perks I care about:

    
    
      - windows
      - good light
      - fresh air, proper venilation / heat / ac
      - enough personal space
      - peace and quiet
      - decent break area
      - decent snacks/coffee available
      - donuts Friday morning
      - beer after work Friday
      - flex time
      - nice dinner once/month or quarter
      - foosball (conflicts with peace and quiet, but...)
    

Most of all, you do these things because you really care (I believe you do)
and not because you're supposed to. Any worker can smell a phoney giving cheap
perks a mile away.

~~~
joshu
I'm pretty sure the work is interesting (we're a newly funded startup,
exciting times!)

For the other things, we hit almost ALL of those. Nice, spacious space in
Mountain View, near lots of restaurants. Our office manager bakes cookies for
us, gets snacks, and drinks are provided (everybody had to sign up for the
beverages they specifically liked) etc.

~~~
us
That's not always true. Most of the startups I've seen get funded are not
always that interesting to me. Interest is in the eye of the beholder and for
people looking to work at a startup whether as a career choice or for
experience before launching their idea, they may or may not always be working
on an idea or work that is considered interesting to them personally.

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arfrank
A monthly book stipend

~~~
joshu
This is a good idea.

~~~
nixme
This is better: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1639193>

_"every Matasano employee has an Amazon account for which they can buy any
book they want ever"_

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bartonfink
I once worked for a place that gave its developers Safari memberships, and I
thought that was an excellent perk. In fact, I still do because they haven't
cancelled mine even though I quit early last year.

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kongqiu
Try to encourage people to feel like it's not "slacking" if they take some
time out to get some exercise. It really does wonders for productivity...

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haploid
A few kegs of beer on tap and a decent single malt scotch collection.

