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Managers know that employee incentives are an important key to maintaining happy and engaged workers. However, there seems to be some disconnect between what executives think are the best perks and what employees actually want. Let’s take a look at the top three listed by each group and compare and contrast those ideas so you can create a perks program that will make everyone happy.

Health and Wellness

The most obvious disconnect regarding employee perks was health and wellness incentives. 39% of employers indicated that these initiatives were the most wanted perk, but employees disagreed with only 16% citing it as a desired benefit. That isn’t to say that health and wellness aren’t important incentives, but employees place significantly less value on these perks than employers do.

Additional Vacation Days

At the top of the list for employees, however, were additional vacation days. Employees are feeling like they do not have the right work life balance and additional days off are a hot commodity. When you look at some other cultures, such as many European countries, you can see that time off has a higher value in a lot of places. And considering the next two items on the employee wish lists, this is the most critical issue.

Telecommuting Options

Employees also cited work-from-home solutions as a great perk for their continued employment. Technology has made it possible for more and more professionals to work remotely and they want to have that flexibility. However, many companies are still reticent to offer this perk and are worried that their employees don’t have the discipline to make it work effectively.

Non-Traditional Working Hours

Another potential solution to consider, whether or not you’re able to provide telecommuting or additional time off to your employees, is readjusting work hours to be less traditional. Some employees simply want to make their work schedule coincide with their own best working hours. Others want time to spend with family or want to miss an extensive commute. Some companies are answering this request by allowing an employee’s performance to be judged by results rather than hours worked.

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