What do you think? From emerging trends to the latest business principles, Furniture News is setting out to gauge the trade’s feelings on a variety of industry-specific topics. Today, we’re asking our panel: What perks do your staff value most highly?
Deirdre Mc Gettrick (ufurnish.com): Flexibility to do errands during the day, dropping off kids to school in the morning and logging back on later in the evening once they are in bed. That, and our all-company call on the Monday, where we share cross-sector insights and learnings from the business in the prior week
George Sinclair (Nimbus Beds): Having their birthday off
Huw Williams (Toons Furnishers): The employees love a bonus. I also give out chocolate eggs at Easter and a bottle of wine at Christmas, but, more importantly, we allow a good work/life balance
Jade Farthing (Haskins Furniture): The flexibility we offer – I believe in a little give and take
Keiran Hewkin (Swyft): Probably our remote working and flexible working hours
Mark Gannon (Sofa Source): Furniture at low cost, bonuses/rewards for a job well done
Neil Barker (Barkers Furniture): I feel there is a lot of satisfaction in the autonomy we give people
Shaun Peel (MattressTek): We have a flexible overtime structure. If someone wants to stay to finish something, or earn more to save for something, they can. We also offer the option to travel to customers’ sites across the world (if that’s a perk?)
Steve Reid (Simba Sleep): WFA – Work From Anywhere. We genuinely live by the belief that work is a thing you do, not a place you go
Tom Bayliss (Kettle Home): I think full healthcare cover. It might not be glamorous, but hopefully it provides some peace of mind if ever it’s needed
David Kohn (The Multichannel Expert): At Heal’s the staff discount was welcome, but there was a lot more excitement about the sample sales
Martin Seeley (MattressNextDay): Free pizza, beer, and company cars (no yellow Lambos though!) always work well, plus we are a very relaxed company with minimal hierarchy – we all muck in and do what needs to be done
This Q&A featured in January 2023's Furniture News.
