Call it the Google effect.
Silicon Valley search giant has been ranked first in Fortune magazine's annual top 100 companies for six consecutive years.
The benefits of working on Google's flagship campus in Mountain View, California are legendary: unlimited food and healthy snacks
The hotel has Gym, climbing wall, music and art studio, free shuttle service, and of course the infamous nap cabin.
Driven by Google's great success, many other companies are following the leader to provide gorgeous non-monetary benefits for attracting and retaining employees.
Surprisingly, some are located outside the highly competitive areas of the California tech industry, such as the Power Home Remodeling Group in Chester, Pennsylvania, which recently sent all 1,550 employees and their spouses to Cancun, including a private concert by Snoop Dogg, and a living wall is being installed at headquarters.
While staff are rarely on vacation at tropical resorts, it is now more common for American workplaces to include play areas, football tables, free snacks, and even occasional nap rooms. (
Metronaps, the leading nap pod maker, claims to have sold $8,000 to $13,000 to dozens of companies such as Facebook, Procter & Gamble, University Library, fitness center and NASA. )
But the question is, is the average American worker really using Xbox One in the company playroom or is he too busy?
Would she like to edit the spreadsheet sitting on the purple bean bag chair?
Are the employees really clamoring for ping-pong tables and more nap time at work (
Let's say they believe the boss won't give them stinking eyes for using them)
Or do these benefits miss the meaning of making the workplace productive and healthy?
Happy worker = production worker?
Gerry Ledford is a senior research scientist at the effective organization center of the Marshall business school at the University of Southern California.
He thought,the-
The biggest advantage from Silicon Valley all over the country is the product of a highly competitive and rich industry.
The technology industry is the most competitive labor market in China.
The number of programmers is very short, says Mr Redford.
Fortunately, technology companies have a lot of money to solve the problem.
They have paid a lot of money.
They already have a lot of normal benefits.
So they're asking, what else can we do to get an encoder to show up? âx80x9dWhile on-
Laundry Service, free meal and nap room available 24 hours
Ledford added that the same conditions for working cultures like Silicon Valley do not apply to insurance companies in South Carolina or manufacturers in Ohio.
Not only do these companies not have cash to enjoy luxury benefits, but there is no guaranteed return that the workplace will increase productivity.
Are happy workers productive workers?
Asked Radford.
This has always been the subject of academic research, and the answer is, not necessarily.
As a cow, you can be content with no productivity, or absolutely miserable and productive.
It is likely that there will be the opposite problem that the staff is too busy to use the company's carefully installed playroom or roof garden.
These may also become too popular, so everyone is taking a break and not doing any work.
What should the CEO do?
What are the benefits that really contribute to the bottom line?
Extra allowance, copper WorkLindsay Meg and Neil work together
Writing: "prepare for the show: how to build the highest performing culture through fully motivated science.
"The irony of some of the more luxurious office allowances is that they have nothing to do with the work that the office needs to complete in the first place.
In the worst case, they can cover up and even help with a toxic working culture, "they wrote in an article in Fast Company.
The authors suggest that CEOs throw out the foosball table and invest in tools and knowledge that workers can actually use: Some employers think what their employees wanted years ago was what they still wanted, catherine Downs, hiring manager at America's largest Robert Half International, saidS.
Staffing Company
But these things are flowing and managers need to adapt to them.
She encouraged the CFO to regularly investigate employees and find out the benefits that their employees value most. Her major is finance and accounting.
In the past December, Robert Half conducted a survey highlighting the disconnect between CFOs and non-monetary allowances.
The CFO survey believes that health benefits like free gym members are the most important for employees, while workers are actually more excited about flexible working hours and telecommuting.
Health and health are important to young employees, but not what most executives think, Downes said.
They want to be able to exercise in the morning and then stay in the office for a while.
Flexibility is more important than gym members.
However, if you want to know the real secret of Google's success, you have to ask Google people.
From 2006 to 2012, Scott Larsson worked as a senior software engineer at Google's Pittsburgh office.
Larson said that when he first got there, the pool table was used almost every day and it was amazing.
If someone has a work puzzle to solve, they head straight to the pool table with a white wheel on it to keep the score.
As more playmakers join, ideas jump on the table, and innovative solutions scribble out on the whiteboard.
However, with the passage of time, the use of the pool table was reduced, but the friendship was not reduced.
Culture itself is the real benefit, not the pool table, Larson says.
To be honest, my favorite benefit to work with Google so far is the people who work with me every day.