How’s Your Atmosphere?

By: Beth Kneisler, Account Executive, Leonard & Finco Public Relations, Inc.

It’s official. Facebook is taking the world by storm. Now with 500 million users, if Facebook were a country, it’d be the third largest in the world. While it’s impressive how fast the company has taken off, there’s another very impressive part of the company that many aren’t aware of.

Recently, in an exclusive interview with Diane Sawyer, Facebook CEO and Co-Founder, Mark Zuckerberg, talked about the workplace atmosphere at Facebook. Among free food every day, 21 vacation days and the ability to come and go as you please, Facebook also pays 100 percent of its’ employee’s benefit premiums, they give unlimited sick days and daycare reimbursement, as well as up to four months of paid parental leave for employees (watch the interview at http://bit.ly/aqqF2a).

During the interview, Zuckerberg explained the reasoning behind all the perks is that he doesn’t want any of his employees to be distracted while at work. While many of us don’t work at companies with this many extra incentives, more and more businesses seem as if they’re looking for and implementing unique perks for their employees. Think about it. There’s a pretty good chance that if you aren’t able to wear jeans all week long or even get to bring your pet into work with you, you know someone who can.

So, why are companies implementing all these perks? Well, there are many reasons, but ultimately, it’s good PR. Often times, business focus so much on creating good relations with their external audiences, such as neighbors, customers, media, etc., that internal audiences are over looked. A company’s employees are walking advertisements so if they are disgruntled, it will ultimately affect the businesses’ image as well as how other people perceive them.

If you’re a business owner, take a minute to think about what perks you have for your employees. Even if unlimited sick days and free food aren’t exactly realistic, what about supporting an employee’s work with a local non-profit? Maybe you allow employees to volunteer at a local fundraising event rather than coming into the office? Perhaps you let everyone leave a half-hour early on a random day? Whatever it is you do for your employees, just be sure to always keep them in mind when you’re making plans and goals for your business. You may even want to consider taking a look at this when you review your overall PR plan.

So, now it’s your turn. What does your company do for its’ employees? Do you know of a company whose image has improved from good-workplace atmosphere? I’d love to hear your thoughts!