As the holidays are quickly approaching, we decided to connect with several companies to see what they are doing year-round to give back and support their communities. 

Veracode has partnered with Charity Miles, the app that turns all the miles you might walk, run or bike into dollars for charity. Veracode is committing $1 for every mile an employee accumulates until December 1st to Resilient Coders for #GivingTuesday. Resilient Coders trains youth in underserved communities in areas such as software engineering, website development, and app design. The organization works to achieve social justice through economic empowerment, and the opportunity for meritocracy in tech by providing better access to high-growth careers. So far, Veracoders have earned $9,400 toward this goal!

Explore veracode's company page

Chewy’s philanthropic mission to help fulfill the urgent needs of shelter and rescue organizations ensures that pets have basic necessities, like meals and supplies, despite challenging circumstances. Chewy’s donations have provided pet food, healthcare supplies, and other essential products to animal welfare organizations and pet parents throughout the country in partnership with GreaterGood.org and other animal welfare organizations.

Chewy is celebrating this year’s Giving Tuesday by providing an easy way for pet parents to give back by making a purchase on Chewy.com on December 1, 2020. To learn more about this campaign, click here.

Explore CHEWY's company page

For years, we've focused the month of October as "Rapid7GivesBack," participating in supporting organizations in each of our regions across the globe, primarily targeting STEM and DEI focused organizations. This year, we launched it virtually in October, and announced we'd be focusing these efforts year round going forward. We are now able to keep each other updated on the work through slack, capturing on our microsite, and highlighting volunteering efforts each month to build awareness.

Explore Rapid7's company page

We recently participated in our parent company's global "Dept Cares Day." Every year, we invite employees to donate some of their time to give back to their communities. We pick a date and teams from around the world volunteer at various initiatives in their hometowns and home countries. This year is obviously challenging with the pandemic, so we decided to come together for a beach cleanup at Salisbury Beach so that we could gather safely while still volunteering our time. A small group of Rocket folks fueled up on our favorite donuts from Changing Tides in Newburyport and got to work collecting trash on the beach and throughout the parking lot. We also encouraged other employees that could not join us in person to clean up around their own neighborhoods or communities.

Explore Rocket Insights' company page

HealthcareSource has been involved in a handful of ways of giving back, some of these initiatives include:

• Team members hand sewed masks and distributed them to local healthcare providers, first responders, schools and other locations in need throughout our communities. We had enough fabric to create over 850+ masks! Team members also created kits for local post-acute providers to use while residents and staffs needed to quarantine on location. The kits included crosswords and word searches, plants, coffee gift cards and more.
• Thank you, healthcare workers video montage
• Blood “Drive-to-Donate”. Given the increased need for blood, and lack of donations across the country, HealthcareSource employees volunteered to donate.
• HealthcareSource employees participated in the Virtual Walk to End Alzheimer's on Sunday, September 27th! The team raised more than $3,500 for the Alzheimer’s Association!
• For the last 2 years HealthcareSource has participated in the Wonderfund! Employees purchase holiday gifts for children in need who are part of the Mass DCF program. We are kicking off this program again this year!

Explore healthcaresource's company page

Giving back is integral to Vecna Robotics and is embedded throughout our community interactions during the year. In fact, employees can take up to 4 hours a week in PTO to spend on community service. In the last 6 months, through company-wide participation, Vecna Robotics has donated clothes to Second Chances, books to More Than Words, food/household items to the Middlesex Human Service Agency, Outfit and PJ Packs to Cradles to Crayons, and toys for Toys for Tots.

Explore Vecna Robotic's company page

Every other month, TRUX selects three employees to spotlight. Each spotlighted employee is able to donate $100 to a charity of their choice. Including our employees in charitable giving is a great way for us to celebrate our team and give back to the community!

Explore TRUX's company page

Last week, ZoomInfo kicked off its 2020 Winter Donation Drive, during which its 1,600-plus employees will spend the next month competing to raise the most money for their local charities, including Newton's Cradles to Crayons. They'll look to outdo their efforts from 2019, when they raised more than $240,000 in cash and in-kind donations for youth- and family-focused organizations. “It has never been more important for us to step up and help our communities,” said Henry Schuck, Founder and CEO of ZoomInfo. “We can make a significant impact by helping to brighten the holiday season for those families in our communities who have endured a really challenging year.”

Explore zoominfo's company page

We’re collecting donations to put together both Housewarming baskets (materials needed when you move into an apartment such as cleaning and laundry products) and Blessing Bags (facemasks, hand sanitizer, gloves) for people supported by the Friends of Boston’s Homeless organization.

