Office Perks a Little Stale? Invest in Your Team with These Instead

Snacks in the break room, monthly catered lunches, the occasional happy hour — these office perks you may have seen repeatedly over your career have lost their luster among younger workers. Millennial and Gen Z employees seek benefits that elevate their satisfaction and career performance.

Want to attract top talent and keep your current team engaged? Invest in the benefits that matter most to today’s workforce. Here are seven that stand out.

1. Professional Development Opportunities

More and more employees are looking for employers who will invest in them and their careers beyond what they can do for the company. They want an employer who will actively help grow their talents and industry value through professional development opportunities.

Continuous learning benefits not just the employee, though. As team members gain new skills, your business immediately sees improved performance and innovation. So, employers will immediately benefit as employees learn new skills, both soft and hard.

Of course, continuous learning requires an upfront investment. However, it doesn’t have to impact productivity significantly. Thanks to virtual coaching services, seminars, and app-based learning tools, professional development is now accessible to team members wherever and whenever they work. This eliminates the need for disruptive multi-day conferences away from the office.

2. Flexible Work Arrangements

Flexibility is becoming the top workplace offering, especially for Gen Z. They’re unwilling to settle for rigid office hours and want work environments that recognize they have lives outside their jobs. In fact, research shows that over 70% of Gen Z employees want permanent flexible work alternatives.

While some companies are pushing for return-to-office mandates, others are embracing fully remote work or flexible hours, allowing talent to work outside the traditional 9-to-5 grind.

3. Wellness Programs

Employees want employers who genuinely care about their mental health and recognize how the work environment plays a role in it. When you offer resources that support mental and physical health, you’ll see a boost in productivity, satisfaction, retention, and reduced absenteeism. After all, healthy employees perform better.

But don’t just rely on the usual perks like snacks in the break room or gym discounts. Get creative with your wellness offerings and think outside the box. Include free mental health services, telehealth options, and memberships your teams will actually use. Gauge teams’ interests and areas of concern before just offering general health incentives that will go unused by most of your staff.

4. Mentorship and Coaching

Mentorship and coaching are powerful tools for helping younger talent unlock their career potential while also allowing experienced employees to step into leadership roles. However, these mentor-mentee relationships are often left to chance.

To ensure everyone on your team benefits, establish structured mentorship programs or partner with a coaching company, such as Arootah, to guide younger talent.

5. Employee Recognition and Reward Systems

Recognizing your team’s hard work is essential, and while verbal praise is a great start, it’s time to go beyond the basics (like a pizza party).

To truly motivate and inspire, ask your team how they’d like to be rewarded—whether through financial bonuses, extra time off, or other gifts. Then, create a rewards system that resonates with them and shows you genuinely value their contributions.

6. Team Building Activities

Team-building activities often get a bad rap for being cheesy or boring, but when done right, they can bring your team closer together and build real camaraderie. During a quieter work period, consider organizing something engaging, like a volunteer project, an outdoor excursion, or a fun problem-solving activity, like an escape room.

Again, as with all of these proposed rewards, be sure you’re respecting team members’ desires for the greatest effect.

7. Inclusive and Diverse Environment

Lastly, an emphasis on inclusivity and belonging is becoming increasingly important, especially to younger talent like Gen Z, who see diversity as essential, not just a perk.

Promote diversity and inclusivity by gathering employee feedback or consulting a third party to assess your workplace. This can help uncover any blind spots and ensure you’re fostering a truly inclusive environment.

The Bottom Line

Upgrading your office advantages to what your team actually wants is one of the most effective ways to increase employee satisfaction, engagement, and productivity. You can create a workplace culture that supports performance and retention with just a few intentional changes.

Unsure where to start or how to add value to your teams? Book a free introductory call with an Arootah Executive Coach to learn more.