World Monitor Magazine WM_KIOGE 2018_Web | Page 60

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Workplace Perks:
wasteful Indulgence or
powerful profit driver?
A study of firms in 43 countries finds that
treating employees well pays off.
Matt Palmquist,
freelance business journalist,
Oakland, Calif.
Does it pay to have happy employees?
Companies in the tech sector such as
Google, Yahoo, Netflix, and Microsoft
have historically led the way in showering
employees with perks, ranging from free
meals and generous vacation packages
to on-site gyms and movie theaters. And
now other industries are following suit.
The Virgin Group implemented a paternity
policy that gives dads up to 12 months of
paid leave, for example, and firms in many
countries have recently been experiment-
ing with four-day workweeks and other
flexible schedules.
But still the fundamental debate rages: Do
the presumed advantages in recruitment,
retainment, and employee motivation that
come from offering these perks show up
in the bottom line? Or are they wasteful
indulgences?
A new study aims to settle the question
by analyzing a huge data set on employee
relations and company performance,
covering almost 3,500 organizations in 43
countries from 2002 to 2014. The data
came from Thomson Reuters’s ASSET4
database, which assesses several aspects
of workplace culture. The sample consists
mainly of large companies, with average
total assets of US$4.7 billion, from a wide
range of industries. The authors focused
on five categories that, taken together,
are meant to repres