Explore Leanix's company page

As daycares, public parks, and camps were off-limits this summer due to the pandemic, Hometap teamed up with Heading Home, a non-profit organization on a mission to end homelessness in the Greater Boston area. Together our team got creative, crafting 18 activity kits filled with art supplies, crafts, cooking supplies, and more to help underprivileged families learn and have fun at home. 

Explore Hometap's company page

In September, PrismHR held our first-ever Charity Auction for Education with items donated by employees with big talent and big hearts. Our Culture & Engagement Team created a special bidding site to display the items up for bid which included handmade knit hats and jewelry, family photo shoots, craft beer sampler packs, sports memorabilia, custom comic and cross-stitch art, and plenty of tasty treats. Nearly $2,800 raised for The National Center for Learning Disabilities, an organization that works to improve the lives of 1 in 5 children and adults nationwide with learning and attention issues.

Explore Prismhr's company page

At Mimecast, building resilient communities is core to who we are, and giving back is at the heart of the Mimecast Way. Our employees deliver cyber resilience every day to the organizations that we are privileged to call customers. As part of our commitment to global resilience, we've built our Resilience Together program to bring meaningful and sustained support to the global communities where we live and work.

We are also proud to support our veterans through our partnership with Home Base, a Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Program.

Explore Mimecast's company page

iboss hosted their first Virtual Volunteering Event on World Kindness Day to benefit youth experiencing homelessness. iboss employees and their families were given the opportunity to create Bare Necessities Bundles through an online activity to provide essential items such as socks, deodorant, and other hygiene items for junior high and high school students in need. The kits also included a personalized letter of positivity to help bring confidence and comfort, empowering them to succeed. With the help from Building Impact, all Bare Necessities Bundles will be distributed by local organizations to the youth they serve. Kits will benefit: Catie’s Closet, Covenant House, and Stand Up for Kids. 

Explore iboss's company page

Through Imprivata’s Volunteer Program, our employees have had the opportunity to learn about and volunteer with organizations focused on providing opportunities for youth. For the past three years, Imprivata has provided mentors for BUILD Boston, an organization that offers entrepreneurship classes to high schools students in under-resourced communities. Our BUILD group has been working on a virtual design challenge that solves a problem directly related to the impact of COVID-19 on a specific community using the design thinking process

Explore Imprivata's company page

We have two iZoCares days a year where we organize around giving back by making changes internally and externally. The hackathon is a chance to challenge what's possible with a focus on anti-racism in our organization, community, and industry. The areas we've started working include: donation matching (Equal Justice Initiative, Southern Poverty Law Center, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, among others), Equity Learning Lab (education and internal change efforts), STEAM opportunities for youth and equity in audio education.

Explore izotope's company page

SuitUp is an organization that increases college and career awareness and preparedness for students in underserved communities through innovative business competitions. We recently had the pleasure of volunteering with this fantastic organization. After spending a week with these smart, determined, and creative students working to create a new product for Nike, we were beyond impressed. We can't wait to work with them again!

Explore cybereason's company page

Supporting our global communities is something we take pride in at Recorded Future, and 2020 has given us the opportunity to give back in several ways. This year, we have raised funds to provide lunches for first responders from a local food truck, given t-shirts and snacks to homeless shelters, and donated to charities supporting LGBTQIA+ groups. In lieu of a holiday gift this year, Futurists have the opportunity to make a donation to one of four global charities, and we will also be providing Thanksgiving dinners to low-income families in need in the Boston area.

Explore recorded future's company page

Toast’s mission to empower the restaurant community to delight guests, do what they love, and thrive was really put to the test this year. On March 17, 2020, we launched Rally for Restaurants, a grassroots initiative to give restaurants a fighting chance during the COVID-19 health crisis. Since then, we’ve written letters to congress, actively lobbied to help secure funding for the industry, and partnered with groups ranging from The Independent Restaurant Coalition - co-founded by Chef Tom Colicchio - to Pepsi to José Andrés' World Central Kitchen to help advocate for restaurateurs and the community during this unprecedented time. We’ve launched products 12-18 months ahead of schedule to support the restaurant community better adapt to the pandemic, such as flat-fee delivery services and contactless payments. What’s next for us is to continue doing everything we can to help the restaurant industry recover and come back stronger leading up to the availability of a COVID-19 vaccine.

