Do You Attract Superstars? Attracting new talent and keeping experienced employees is crucial these days. According to the 9th Annual MetLife Study of Employee Benefits Trends, the American workforce has grown dissatisfied and disloyal, to the point where one in three employees hopes to be working elsewhere by next year. Savvy employers have been doing their research on how to attract and retain workers. Their answer? Beefed-up benefit packages that truly reflect the needs of their people. The six companies highlighted here have designed unique benefits and perks to help attract and retain excellent employees. Co-Worker Buddies for Expectant and New Moms Expectant mothers at Michigan-based accounting firm Plante & Moran can be paired up with other employees who've recently had babies, so they can ask questions and get support. Buddies meet on company time, go out for lunches and participate in relationship-building exercises. Buddies also help new moms make a successful transition back to work. Another generous perk is that the company allows anyone who is eligible for FMLA parental leave to take up to six months off after a birth. New parents use their paid leave before dipping into their short-term disability insurance.   Shopping-Spree Contests to Boost Sales and Morale Every few months, employees of Fun Bike Center MotorSports in Lakeland, Fla., gather at a local grocery store before it opens to watch three to five of their colleagues race to fill their carts with as much food as possible in a set amount of time. One recent participant snagged $1,000 worth of groceries in five minutes. Employees qualify for the shopping spree by meeting sales goals and impressing mystery shoppers. Fun Bike also hosts scavenger hunts, Jet Ski outings and fishing trips. Their results? Low turnover and steady sales during the recession.   Cash to Help Workers Dress for Success How do you get employees to comply with your strict professional dress code? Give them the money. Since 1996, Umpqua Bank has loaned its 1,700 employees the money to buy the right clothes. The bank, with 150 branches in Washington, Oregon and California, will advance up to $1,000 a year to any employee who asks, to spend on work clothes. Managers check receipts and sign off on advances, which employees repay through payroll deductions. Employees can choose the amount of those deductions, as long as they pay off each advance within a year.   Company Pays Employees to Leave Their Cars at Home Executives at Portland, Ore.-based David Evans and Associates wanted to lessen their organization's carbon footprint, and they started with their employees' commutes. The design firm pays its 953 employees up to $6 a day to commute by walking, biking, car pooling or riding the bus. A guaranteed-ride-home program gets participating employees into cabs in cases of personal emergencies.   Deployed Workers Get Full Pay, Benefits and Care Packages Seven employees from Texas-based Shared Technologies who are serving in the military get a monthly reminder that they're still members of the home team. The 1,400-employee organization sends a care package every month containing donated canned food, CDs, DVDs, underwear, socks and other goodies to each deployed employee. And they send packages to the employees' families. Nicest of all? The tech firm pays deployed workers their full salaries and continues their medical coverage.   Brits Pay for "Botox Leave?" So many employees of Fox Kalomaski were taking time off for "beauty treatments" that the London-based ad agency added an extra paid day off. Execs call it "Botox leave." While it's only a rumor that employees actually get Botox treatments on that day, it's been confirmed that most get haircuts or facials instead--it's each employee's decision.