7 cut-price perks for keeping talent

Perks are a sometimes under-utilised method of keeping people tied to an organisation. Employees aren't always out solely for the highest paycheck; if you cultivate an environment where employees have good relationships with each other and with you then they're less likely to leave and in doing so you'll create a magnetic company culture. 

When it comes to perks, it can be hard to compete with the big guys. Fortunately, there are a range of affordable options that will help to attract and keep the right people.

Flexible work environment: While this won't work for all business-types, offering flexible hours or enabling employees to work from home is a cost-free way to keep the workplace happy.

Yoga hour: Once per week bring in a yoga-instructor for an hour. It doesn't cost that much and will help everyone to de-stress.

Employee discounts: Offering a discount on what your company does is a nice reward, but you can extend it to other things. For example, when you're buying technology in bulk for the office, you could pass that bulk discount along to employees looking for home-computers. 

Casual dress: If they aren't facing the customer, ditching the suit and tie can be a nice perk to keep morale up. 

Social exercise: An in-office gym is probably out of most small business' price range, but perhaps you could field an in-office sports team. Find out what everyone's into and give it a go, it could be a great way to build team-spirit. 

Barter perks with other companies: Offer your company's services to local businesses for a discounted rate in return for products and experiences for your staff. For instance, you could trade with a nearby cafe and offer coffee vouches to high-performers each week.

Pizza day: Buying a few pizzas for the office doesn't cost much and it's a nice way to thank your employees when they go above and beyond as a team.

Small gestures can mean a lot, and done right they can provide outsized rewards.