A recent Dice survey reveals what tech talent wants the most from a recruiter besides a handsome salary offer. We were not surprised at all to find that the majority of those asked said that being frank about the company/culture is most important to them. How about putting those two together though? Some companies have found a way to make offers that reflect their stellar brand and culture to entice tech candidates.
Scopely Offers the World’s Most Interesting Briefcase
This Los Angeles-based mobile-entertainment company let’s their tech candidates know right away exactly what kind of company they are. When their normal referral bonus of $5,000 wasn’t cutting it, they offered a special incentive. Each new employee or successful referrer received a briefcase bursting with flavor, culture, money and nonsense. To mention a few of the items: $11,000 wrapped in bacon, a tailor-made tuxedo, an oil painting of themselves, Sex Panther cologne and cigars. Oh, and a spear-gun.
It’s pretty obvious that Scopely isn’t just looking for great tech minds, they’re looking for folks who want to have fun, think outside the box and create together. We can’t all offer incentives like Scopley, but their creativity and gusto deserves some recognition.
Airbnb Makes Traveled Pros
This San Francisco-based vacation rental website company offers their new tech employees a $2,000 stipend to be used for travel. They want to encourage each hire to explore a new exotic place and discover local tourist stays and adventures. Even their conference rooms are decorated like their vacation rentals from around the globe.
They don’t just want employees who have read a handbook, they want employees who have been there and done it. They want adventurers who share a passion for traveling and discovery. This hiring perk speaks strongly to Airbnb’s exciting company culture.
StyleSeat Want People Who Look the Part
This San Francisco-based (they seem to have all the good ones) salon-booking website offers their new tech recruits a separate budget for haircuts, shaves and massages. StyleSeat also offers their new employees a “Whiskey of the Month” membership, and they are of course invited to the regular team happy hours.
It makes complete sense. When an employee represents a salon-booking website, shouldn’t they look as polished as they can possibly be? This is a fantastic way to create brand ambassadors for this particular product, while attracting candidates.
Evernote Treats Tech Talent Like Execs
Actually they are all treated like execs. It was reported in 2012 that full-time workers, regardless of level had their homes cleaned twice per month for free. Several other companies followed their lead with take-home dinners and on-call babysitting care.
CEO of Evernote, Phil Libin saw that the corporate lifestyle was built around the assumption that someone is at home taking care of things and running the household. That simply isn’t the case in the majority of US homes. Known for his innovations in modern corporate culture, Libin wants his employees and his company to thrive in a unique work-life balance.
So you probably can’t offer bacon wrapped cash or a cleaning service, but there are certainly ways that each company can incorporate their culture into their perks. No matter what type of culture or values a company has, there will always be a way to tie those into making employees feel valued and welcome.
Does your company offer something that no one else does? Do you want to talk about what incentives work and which ones fall flat? Tweet us and let’s chat!
