What is the coolest thing your manager or CEO has ever given you? A free lunch? The chance to work at home? Free samples of whatever your company produces?
Whatever it is, it probably pales in comparison to some of the things big name CEO’s are handing out to their employees these days. Of course we could have found a lot more than three examples of CEO’s being generous – there are plenty of stories out there about bosses divvying up their holiday bonuses, or taking a pay cut to help out with things get tough. But these were the three that had our social media department buzzing, and we thought’d it would be pretty cool to look at the perks being given out in the corporate world.
1. Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer Doles Out the Smart Phones
Did you watch the unveiling of the new iPhone 5? Pretty neat, right? Well, if you work for Yahoo, CEO Marissa Mayer will buy you one, and pay for all of your bills. Starting Saturday, Yahoo is finally leaving the old Blackberry devices behind for greener pastures, and the phone that is probably going to replace most of them will be the iPhone 5. Of course, if you’re not the biggest fan of Apple or simply like a different platform, you can choose a phone that runs off of Windows or Android. The idea is that since very few of Yahoo’s users still have Blackberries, this will better tune the Yahoo team into the needs and wants of the user, and help Yahoo bump up the numbers generated by mobile users. Between this and bringing free food to the URLs Cafe, Mayer continues to keep winning our social media team over time and time again!
2. Mojang’s Markus ‘Notch’ Persson Shares the Wealth
Game company Mojang shocked and thrilled the independent gaming community when it released the highly-popular game Minecraft. Few would have guessed that this humble sandbox offering with no real story released and 8-bit art would go on to see over seven million sales across multiple platforms. Back in 2011, Notch was entitled to $3 Million in dividends thanks to the immense success of Minecraft. And, being the generous guy he is, Notch took the money and split it between Mojang’s cozy 25 person team. After taxes it was reported that employees were finishing out the year with around a $90k bonus. Not a bad way to greet 2012.
3. Steve Jobs Leaves Behind a Sushi Chef
Steve Jobs was a big fan of sushi, and one of his favorite spots to eat lunch was Kaygetsu out in Menlo Park. He often brought friends, family, and staff out to the restaurant, apparently booking the entire place for Apple board meetings. When owner and chef Toshi Sakuma decided to sell the restaurant, feeling it required too much attention, Jobs approached him and offered him a job at Apple. Toshi accepted, with the condition that he would have to sell the restaurant first. And he did – his last day of business was on the same day as Jobs’ funeral. As of November Toshi has worked in Cupertino, serving up Steve’s favorite dishes to Apple employees.
CEO’s impact the lives of their employees in a variety of ways, and most of the time offices are just happy to see the company kitchen stocked up. Deborah Sweeney, our CEO, gets us bagels every Friday – it may not be a free iPhone 5, but we’re certainly thrilled to see that bag from the bagel shop with the multiple cream cheese options at the end of the week. So don’t let these kind of lists make you think that anyone will begrudge you for not investing in a sushi chef. After all, one of the best gifts a CEO can give their employees is a happy, healthy working environment – free phones are just cherries on top of the sundae.
An entrepreneur starting and growing a company is faced with many management decisions. You have already settled on a product and are working to expand your customer base. Great thought is given to developing your product or service to meet the demands of that increasing customer base. You consider marketing channels and are beginning to create an infrastructure which allows for company growth. But, aside from the product or service you provide, what will be your company culture?
