Full disclosure: I work at a start up and one my goals for the year is to figure out how to differentiate my company as an amazing employer and to attract and retain talent. In addition to reading the industry “research” I want to understand what actually gets people excited about who they work for.
In my fantasies, I don't work for “the man” (probably like all or most of you). However, real life requires me to have a job in order to eat, pay bills, and to generally do the things I enjoy. That doesn't, however, mean I have to work for a shitty employer.
My question to all of you: In a world where you have to have a job to survive, what could an employer do/offer to make the thought of a 9 – 5 more appealing for you? For example – you get two job offers for very similar jobs at very similar companies with identical compensation – how do you choose one over the other?
(For the sake of this particular conversation, let's leave compensation out of it and assume you feel that the compensation seems fair for the work you're doing).
I've included some of the things that come to mind for me personally below, but I'm soliciting ideas and feedback that are less definable as well – stuff like having coworkers you enjoy or a manager that respects you.
- A 4 day work week
- Retirement/401k matching
- Flexibility to work from home or from an office
- Tuition assistance or reimbursement
Thank you in advance for your comments. I appreciate the feedback and plan to use it to shape my own company's policies and perks as well as sharing it with my peers and network who do similar work at all sorts of companies.