Let’s face it; all hiring managers are in a competition. They compete to find the best and brightest for their company. Today, potential hires and current employees are looking for more than just a paycheck, and you want more than just a warm body. As St. Louis’ top recruiter for Financial and Accounting placements, we get to see a lot of innovative practices around town. Below are some ideas to help jump-start your creative juices when thinking about how you can attract and keep the best of the best.

Summer Hours

From January to mid-April, CPAs work long hours. So why not show them your appreciation by giving them some time off when it’s slow? Whether we like it or not, from 3-5 on a summer Friday, not many people work to their full potential.

Give your employees two extra hours to their weekend Memorial Day through Labor Day. This is a perk that definitely gets attention from potential hires and in the office.

Busy Benefits

There’s much you can do to help employees’ work/life balance during busy tax time. Offer on-site dry cleaning. Many services offer on-site pickup and delivery. Help stress levels by bringing in a masseuse that sets up a chair in an empty conference room. Employees will be thankful for whatever you can do to bring a little sanity into the busiest time of their year.

Open Vacation Policy

Of course this won’t apply to tax season, but the rest of the year is open. Many companies, like IBM and Best Buy, are moving to such a system. Get rid of the concept of vacation days. Employees can take off as much as they want as long as quality work gets done on time and under budget. Treat your people like the responsible adults they are, and you’ll easily start attracting more superstars to your team.

Maternity Support

According to AICPA, more than half of all new accountants are women. Many accounting firms are offering not only daycare options, but also much more creative ways to support working moms. Comfortable lactation rooms and prime parking for expectant mothers will be more than appreciated.

Ask Current Employees

Go to the source. You can use a variety of online survey tools that are free such as Survey Monkey to provide employees an anonymous way to vote on possible perks. Give them a choice of five to pick from. You also might let them vote on whether you offer a revote on a yearly or biyearly basis.