Never mind pizza parties in the office kitchen or a ping pong table in the breakroom.
One Melbourne business has lifted the lid on the extravagant and outrageous perks available to its employees: from regular Botox to a brand-new luxury car and a lucrative ‘offer to quit’ on the first day.
Social media agency Kill Boring Dead, led by chief executive Marcus Willis, was thrust into the spotlight after employee Rosie Brown took to TikTok to dish some of the jaw-dropping perks on offer as rewards to hardworking staff.
The post, titled ‘unhinged things my workplace does to keep us engaged’, saw Rosie make mention of the wild employment benefit.
‘Botox budget: if we retain all our clients for THIS quarter, we get Botox,’ she said.
Daily Mail spoke to Rosie about the unique incentive perks offered at the creative agency, where she’s been working for over a year.
‘We get to choose what works for us in terms of perks,’ the Head of Strategy explained. ‘And that way, the company invests back in things that people actually love and care about.’
The controversial Botox perk came about when Rosie one day jokingly asked her boss: ‘“What would I have to do for you to pay for my Botox every year?”‘
Social media agency Kill Boring Dead employee Rosie Brown shared a TikTok post revealing that her reward for hitting quarterly KPIs was regular Botox
The viral post highlighted how the business allows staff to negotiate their incentive-based rewards
‘And he just said “If you meet this KPI every quarter, I’ll pay for your Botox however many times you want”.’
While she and another staffer jumped at the facial treatment incentive opportunity, other employees had taken a different path when negotiating their KPI rewards.
‘One girl on our sales team really wants a Jeep. So she and Marcus set a massive sales goal – and if she achieves that, she’ll get a Jeep.’
The results-oriented business is even working towards meeting a long-running overarching company goal, and if achieved, the boss has promised to take them all on an all-expenses team trip to Thailand.
‘Obviously, when you hear about these kinds of perks it sounds amazing and it is,’ Rosie said. ‘But these unique incentives are reflective of the commitment and high performance required to to work in a really creative space.’
Big extravagant rewards for hitting work targets aren’t the only interesting offer at the creative agency.
On their very first day of employment, new starters are offered $5000 to quit at the end of the day.
‘The idea is that the new employee goes through everything about how we operate, what the expectations are, what the culture is and what our values are around growth, innovation, security and safety,’ Rosie said.
Rosie (left) explained that her boss Kill Boring Dead chief executive Marcus Willis (right), offered ‘unique incentives’ because they are ‘reflective of the commitment and high performance required to work in a really creative space’
‘If that doesn’t align for them for whatever reason, or we’ve missed that through the interview process, we’d rather they not even start.
‘We ultimately invest time into training people and making them feel supported and welcomed. And if it’s not for them, we’d rather get them out the door straight away and pay the money, than realise three months down the line that it’s not working.’
To date, Rosie notes that not a single new employee has taken up the offer.
Another interesting offer to the 45+ workforce is an annual ‘wellbeing budget’. Worth a few hundred dollars, it comes without limitations on how it must be used.
To explain the plethora of ways it has been spent, Rosie used hers on massages on her honeymoon. A fitness-loving colleague spent hers on different fitness classes and gym gear. Another staffer spent it on a gaming console as they view video games as a way to relax.
‘People are free to put it towards things that they see wellbeing value in,’ she explained.
Even their annual work Christmas party was far from the standard.
It involved them following a series of cryptic clues to activities that included professional hair and makeup, a private cinema session, a limo ride, a private rooftop party with drag queen dancers and karaoke to end the night.
‘It was just another day at KBD,’ Rosie laughed.
So why would an employer be so willing to fork out for such extravagance?
Even their annual work Christmas party was far from bog standard – and included a cameo from drag queen dancers
Kill Boring Dead’s leader Marcus Willis explained that when he rebranded his creative agency, he set a goal of never doing anything ‘mediocre’ – and that incentive perks
Daily Mail spoke to Kill Boring Dead’s leader Marcus Willis, who explained that when he rebranded his creative agency over a year ago, he set a goal of never doing anything ‘mediocre’.
‘I wanted the work that we did to be interesting – but I also wanted the way that we do it to be interesting too. So that meant everything from meetings to perks and Christmas parties. I wanted the experience to work here to feel just as creative and exciting as what I want my clients to feel when they see our work,’ he explained.
When it came to over-the-top perks, Marcus realised that incentivising something people would be unlikely to spend their own money on created a highly motivating mentality.
In many workplaces where the bottom line rules every decision, Marcus acknowledges that some offices would see these perks as extraneous expenses. But he sees it differently.
‘It’s always attached to a KPI. So, if the goal is to grow the business by a certain target, I’m going to offer as many interesting perks or rewards as I can to get there. That means everyone comes into work super engaged,’ he said.
Kill Boring Dead is one of Australia’s fastest growing creative agencies and primarily works with retail brands and supermarket-stocked FMCG, counting Red Rooster and Carman’s Kitchen amongst their client roster.
In the competitive agency world, Marcus says his small business regularly beats out much bigger fish in the pond, and he believes it’s a direct result of ‘doing things differently’.
‘It should not be possible for me to win a pitch against these big agencies, but we do it all the time,’ Marcus said.
‘When the employee has chosen the perk themselves, it’s more meaningful,’ Marcus explained
The small but fast-growing creative agency primarily works with retail brands and supermarket-stocked FMCG products
So why not stick with tried and tested workplace perks as enticements – like snacks, gift cards or discounted insurance policies?
‘The monetary value is the same, but when the employee has chosen the perk themselves, it’s more meaningful,’ he explained.
‘I want them to go above and beyond and do the best work of their career. I really want them to push themselves, which is really difficult and painful and really emotionally strenuous when you’re working in a creative field.
‘And I’m not expecting normal or standard, or even worse, boring.
‘But it means I’m also going to try to make the rewards as interesting and exciting as I expect the work to be.’
Ultimately, Marcus believes that offering perks that his employees actually want – even if other workplaces see them as unconventional rewards – makes ‘perfect sense from both a business and a cultural level’.
‘I want people to feel engaged and excited at work. This is the best way I know how.’
