Flexible working beats flashy perks for job satisfaction

Intangible benefits, such as flexible working or getting along with work mates, are more important to employees than free perks, a new study shows.

Gallup’s 2013 State of the American Workplace Report casts a gloomy picture, with just 30% of the 150,000 US workers surveyed saying they are engaged and inspired at work. And 18% say they are actively disengaged, which the report estimates costs the US up to $550 billion annually in lost productivity.

Office perks

America has long been leading the way in providing office perks to its workers that would have many of us green with envy. For example, Google’s HQ features a roller hockey rink and nap pods, while Apple’s new base will boast an auditorium and orchard and Facebook’s des res is a Disney-inspired campus, complete with Main Street and all its amenities.

However, the new Gallup poll shows that workers are generally nonplussed with ‘obvious’ perks of the job in the long-term.

“If you don’t have those fundamentals, the perks aren’t going to fix it,” says Randy Allen, the Associate Dean of Cornell University’s Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management. “You may keep them for a while, but at some point they’re going to leave.”

Genuine benefits

The study shows that high on workplace satisfaction ratings are factors such as:

• getting along with your boss or colleagues
• flexible working
• encouraging working together
• bonuses that reward staff for productivity.

While the US and UK workplaces may have their differences, the elements that make staff enjoy their jobs are still similar. Staff want to be given the freedom to exercise their own judgement and to be fairly rewarded for their efforts.

UK studies have also confirmed that flexible working can increase staff productivity and that engaging employees in decisions can boost staff morale.

Our flexible options and services

Here at Bizspace, we are known for our flexible options, which can be tailored to your business needs. Whether it’s flexibility on the terms of your licence agreement, the size or type of space you need, what you want to do with that space or how you wish to pay.

We also offer the following at the majority of our centres:

• secure 24-hour access to most of our business centres
• secretarial support
• mailboxes and virtual offices to support home workers
• Meeting rooms to rent by the hour

We will also soon be launching an exciting new co-working service to revolutionise flexible working.

So now there’s no excuse not to have a motivated, engaged team within your business. Search our locations to find out what services are available at a centre near to you.