In addition to Rally for Restaurants and our community response to the COVID-19 health crisis, we’re committed to our purpose of enriching the food experience for all. Through this, Toast’s corporate philanthropy efforts drive impact across the cause pillars: food, community, and environment. Key results included providing 50,000 meals to at-risk children through No Kid Hungry and rescuing nearly half a million pounds of food in partnership with Project Bread.

Explore toast's company page

Cantina's "Innovation with Impact" program is accepting applications from organizations who are focused on helping to drive and support positive change. The selected partner will receive Cantina's pro bono services (design research, experience design, product design, or software engineering) for up to 8 weeks. This could be everything from designing a new mobile app to rethinking a service experience or as simple as helping create a project strategy.

Organizations with social mission projects in climate, sustainability, land conservation, food and food waste, justice and equality, poverty, homelessness, healthcare, education, and arts and music are some of the areas our team would love to solve with you. Other projects and impact areas outside of this list are also encouraged to apply. 

To learn more about the program and apply, please click here: https://cantina.co/csr/.

Explore cantina's company page

Once again this year, as an ongoing charitable effort, Bullhorn has teamed up with amazing charities, both domestic and abroad, for their Holiday Heroes campaign. The holidays can be festive for most people, but they can also be challenging for others. At Bullhorn, we care about the community and try to make the holidays extra special for those children and their families who might need some extra support during this time of year. The Holiday Heroes Drive is part of our global Bullhorn Cares program, our employee volunteer and service initiative. It allows employees worldwide opportunities to find causes that are important to them and connect with their local communities. Volunteerism and service are integral components of our company’s fabric. Serving our communities globally is part of the Bullhorn culture, and our employees donate to organizations that give back to underserved and underprivileged children and families as well as to families of children with devastating medical conditions. All employee donations will be matched by Bullhorn.

This past July, Bullhorn took a stand against racism and launched an employee campaign called “Taking Action”. Here at Bullhorn, in an effort to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in our organization and in the technology industry, in hopes of making an immediate impact, we launched a donation campaign for the NAACP. In 30 days, our employees contributed a total of $12,500 which Bullhorn matched, donating a total of $25,000 to the NAACP.

Explore bullhorn's company page

Duck Creek Technologies’ global corporate social responsibility program, Duck Creek Gives Back, consists of a corporate matching program, global volunteer opportunities and a global team to support local and digital events. Locally, our Ducks contributed to their communities by participating in blood drives, food pantry work, food drives, clothing drives, COVID-19 mask making, and virtual mapping of remote areas for emergency service assistance. Duck Creek Gives Back has also provided donations to support disasters around the world through our global partnership with the Red Cross.

Explore duck creek's company page

Yesware has offered full access to free seats for black owned small businesses in our community. We also supported local restaurants by purchasing gift cards for our employees.

Explore yesware's company page

At EDB, we do a yearly gift drive during the holidays for the Department of Children and Families. We also contribute to organizations leading the fight for racial and social justice through donations to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Black Lives Matter and Amnesty International. We believe it's important to listen to the concerns and ideas of our team, and to contribute positively to our communities based on their input and our company core values.

Explore edb's company page

We just announced our Picking With PurposeTM Program in which we’ve partnered our robotic automation solutions with food rescue organizations City Harvest and The Greater Boston Food Bank to pick, pack, and distribute food to families in need in time for Thanksgiving. Berkshire Grey donated about 40,000 pounds of food, used one of our robotic automation systems to pick and pack that food into meal boxes for families in need, and our team members volunteered to run the system.  City Harvest and The Greater Boston Food Bank are distributing the 4,000 meal boxes we produced.  This is just the beginning.  We are building a sponsorship program to make Picking With PurposeTM an ongoing initiative. 

Explore Berkshire Grey's company page

Tufin has done some additional perks during the past several months. Our CEO Ruvi Kitov gave all our employees extra PTO days to use as he knows everyone is working very hard during these challenging times. We have recently invested in a Wellness App called Wellable that our employees can take advantage of and have done several virtual Happy Hour events. Some of those have been a Rock N Roll Bingo, Halloween Trivia Contest and a Cocktail making class.  We also plan on doing a lot more with the community in the next several weeks, as helping others is what Tufin is all about.

Clora sent gifts to a family in need. The family consists of a mom, dad, 4-year-old girl, and 7-year-old boy. Although it's a smaller size family, dad has a chronic health illness and mom is undergoing cancer treatment so they have a lot of needs.

