We’ve all heard of companies that offer fun and trendy perks like free food, pingpong tables, a gym, and a policy that lets workers bring their pets to work. Many organizations believe that incorporating these types of perks will create the right type of desirable workplace culture and result in uber-productive workers.

But here’s the problem. Perks and benefits aren’t the same as corporate culture and they don’t necessarily incentivize employees.

Why companies confuse culture with perks

"I think this happens because employers use perks as Band-Aid solutions in the absence of a healthy workplace culture," according to Randy Grieser, founder and CEO of ACHIEVE Centre for Leadership & Workplace Performance, and co-author of "The Culture Question."

These bonus offerings are used to incentivize applicants and employees. "They feel that extra perks help make their organizations great places to work and that they will attract and retain talented, motivated, and productive employees as a result."

While Grieser does think that perks could be used to create more fun and productive organizations, he says most companies don’t have the resources to implement them.

"The good news is that perks aren’t actually necessary for attracting productive and committed employees who enjoy their work and are loyal to their organizations." Instead, he says companies should focus on building the right type of culture.

"A healthy workplace culture is the most significant factor that influences happiness, work relationships, and job satisfaction," Grieser says. To be clear, corporate culture includes the shared values, attitudes, standards, and beliefs that characterize an organization.

One of the reasons companies believe that perks can create the right workplace culture and incentive employees is because they’re constantly hearing about the perks offered at some of the biggest and most successful companies in the world.

"Yes, Google offers free food and haircuts, pingpong tables, concierge service, on-site medical staff, and rooms in which employees can nap and watch movies . . . but this is not the reason for employees’ high productivity," says Radoslaw Nowak, J.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor in the New York Institute of Technology School of Management.

What works at companies like Google

While you hear a lot about Google’s interesting perks, Nowak says the company’s managerial practices are largely responsible for its high productivity levels. He lists three factors in particular:

A strict and very robust selection process: Google receives more than 3 million job applications per year.

"The company uses a very robust competency-based selection process to identify and hire only candidates who display very high levels of key competencies necessary to implement the company’s strategic goals," Nowak says. Along with the required level of job-specific expertise, new hires also need to demonstrate teamwork, leadership, problem-solving and other skills.

Self-managed teams and job design: Google assigns employees to work on self-managed teams. "These are self-directing workgroups that are given a very high level of autonomy and control over projects," Nowak explains.

This level of self-rule fosters problem-solving and bottom-up innovation, and employees get to work on challenging projects that can help them develop new skills. "However, using job design and self-managed groups will require a significant shift in the typical managerial paradigm."

Investment in management development: Google also makes developing its managers a priority. "This is critical because due to the concept of job design and self-managed teams, managers at Google play a significantly different role than managers at other companies." They’re not exercising power and control to implement the company’s goals.

“Their role is to be a coach and a mentor who creates developmental opportunities, which ensures that employees understand their roles and have all the resources they may need to complete projects,” Nowak explains.

How to transform your workplace

While you shouldn’t necessarily mimic Google’s perks, there’s a lot to be learned from the company’s approach to employees and management.

"All the perks in the world won’t make up for having a manager who treats employees poorly," says Grieser. While he agrees that free lunches and pet-friendly offices are nice, in the long term, they don’t contribute to creating a great workplace.

"Through my own experiences, research, and interviews with others, I’ve found that a far better way to determine what makes a workplace great is culture, not perks," he says.

If your workplace is unhealthy, you’re probably experiencing high turnover; an unproductive, unengaged workforce; and your employees’ mental health and well-being suffer as a result.

However, Grieser believes there are six elements that can help you create a great workplace culture.

Communicating your purpose and values: Does everyone in your workplace know and understand the company’s purpose and values? "Once the values and beliefs are identified, focus on helping employees connect their own work to the organization’s greater purpose," Grieser advises.

Providing meaningful work: How much attention has your workplace given to making sure that everyone has meaningful work? "Organizations should be intentional about finding each person’s true talents and giving them work that builds on those talents and provides them with a sense of satisfaction," Grieser says.

Focusing your leadership team on people: Are your organization’s leaders sufficiently aware of how they impact others in the workplace? Grieser says you should focus on teaching leaders to care about staff as people, supporting them in their work while providing healthy levels of accountability.

Building meaningful relationships: How strong are the relationships within your workplace? "Organizations should focus on building an environment in which relationships can grow and people can connect with each other across teams," Grieser says.

Creating peak performing teams: How well do people at your organization work together in team environments? Workplaces should focus on helping staff collaborate with each other, Grieser says, building diversity into teams and capitalizing on collective intelligence.

Practicing constructive conflict management: How skilled are employees and managers when it comes to working through conflict? "Organizations should focus on training people to resolve differences quickly and directly," Grieser says.