One of the many ways companies keep their hard-won employees around is by keeping them happy through health. Free gym memberships, on-site health clinics, and therapy sessions to combat stress are all a part of the perk parlance for competitive corporations. Well-known names like Google, SAS, Nike, Accenture are a few who pull out the stops, but this HR angle isn’t just for the big guys.
Smaller companies, too, feel the need to ensure employee satisfaction. This was evident from our ‘Tech Bites’ visit with the productivity software company, Asana. The company designs team-oriented product management software which aims to displace clunky and seemingly antiquated email systems. It takes its name from the Sanskrit word for a seated yoga pose (you guessed right: employees get free 1-on-1 yoga sessions), but you won’t find many employees seated at the stylishly minimal SoMa office. Each hire receives a $10,000 stipend to build their ideal standing desk. So, how exactly do you eat over your keyboard standing up, you ask? You don’t. Asana was mindful enough to provide their people with a communal area with banquet-style seating and two chefs to conjure up healthy, succulent dishes.
During our visit with chefs Donnie Thompson and Kim Pak, they busied themselves in the full kitchen downstairs, preparing broiled sea bass filets with grilled asparagus and Israeli couscous. The menus they design for Asana include items and ingredients aimed to keep the staff active and alert with a late afternoon snack (smoothies are popular) that avoids carbohydrate-induced drowsiness. Special dietary needs are provided for so vegans, celiacs, or paleo-dieters can get what they want and need without a fuss or a trip out of the office. There’s plenty of local, organic, and ethically-raised and -harvested ingredients for everyone.
Take a look for yourself. The cooking and plating are enough to make you counterfeit employee badges for all your friends.
via Tech Bites: Asana – Food Focused on Productivity and Employee Health – Forbes.
Great Perks even at smaller companies