Charity: Project Just Because

Explore clora's company page

Over the years, I’ve written quite extensively about resiliency, adaptability, and the like. While most of my focus is centered on the need to strengthen these behaviors to maximize effectiveness in a work environment, I find most often they are directly transferable to our personal lives as well. In an age of chaos and disruption, I have realized that streamlining the number of things I need to “work on” is just plain good for my sanity, so finding areas that allow me to develop and evolve both personally and professionally simultaneously make it to the top of my priority list. I tend to think of this as “The Blur.”

It’s been a long year filled with challenges, but with an equal measure of opportunity. I’ll fully admit as we slide into the end of 2020, I’m just plain tired. While my exhaustion is largely fueled from playing a leadership role trying to keep our company thriving and motivated during these unique times and managing my kids and their remote learning, every single one of us has our own unique dynamics we’ve needed to navigate through. And while there is a light at the end of the proverbial COVID tunnel, we still face several more months working through this as cases surge and winter quickly approaches.  How to manage through this (hopefully!) last leg of the COVID marathon? Below you’ll find a few strategies to help bolster yourself through this winter, and perhaps benefit from your own “blur.”

ASSESS YOUR TRIBE

As we moved into self quarantine back in March, many of us relied on our families or a very small, close group of friends to create safety pods with. While much of the world is embracing the need to continue to wear masks and exercise caution, there is also a collective sense of “ugh...I’m so over this.”  As we head into the colder weather and the option to spend time outside like we did during the summer is likely to be more limited, WHO we share our time with becomes extra meaningful. Personally, I find myself spending far less time on video in social gatherings than I did during the early days of March and April. Rather, I gain energy from a small group of people (both from work, and from my non-work life) that I can be physically near, who tend to have upbeat, positive outlooks.

• BLUR BENEFIT: Professionally, I can’t always surround myself with only the people who bring me energy. However, I find myself actively seeking out those positive folks as I look for help on special projects, provide new opportunities, etc. Actively seeking out people who give me energy rather than zap me of it is a key strategy in both work and my personal life.

PUT YOUR OWN OXYGEN MASK ON FIRST

I have never embraced the term “self care,” as it strikes me as incredibly self indulgent. And yet, when I alter the meaning and think of it as “putting your oxygen mask on first,”  I can get behind it. One of the best COVID-era decisions I made for myself was replacing my morning commute with running every morning. Not only does it clear my head and energize me for the long day ahead, but I physically and mentally feel better than I have in years. We are all busy, and often unmotivated to take on another project, but carving out time for yourself each day can make you a better, more present parent, friend, coworker, etc.

• BLUR BENEFIT: If you identify at least one thing you can do for yourself on the regular that brings you joy, you’ll most likely benefit from the lasting effects of that all day long; fueling both the energy you bring to work, and in life.

GET OUT INTO THE WORLD AND HELP (EVEN IF IT’S FROM HOME)

While I am pretty good at finding the positive in any chaotic situation, I too have had my dark days during 2020. The thing that never fails to snap me right out of that funk is reflecting on what I have to be grateful for (e.g. my health, more time spent with my kids, a job I love that gives me purpose and keeps me busy…) as well as the realization that so many others in the world have it so much worse. Times of crisis and chaos allow each of us the chance to lend a hand to others in the world.

• BLUR BENEFIT: Whether its a weekly take out order from your favorite local restaurant, participating in an online concert series, or virtually volunteering at a school, there is a way for every person to lend a helping hand in some way. Bonus points if you can identify aiding a person or organization that is meaningful to both you and your work. For me, it’s been leaning even more heavily into social justice this year. It’s important to me and it’s important to Rapid7. A win-win for all.

GAIN SOME MASTERY

Really want to impress yourself (and potentially your boss and/or team!) this winter?  Pick something new to learn, and invest a little time...every.single.day. The discipline might do you some good, especially in these rather unstructured times at home.

• BLUR BENEFIT: Exercise was one of those things that I could never seem to prioritize. When we went into self quarantine, I committed to no excuses. By convincing myself I would never be gifted more hours in my day to reconfigure the way this time had been provided, I shunned sleeping in to finally tackle this goal. It has proven a wise choice. Not only am I feeling the personal health benefits of carving out that time to sweat nearly every single day but I am bringing the benefits back to work. I’m clear headed, my stress is minimal, and I am full of energy. Chipping away at a goal is a huge win, but actually getting better at that thing you thought you just couldn’t do - and gaining some mastery of it - is one of my biggest wins of 2020.

