Ask and you shall receive

Everyone should be very mindful that when they sign an employment contract, the contract is signed by both parties. Individuals often feel like they are the powerless underdog in the worker/employer relationship. There is extreme hesitancy to ask for additional benefits, or to disrupt the status-quo of the average work day.  As individuals we must be honest with ourselves when applying for roles. Should additional benefits have any impact on our acceptance of a role? Should an annual work trip to Queensland be the difference-maker in our decision? For some people, that sounds like an amazing work benefit. And some would prefer to forego all benefits for additional salary compensation. Whichever one you prefer you should ask for.

Not many benefits being a wise man

Most modern companies offer luxury packages with bonus paid time off, free food, drinks and self-development courses. Employees are often entitled to a myriad of partner company benefits. I believe a large reason that companies reward their staff with additional benefits is largely due to how often they are left unutilised. Of course, this is not the company’s fault, as the onus is on the individual to exercise their benefits. But the improved talent that these packages attract vastly outweighs the cost of their utilisation. I believe they are so unutilised because of innate employee fear. Fear of seeming greedy or fear of standing out from the crowd. Employees should, and must feel more entitled. You hold more power than you think. 

Remember, rainbows are powered by gold

In any situation when asking for favours or additional benefits, it is pivotal to ask the right person. There is no reason to ask the janitor for an extended lunch break when they do not have the power or the capacity to enact such change. Someone, somewhere in your company holds the power to give you what you need. Find them, and ask. Very often you will find that the person says yes. This is simply due to the fact that nobody else has asked. Even the simplest requests are filled because you are the only one asking for them. Maybe you are a fruit lover and you would enjoy regular fruit baskets to be delivered. Most employers would have a hard time saying no.

This guy got to suck on something pretty special as part of his employee benefit program 

We live in a world where both employee and employer are in constant power struggle against each other. Both parties are simply trying to min/max the relationship. It is our job as employees to be disruptive and to push boundaries. Get as much as you can out of your job, because they are certainly getting as much as they can out of you. If your company does have some semblance of a self-development budget for employees, please utilise it. Otherwise, someone else will! Or worse, someone in upper management will get a friend as a guest speaker on resilience. You will end up listening to someone else’s lesson.