SIEF-Smart Benefits Packages

People are not all the same.
 
That’s obvious.
 
If you’re in charge of people, your job is to make sure the people can do you the most good while also being happy and fulfilled, which works out better for everyone.
 
You can pay them well, you can treat them with respect, you can make the expectations clear, you can provide them with the tools they need to do a good job.
 
But one of the stealth tools is benefits packages.
 
Typically, companies have one benefits package.  If you’re negotiating with a candidate high enough on the ladder, you probably have some latitude to shift the benefits package.  You can also figure out what kinds of benefits will most appeal to your candidate and use that to make the position more attractive.
 
Since your job description is already properly targeted towards a particular segment of the SIEF scale, you can start there.
 
If your job and candidate are intensive:
They will be happier, and you will get the most out of them, by offering generous (ideally unlimited) time off, a salary rather than an hourly wage, free run of the workspace, and (almost always) an office with a door that they can close when they’re working on a big project. Expect that they will work like hell on deadline and then disappear for a week.  You can tell them they have to be available by phone.  Make sure your requirements make sense. If your company is mostly intensives, create gathering spaces with power outlets, tables, and whiteboards, but forgo the open office in favor of long halls of individual offices that are as beautiful as possible.  If you can’t convert the whole company, do it in pieces.  Intensives are sensitive to their environments.  Consider designing with sunlight and windows as a top priority, and give them a few things to do that don’t look like work.  Expect them to go directly to whomever seems appropriate, regardless of level.  Think software startup during the dot com boom.  Most of the people who made the web what it is today were probably intensives.
 
If your job and candidate are expansive:
They will be happier, and you will get the most out of them, by offering a really reliable schedule, no crises, no weekends, no late nights.  Get them in and out on time, every time.  They will only come back if they forget something, or out of a sense of duty, which should not be stretched.  They can be billed hourly if that’s appropriate, but they will usually prefer a salary with a clear compensation schedule for work above and beyond.  They will overlook minor inconsistencies and inconveniences, but prefer things to be very logical.  They will almost certainly prefer clear chain of command, and can work reasonably well in cubicles although research suggests that everyone performs better in individual offices with good natural light, so that’s a goal here, too.  Set times, routines, and schedules, and knowing their own schedule well in advance, will work better for them.  Think traditional office work at large companies.
 
Naturally, people and circumstances vary: an intensive young parent might need to be home to meet the bus every day without fail; an expansive with a side business might be more interested in working in short, intense blocks.  Start here, and modify as necessary.