Company Perks

[UDP10]

I work for a mid sized MEP consulting firm. We're looking for some perks to offer to our young engineers when they get their PEs. We've found the market to be very competitive right now and we just can't offer the same salaries as the huge firms in nearby cities. So, we're looking for some perks to give us an edge (no matter how small) to retain our current PE's and attract new. Up to this point, we offer a standard raise and rely on the quality of our work, reputation, and office environment to keep them home.

We've talked about some of the standards (bonus, more vacation) and some things out of the box (purchasing a beach house and allowing our PEs to use it).. really, we're open for anything so I thought I'd try and steal some good ideas from you all!

Thoughts?

 

[riskengr]

Giving stock can be a double edged sword. It sounds great until the tax ramification kick in. I'm with an LLC based in out of state that made me a very small% partner so they did not have to become a corp. (& pay taxes) in my home state. They grossed me up to compenstae for the additional SSI I would have to pay, but I still got killed.

My taxes tripled in one year, resulting in a loss in net income of several thousand dollars. Don't take stock or offer it unless your share will be large enough that the ownership inclome will out weigh the taxes burden that's going to hit you. I don't know what the magic number is, but once your in my situation buying more stock to get out of it becomes impossible.

 

[KENAT]

Another problem with stock/stake in the firm. If it's a fairly small firm where your individiual input makes a big difference then it may be a motivator. However for a larger company where it relies more on the effort of the whole it wouldn't necessarily be so tempting.

I work for midsize company with several hundred employees. They have both profit sharing and stock purchase schemes. However there are still plenty of people around who don't work as hard, waste time & money etc and generally affect the bottom line as well as some management decisions that don't seem particulary logical. It can be very disheartening when part of your compensation is tied to performance of the whole company, you're working your butt off but the guy across from you isn't yet reaps pretty much the same rewards.

 

[csd72]

KENAT,
Thats why someone invented KPI' s (Key performance indexes) as a measure of an individuals contributions. They are not perfect but if done right they do give a reasonable indication of the individuals effort.

If done wrongly then smart individuals will focus on the KPI's to the detriment of all else.

csd

 

[bravos2000]

What salary range do you have the new PE's on? What's the difference to the larger firms?

 

[kontiki99]

Some Ideas:

Free ISP for fast internet access and free subscription to firewall and quality antivirus software service.

If it costs to maintain PE, annual classes or renewal fees pick up cost.

Arrangement to purchase computers or software at company rate.

 

[MacGyverS2000]

The class fee pickup has promise, but the other two fall short, IMHO. Saving me $40/month on high-speed ISP fees and $50/yr on an anti-virus subscription is hardly my idea of a major perk. A few hundred dollars saved once every couple of years for computer equipment is also not a major perk in my eye. Maybe combined with a few other smallish items it has potential...

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[HeberPE]

How about providing both short-term and long-term disability insurance. It's quite inexpensive as a company-owned group policy (about 1% of payroll,) but it shows that you care about your employees. It's also nice to have when someone gets cancer, etc., and you won't feel like a heel when you have to "let them go."