Retention carrots - new ideas for retaining employees - Brief Article

Training & Development, Sept, 2000 by Haidee E. Allerton

Office playrooms are just one of the new carrots being dangled to attract and retain qualified workers, according to a survey of technology CEOs whose companies are listed on the Deloitte & Touche Technology Fast 500--a ranking of the 500 fastest growing U.S. technology firms.

For the third consecutive year, the majority of Fast 500 CEOs surveyed--55 percent--said that finding, hiring, and retaining high-quality employees is their most significant challenge.

"Savvy CEOs are becoming more creative in offering corporate incentives that make them the winners in the bid for talented workers," says Paul DeYoung, senior manager with D&T's Human Capital consulting practice in Chicago.

Novasoft Information Technology (novasoft info.com), a software firm based in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, provides a free Mercedes-Benz to employees--from entry-level to senior management--who exceed the company's goals. At the software firm Sunpro in Zilah, Washington, employees are allowed to bring in their pets on a rotating schedule. In fact, 6 percent of the CEOs surveyed allow pets at work.

Other carrots include

* lifestyle perks such as onsite dry cleaning, barbers, and child care

* health benefits such as onsite gyms and massages

* ambassador programs that let employees participate in international assignments

* carrot-carrots, such as meals at work.

But the biggest incentive is still cash rewards, say 98 percent of the responding CEOs.