In a world where attracting and retaining tech talent is increasingly difficult, a company-expensed summer trip to Paris may be a game-changing perk.
Lose It!, a Boston-based freemium app that helps users lose weight, at the end of July made an experiment at the intersection of recruiting strategy, remote work, business travel and company treat.
They offered their entire crew of 31 employees the opportunity to travel to Paris, work there for a week and enjoy flexible time off in the Ville Lumière—with the company covering the bulk of expenses for employees and their guests.
"The start for the whole thing was the impact we wanted to have on the people who work at Lose It!," Charles Teague, founder and CEO of Lose It!, said. "A big concept for us was that there were benefits to people from, sort of, changing location and see the world from a different perspective."
Here's how Lose It! organized its experiment. At the end of July, the 29 employees taking part in the trip were expected to show up at a Paris-based co-working space and work there for a week. Over that 5-day period (called "Retreat Week"), the company organized team-building activities like dinners out and bike tours.
Aside from "Retreat Week," employees could freely arrange their travel plans. They ended up traveling in two groups. Group One spent time off in Paris before Retreat Week and left at the end of it; Group Two arrived in Paris at the beginning of Retreat Week and stayed over on vacation.
"There were still people at the office, we didn't want to leave people alone," Whitney Puidokas, director of customer care at Lose It!, said. "Plus, Group Two ended up getting lots of tips and insights from Group One."
Puidokas, who was responsible for researching the costs for the trip as well as healthcare extension abroad, ended up spending 30 days in Paris with her husband Eric, who also work for Lose It! as a VP of engineering.
The majority of people had one or two guests. Phil Weltman, growth associate at Lose It! since late May, jumped on the opportunity to visit Europe for the first time with his girlfriend Emily. With his boss leaving before him, he said that the trip gave him a chance to strengthen his communication skills. As a recent hire, the trip was also an occasion to get to know all the others better.
The trip to Paris was "a pricey benefit," Charles Teague said, adding that it cost the company "over $100,000." However, he added that it's only one among Lose It!'s most expensive perks, a list that also includes "great health care."
The company covered plane tickets, accommodation and some meals during Retreat Week for both employees and their guests. Also, each employee received a $140 daily stipend to cover living expenses like housing, metro tickets and food.
The timing of the trip couldn't have been better for Steve Massaroni, a software engineer on the iOS team, who stayed in Paris for the three weeks that included Bastille Day (July 14th) and the french national soccer team winning the World Cup against Croatia.
"It was a once-in-a-lifetime celebration," he said.
While some people didn't come back from Paris yet, Teague said that the feedback he's gotten from employees was outstanding, adding that the trip provided a massive, positive retention benefit.
"From a company's perspective, I'd say it's too early for me to say that I've seen that different way of thinking yet," he noted. "But what's been the most surprising is that I've seen almost no impact on productivity."
Founded in November 2008, Lose It! raised a $5.5 Series A round in 2012 and it's been running profitably since then, Teague said.
Lose It! is among the 150 finalists for this year’s Coolest Companies, BostInno's signature competition at BostonFest.
