Introduction

Team perks have never been more important, especially with the rise of remote and hybrid working. Remote work, of course, has plenty of benefits, but one of the main drawbacks is the loneliness and isolation some employees can feel — especially when they lack a sense of workplace community.

Investing in collaborative perks, both online and in-person, goes a long way in building a healthy employee experience, while also supporting your teams' social and mental health. Team perks aren't just a nice thing to offer your people, they are a valuable investment in your company culture.

Examples of collaborative perks

Some popular examples of collaborative perks include:

  • Perks and discounts on days out
  • Organised team away days
  • Team building activities
  • Group health and wellbeing resources
  • Wall of fame
  • Book clubs
  • Board game library or club
  • Team breakfasts and lunches
  • Coffee gift cards to encourage catch-ups away from desks
  • Company swag everyone can wear and enjoy
  • Group lunch and learns with guest speakers, remote or in-person
  • Courses, for example, dance and language lessons

How important are team perks for young workers?

We spoke to 7,400 young professionals about their ideal work environment and uncovered an emerging trend for prioritising the team over the individual.

When asked what their golden rule for achieving success was, 35% of employees said building strong interpersonal relationships would lead to better outcomes for themselves and the company.

Similarly, 30% of these employees said they work best when the organisation and employees are focused on succeeding as a team. Moreover, 28% thought relationships and a collaborative environment are crucial to business success and long-term growth.

To lead fulfilling careers, most young professionals believe they need to work in a space where they can tackle challenges as a team.

Encourage collaboration through recognition

There's no better way to bring employees together than sharing their achievements and wins. With Perkbox, employees get a real-time recognition feed, so they can see who has achieved what, and why the behaviour aligned with company values. What's more, managers can attach points to each message they send, which employees can save or spend right away on rewards.

Encourage a culture of collaboration with a real-time recognition feed

What are popular team perks?

From a sample of 8,700 job descriptions, social events like team board game sessions or quiz nights came out on top, appearing in 23% of job descriptions.

Other social activities like team lunches (15%) and Friday drinks (11%) also proved popular. These results show how much the modern workforce want to connect with their colleagues both in and outside of work.

What team perks should you offer?

Rather than picking and choosing stand-alone team perks, think about how you will group them into a meaningful package. All-in-one employee experience platforms are a popular choice among many organisations because of the breadth of perks and team-orientated features they offer.

Take Perkbox for example, it includes thousands of team perks that span many categories. There are discounts on days out, dining, cinema tickets, coffee shops, and more. We truly believe in the collective power of employees working together as one team, which is why so many of our perks, benefits, and freebies can be enjoyed by individuals and groups of friends and colleagues.

Offer your employees thousands of team perks with Perkbox

The rise and fall of individual perks

While perks enjoyed by the individual used to be a common incentive in job postings, our study suggests they’re falling in popularity.

The once-mighty Cycle to Work scheme, for example, appeared in only 7% of job descriptions, and season ticket loans were even lower (4%).

Now, this drop could also be related to more people working from home, but nevertheless, the number of team perks is only growing.

How do collaborative perks benefit employee wellbeing?

When employees feel like they are part of a group or community, they are much more resilient and are genuinely invested in the organisation they work for.

Offering collaborative wellbeing perks that employees can experience together — be it enjoying a HIIT workout in a gym or meeting up for a guided meditation in the break room, means they charge up both their social and physical health batteries.

Perkbox, for example, includes a wellbeing platform with an ever-expanding library of wellbeing resources, including HIIT workouts, yoga flows, health and financial webinars, and even guided meditations. All of which are available on the Perkbox app.

Support your employees' health with a collaborative wellbeing platform

How can Perkbox help with team perks?

Differentiating between team and individual perks can be confusing as some overlap. Moreover, companies may already have a few team perks in their benefits package but aren't marketing them effectively as perks everyone can enjoy together.

Fortunately, Perkbox includes plenty of collaborative perks, from a real-time recognition feed and points-based reward system to perks and benefits that can be enjoyed by both individuals and teams.

Plus, because Perkbox has nurtured countless brand partnerships with international retailers, all perks and benefits have a global reach, so it doesn't matter if your workforce is local or international.

Offer more collaborative perks with Perkbox

Get your employee benefits strategy on point

We've put together this guide to give you the tools you need to plan, create and review your very own employee benefits strategy.

spinning wheel
Back to top