Let's face it. A workplace without Orange people can be pretty boring and possibly too serious. However, for an Orange person to even want to work for your company - never mind stick around for a career - the work has to be interesting and challenging and the atmosphere must be open to fun and adventure.
Be sure to check back to benefits that attract employees of the other three Colors in the last three newsletter issues (see archive) because those bennies can be just as important to your Orange folks.
Cater to Orange Freedom. So what company benefits will keep Orange people excited? Oh yes, they want the workplace to be exciting. First and foremost, remember that the most important core value for them is personal freedom. So do they have freedom of movement? A flexible schedule? A casual, relaxed atmosphere? Can they wear jeans and shorts to work, for example?
Oranges are Fun and Physical. Next, is the workplace fun? Some of today's employers, like Google, dedicate both space and time to fun and physical activity. Orange employees enjoy access to state-of-the-art fitness centers that may even have locker rooms and showers. Smaller companies will offer free or discounted membership to local gyms.
Also on site may be a game room with foosball, a billiards table, TV, stereo, video games, and shuffleboard. Even a happy hour bar with appetizers, cocktails, wine, and beer is offered at the end of the workday in some companies.
Progressive employers understand the value of high-energy breaks for fun, physical movement and socializing - especially for people who must spend hours at a computer. Even naps are sanctioned. For such companies, performance and results are more highly prized than clocked hours.
Give Time Off. Just like the other Colors, Oranges usually like time off more than any other benefit. Besides the usual holidays and customary week-long vacations, some companies provide extra vacation time in low seasons, highly flexible scheduling, and various forms of personal leave.
Oranges Are Competitive - Oh Yeah! Nobody competes harder and with more relish than an Orange person. They go for contests and prizes, as well as cash bonuses for on-the-spot reasons. Orange prizes need to be worthy ones, however - not recognition plaques, but things like iPods, sports equipment, useful tools, days off, or cash.
Let Oranges Out Of The Office. As for movement, those chances to get out of town - or at least out of the office - on the company's dime are winners. Local events might include going to a nearby river for tubing, or to bowling alleys, baseball parks, picnics, etc. Going out of town for business - as expensive as that can be - often results in better educated and much more highly motivated employees - and that includes Las Vegas, Baby!
Food and Celebration. Everybody likes food and celebrations. Some companies actually keep fully-stocked kitchens with free food and soft drinks. Many organizations offer occasional company-sponsored lunches and happy hours, as well as holiday parties. The stocked kitchen idea goes over well with Oranges because it caters to their natural spontaneity and impulsiveness and inherent joy and gratitude.
How Costly Are All These Benefits? So Mr. or Mrs. Employer, does the sum total of all these potential benefits - for employees of all four Colors - scare the heck out of you because you think you could never afford them all? First, hold your horses. No company offers all these benefits. Just as you invest in office equipment and you rent space, you must weigh the potential impact of any benefits against their effect on production and on your company's bottom line. Besides, if you go through these four issues dedicated to benefits, you can make a very long list of benefits that cost little or nothing at all. If you are large enough a company to spend some money - then you simply have more options to make sure your people are motivated, happy, hard-working, loyal, creative - and everything else you want them to be.
Challenges For Some Companies. Let me conclude by offering a challenge. There are many job situations that are just plain hard where some of these benefit ideas might look just plain silly - like in high-customer-service retail organizations such as supermarkets, or in construction companies, factory assembly plants, and garbage collection - to name a few. Here's the challenge: What can you offer in small but frequent ways? How flexible can you be if you put some thought into it? How might your company benefit more by implementing some of this flexibility and creativity without diverting from your core mission? How much more of an ideal workplace can you provide? I bet you will find some answers.
