You want your employees to love working for you. So, obviously, you’ve set up a comprehensive salary and benefits package. You offer paid time off to take care of sick kids, more than enough vacation time, on-site daycare, the works. Those are all great. It’s good to take care of your team’s large needs. But what about their little needs? It is seeing to the needs they might not have realized they had that will set you apart from other employers.

Here are just a few things that you can do:

Free Food

Instead of simply providing a communal fridge and microwave, why not just provide free food? Google, for example, offers its employees free lunches and dinners. This doesn’t necessarily mean that there is a chef there who cooks on demand, but a free cafeteria situation is definitely one of the best perks you can offer your employees.If you can’t afford to offer this (or lack space), set up an account with nearby sandwich shops and cafes. This way your employees can go in and order food but you can still pick up the tab for them.

The All Important Water Cooler

Stop it with the bottled delivery service. For one thing, during the summer months you will never be able to keep enough bottles on hand to keep everybody happily hydrated all the time. For another, convincing someone in the office to change the bottle is an exercise in…well, you get the idea.

Switch to bottleless water coolers. For one thing, you’ll probably actually use less water this way. For another, you don’t have to worry about plastic bottles taking up space in a landfill (or your office). It’s also worth noting that filtered water is healthier than bottled water. According to Quench, the filter in the bottleless cooler acts as a “miniature purification plant.” You also have the added benefit of using residential tap water (which is regulated by the EPA as well as the FDA), instead of an industrial water supply (which, because bottled water is considered a food and not a utility, is only regulated by the FDA).

Gym Memberships

Don’t go bare bones here. Make sure you get the really good memberships–the ones that will allow your employees to take advantage of massage and spa services and classes in addition to access to a weight room. Bonus points are given to employers who sign up for a company membership at a gym that has a pool.

Pet Insurance

People love their pets as much as they love their people and anybody who has ever had an unexpectedly sick pet knows how quickly vet bills can accumulate. Offering to pay for top notch pet insurance is a great way to endear yourself to your employees.

While we’re talking about pets: allowing your team to bring their dogs and other corral-able pets (probably not cats) is a great perk that your team will love.

Unpaid Sabbaticals

Sometimes people want to take a vacation that lasts more than two weeks. Sometimes they want to be free to take on challenges or take advantage of opportunities without having to choose between the short term but super awesome opportunity and their long term, keeps them alive jobs. Some companies see to these needs by allowing team members to take anywhere from one to six months unpaid leave from work without penalty. This way their team members can take advantage of volunteer opportunities out of country, go on tour with their band and not have to worry about whether or not they’ll be able to find a job when they get home. You should offer this to your employees too.

While we’re talking about volunteering, paying your employees to volunteer is a great way to endear yourself to your team and your company to your community.

As for who will fill in while that person is gone? Well, that’s what temp agencies are for, right?

When trying to figure out what sort of perks to offer to your employees, simply ask yourself: what would the perfect job offer you? Then do that.

Photo credit: Nate Grigg / Flickr