11 Bosses Who Deserve A Standing Ovation For Being The Nicest Human Beings Ever

Employee satisfaction is a part of a company-wide construct that enables a nurturing environment for the staff to feel invested and valued in. Good leaders play an equal role here; employee appreciation for their bosses increases manifold when the superiors go out of their way to make their employees feel comfortable at work, whether it’s taking them on paid vacations, offering a huge bouquet of perks, or returning small gestures of admiration. ?

Here are some of the nicest things bosses have done for their employees.

1. Jeff Weiner (LinkedIn)

When LinkedIn employee Mariah Walton got to know that she will miss LinkedIn CEO, Jeff Weiner’s visit to her office, she decided to leave him a note at her workstation, along with a photo of herself at the desktop, apologising for missing the opportunity to meet him. But Weiner did one even better – he clicked a selfie while posing at Walton's desk. He left behind the photo with a note for her to find when she returned.?

reuters

2. Ian Lucas (Red7)

Founder and chairman of British travel and party firm Red7, Ian Lucas took his entire workforce for an all-expense paid trip to Marbella. Lucas rewarded his team with a 3-day luxurious trip. They went on a boat tour of the Costa del Sol city and enjoyed fine dining to mark their 20th anniversary. Ian even referred his team as ‘the beating heart’ of the firm and owes the year-long growth of the organisation to his employees. The organisation creates once-in-a-lifetime premium experiences like stag and hen parties, birthday trips, and ‘girlie or lads weekends away’.?

red7

3. Brian Chesky (Airbnb)

The Airbnb CEO is one of the coolest bosses to reckon with. At Chesky’s company, employees are given a whole lot of benefits. Full paid health insurance, 22-week maternity leave, flexible spending accounts, Apple equipment, three weeks of paid time off, $100 monthly allowance for parking or public commute, and free organic lunches are just some of the perks Airbnb employees get to enjoy. The best one is that the company offers them a $2,000 travel coupon each year for their own adventures.

reuters

4. Nevzat Aydin (Yemeksepeti)

When Aydin, a Turkish entrepreneur, sold his online food delivery service Yemeksepeti, he shared $27 million among his 114 employees. While some of his staff members were left stunned, others cried. Each of Aydin’s employees got an average bonus of $323,000. Aydin even paid the taxes on the money for his employees.

Fortune Türkiye

5. Richard Branson (Virgin Group)

Branson is one boss who delivers on the promises he makes. In 2014, the Virgin Group’s boss announced that he would award his employees with unlimited vacation time. The following year, he lived up to his promise. He provided a year’s paid leave to new parents – both mothers and fathers – who worked in his London or Geneva headquarters.

reuters

6. Savjibhai Dholakia (Hare Krishna Exporters)

The owners of Hare Krishna Exporters, Savjibhai Dholakia gave an unbelievable Diwali bonus to his staff members across India. In 2016, the Surat-based businessman gifted cars and houses to his employees as he did in previous years. He reportedly chose 1,665 employees, based on their annual performance, and gifted them Fiat Punto cars, flats and gold jewellery.

wikipedia

7. Brunello Cucinelli (Brunello Cucinelli)

Brunello Cucinelli, who is known as "the king of Italian cashmere”, gives his employees a mandatory 90-minute lunch break every single day. He allows them to leave at 5:30 pm sharp and discourages them from sending work emails from home. He also pays them 20 percent more than other Italian factory staff members. In addition to this, Cucinelli also donates up to 20 percent of his company’s profits to his foundation.

reuters

8. Indra Nooyi (PepsiCo)

After her promotion as CEO of PepsiCo in 2006, Indira Nooyi reflected on how proud her parents must have felt, back in India, with her promotion, and how well her achievement would have reflected on their parenting skills.?She admitted to Fortune magazine that she had never told her employees’ parents what a great job they had done for their kids. So, she wrote letters – “I said, 'Therefore, I'm writing to thank you for the gift of your son, who is doing this at PepsiCo, and what a wonderful job this person is doing.'" Some parents were so moved that they even wrote back to her.

ap/pti

9. Andrew Fingerman (PhotoShelter)

Andrew Fingerman, who is the CEO of a website for photographers called PhotoShelter, hosts a microbrewery in his office every month. He purchases supplies and invites his team members to stay after hours and "move the beer along" if they feel like it. He told Fast Company, “Because group members range across teams and seniority, inevitably we talk about work challenges and ideas. We also get to know each other as friends. It brings us closer together, and some very innovative ideas have emerged."?

PhotoShelter blog

10. Dan Price (Gravity Payments)

Dan Price who heads Gravity Payments, a credit card processing firm, took a pay cut to reward his employees. He slashed his multi-million-dollar salary to $70,000. It was a ninety percent pay cut which Price used as savings to raise his employees’ salaries to the exact same amount.

gravity payments

11. Christian Mischler (HotelQuickly)

Christian Mischler, a Swiss entrepreneur, gave his employees at HotelQuickly the freedom to work whenever and from wherever they want. He also offered them the liberty to choose their start and finish times and set their own workday durations! Mischler believes that not only does this increase employee productivity but also improves their work-life balance.

instagram/m1schler