The Pursuit Of Happiness: Small Company Tweaks That Go A Long Way With Employees

  As a new business establishes itself in the market, it can be very difficult to attract A-level talent. Typically, the owners won't have the resources to match the salaries and benefits packages offered by large corporations. As such, entrepreneurs need to find other ways to make their companies appealing to the best and brightest.     Provide free snacks or lunch While it may not seem like much, providing your employees with free snacks and/or lunches will greatly aid your recruiting efforts. Giving your team free food is useful in two ways: it's a low-cost way to boost employee satisfaction, and it'll improve efficiency by ensuring that your team isn't being distracted by hunger or time-wasting discussions about what everyone wants to eat for lunch.   Give options on where and when your employees can work Now that the millennial generation makes up the largest segment of the U.S. workforce, owners need to craft their company policy so that it is in line with their priorities. For example, the work-life balance is far more important to millennials than earlier generations. If you want an edge on your competitors, offer flexible scheduling. The Los Angeles Times recently reported that scheduling flexibility is more important to millennials than money or getting a promotion.   Pay for public transportation Another big priority for millennial job seekers is working for a company that is committed to addressing social ills. To signal to potential hires that your company is interested in doing more than just racking up profits, you might consider offering employee transportation benefits. By doing your part to slow the progress of global warming by providing employees with free mass transit passes or creating a carpool incentive program, you'll stand out when compared to less conscientious employers. Additionally, there are tax benefits for offering transportation benefits.   Offer unlimited days off While this suggestion may seem radical at its face value, giving your staff as much personal time off as they need will have a significant positive impact on your turnover, recruiting and efficiency. Allowing your employees to take their birthdays off or to take a few mental health days after completing a grueling project will greatly increase their job satisfaction. It will also play a big part in preventing against the productivity killing burnout that costs U.S. employers more than $300 billion a year.     This article was written by Mario McKellop for Small Business Pulse   document.write('\x3Cscript type="text/javascript" src="https://smallbusinesspulse.radio.com/%27%20%2B%20%28%27https%3A%27%20%3D%3D%20document.location.protocol%20?%27https%3A%2F%2F%27_%3A_%27http%3A%2F%2F%27%29___%27feed_mikle_com%2Fjs%2Frssmikle_js">\x3C/script>');(function() {var params = {rssmikle_url: "https://cbspulse.com/feed/",rssmikle_frame_width: "555",rssmikle_frame_height: "556",frame_height_by_article: "0",rssmikle_target: "_blank",rssmikle_font: "Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif",rssmikle_font_size: "12",rssmikle_border: "off",responsive: "off",rssmikle_css_url: "",text_align: "left",text_align2: "left",corner: "off",scrollbar: "on",autoscroll: "on",scrolldirection: "up",scrollstep: "4",mcspeed: "20",sort: "Off",rssmikle_title: "on",rssmikle_title_sentence: "More From CBS Small Business Pulse",rssmikle_title_link: "https://cbspulse.com/",rssmikle_title_bgcolor: "#56A8E2",rssmikle_title_color: "#FFFFFF",rssmikle_title_bgimage: "",rssmikle_item_bgcolor: "#FFFFFF",rssmikle_item_bgimage: "",rssmikle_item_title_length: "100",rssmikle_item_title_color: "#56A8E2",rssmikle_item_border_bottom: "on",rssmikle_item_description: "on",item_link: "on",rssmikle_item_description_length: "175",rssmikle_item_description_color: "#666666",rssmikle_item_date: "gl1",rssmikle_timezone: "Etc/GMT",datetime_format: "%b %e, %Y %l:%M %p",item_description_style: "text+tn",item_thumbnail: "full",item_thumbnail_selection: "auto",article_num: "15",rssmikle_item_podcast: "off",keyword_inc: "",keyword_exc: ""};feedwind_show_widget_iframe(params);})();