 Corporate
vs. Solo Perks: Who Benefits More?
by Terri Lonier,
founder of WorkingSolo.com
A leading business magazine* recently
published a list of perks that companies are using to keep
their best and brightest employees from jumping ship. As
I read their list, I started to compare how life as a soloist
stacks up with these corporate benefits. See what you think…
1. Onsite day care
This ranks #1 on the corporate perk list, and of course, millions of women
and men who are home-based soloists also enjoy this benefit – only
they can visit their child and caregiver right down the
hall (or even in the corner of their office, if they’re
truly multi-tasking).
Advantage: +1 soloists
2. Onsite pets
Pets
are great company, no matter where you work. Plus, they keep
you honest about exercise. But home-based soloists have an
advantage: when dogs bark while you’re
on the phone, they make your clients extremely jealous that
you get to work at home.
Advantage: +1 soloists
3. Onsite gourmet meals
This, of course, depends upon how good a cook you are. But
soloists get the added benefit of choosing their own menu,
and eating whatever and whenever they’d like. The
downside: they also have to do the clean-up.
Advantage: Even
4. Onsite fitness center
Soloists have the big advantage of working (and working out)
at home, so they never have to worry about just-got-out-of-bed
hair or spending a half hour prepping to go to the gym.
Exercise can happen at any time of the day, and if you
end up staying in your workout clothes for hours afterwards,
only the UPS or FedEx carrier will really care.[ Benefits
of where it can work best into your daily schedule. Using
extra time, even it's only 15 minutes a day]
Advantage: +1 soloists
5. Subsidized vacations for all employees.
Well, soloists do get subsidized vacations – only we’re
doing the subsidizing. I admit, this point goes to the W-2
folks who have someone else pick up the tab.
Advantage: +1 corporate workers
6. Incentives for buying a hybrid car.
Yes, some companies offer financial incentives to employees
who purchase hybrid and fuel-efficient vehicles. But it’s
home-based workers who are greener – because our
commute is a 10-second walk, we’re not burning up
the fossil fuel to begin with. [We're burning up our own
fuel instead -- calories instead of the planet. Self-sufficiency]
Advantage: +1 soloists
7. Tuition reimbursement.
Many corporations will pay for business courses taken by
their employees, since they understand that the investment
pays off in the long run. Soloists understand this investment
in professional development, too. And while the fees come
our of our own budget, they are tax-deductible – and
we get to have complete control over in choosing professional
development opportunities. A business seminar in the Bahamas
in January may raise corporate eyebrows, but soloists are
packing their bags.
Advantage: Even
8. Concierge service to run errands.
Many companies understand that a concierge service translates
into better ROI, since it keeps their top employees focused
and working rather than attending to personal needs. For
soloists, this service is usually called a spouse or child.
And if you want to pay them, it’s tax-deductible.
Advantage: Even
9. Sleep breaks at work.
Sleep breaks? Hello. How about the flexibility to control
your entire day? Sure, if you’re a soloist and sleep
the day away, your business will evaporate pretty quickly.
But it’s satisfying to know we could snooze at any
time…if we really wanted to. [a 15-minute nap can
make you more alert, and soloists can take advantage of
this.]
Advantage: +1 soloists
Final Tally
The next time a W-2 colleague
rambles on about all the perks he gets from working at MegaCompany,
Inc., consider the list above. It’s no wonder that
some of the brightest workers on the planet are striking
out on their own. Even that most golden perk of all – health
insurance – is
not enough to curtail the swelling ranks of the self-employed.
* The original list appeared in the
Business 2.0 supplement in the December 11, 2006 issue
of Fortune magazine.
Copyright 2007 Terri Lonier. All rights
reserved.
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