TURN OFF THE TV, AND TURN UP THE MUSIC

Of course when things are challenging, it’s easy to flip on the tv or bury our faces in our technology, secretly hoping to be updated on some magical cure or good news. I was glued to my tv in the early days of COVID, until I realized it was actually doing more harm than good. Instead, I turned off the tv, and turned on my record player. That’s right:  my old school albums have been in heavy rotation for months now. Why? Because The Stones and Miles Davis just seem to bring me joy. The point is, watching the news may keep us informed, but consume it in small doses. Instead, opt for cherishing those small moments you CAN control; whether it’s a great song, the smell of a fresh pot of coffee, or playing a board game with your family.

• BLUR BENEFIT: Finding ways to identify and savor those small moments within your control is healthy. Obviously, there are the physical benefits like the serotonin boost which helps calmness and mood. That’s a huge personal win, but think about the applications to your professional life as well.  When you approach your work with a renewed sense of perspective and calm, you are bound to be more thoughtful and less reactive. You’ll find that advantageous to both your team and customers alike.

“Winning” COVID isn’t just about wearing a mask, limiting your exposure to others, and avoiding the virus. Just as important is taking control of the elements of your life you CAN control.  When you narrow it down to the most impactful things, hopefully you'll find they are aiding you holistically - both personally and professionally. May everyone you encounter and engage with benefit from your efforts.

Christina Luconi is Chief People Officer for Rapid7. Follow her on Twitter: @peopleinnovator

Since spring, we’ve seen widespread devastation on a global scale with the Coronavirus pandemic, including in our businesses. Millions of people across the world have been struggling through job loss or furloughs, while attempting to juggle the upheaval to their health, financials, and families all at the same time.

To compound the stress, many displaced workers have become concerned with the unexpected gaps they now find on their resumes. Historically, unexplained periods of time have signaled to a potential employer that you may have been terminated or are for some reason unemployable. The good news?  Especially during this unique period of time, you are not alone.

The entire world has suffered from both the economic and health effects stemming from COVID. We've witnessed even the companies considered "unicorns" at the start of the year struggle with layoffs, so it is likely that your next employer will be incredibly empathetic and understanding of the blips in your career trajectory. Perhaps the question you ask yourself shouldn’t center on "how do I explain the gap in my resume?" but rather, "what did I do with that time to bolster my skills/knowledge so my next employer knows I’m able to still focus on development even during difficult times?".

Though many among us have chosen to focus on all the challenges this global pandemic has presented (the “2020 is a dumpster fire” attitude), it's also provided people - especially those out of work - with an opportunity to lean in and take accountability for their growth and development in a meaningful way. A quick Google search will unearth an abundance of tools and resources online and available (many free or low cost) to take advantage of. Why bother? Consider this:  if you are in an interview and asked "What have you been doing with your time since you were laid off?"... you'll want a substantial answer that goes beyond learning how to bake bread and bingeing the latest Netflix series. Taking the time to invest in developing skills, volunteering, etc. will go a long way towards crafting a story that screams, "I'm resilient, I made the best possible use of the time, and I'm ready to add impact to your company."

Simple Strategy To Start Filling In Your Gaps?

• Look in the mirror: Identify where your gaps are, and create your own development plan. Unclear? While it may require a bit of vulnerability, ask former managers or colleagues for their insights on where you are strong, and where you might need to focus. If you can identify your strengths and challenge areas, then you can begin to craft a path to supplement those areas needing attention.
• Don't just focus on the "hard skills."  Of course, taking that excel class or bolstering your project management skills could be incredibly beneficial. Also important, however, is ensuring you build on those core skills that may be impeding your progress. Functionally talented but can't find your voice? Invest your time developing your public speaking abilities.  Interested in managing others but have never had the opportunity?  Find ways to volunteer in the community (so many virtual opportunities exist right now) to mentor.
• Adjust your attitude. There is no denying this has been a difficult year for nearly everyone, for a multitude of reasons. However, employers value resiliency and work ethic. If there was ever a year to revel living in sweats and enjoying some downtime, it’s now. However, to channel the words of the great Maya Angelou, “I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.” Get up, dust yourself off, and get to work. You’ll thank yourself for those efforts when you score your next great job.

Losing your job and having gaps in your resume doesn’t have to fill you with anxiety. Rather, take a good hard look in the mirror, identify what's missing from allowing you to land the role of your dreams, and start investing your time in these areas. By doing so, you'll find you have plenty to include on your resume.

Christina Luconi is Chief People Officer for Rapid7. Follow her on Twitter: @peopleinnovator

We decided it would be interesting to take a look at some of the unique perks that come with working for specific companies. Take a look below to see what these companies are offering, and how some are adapting to better suit their employees in this era of remote work.

Here at Quick Base, we’ve expanded our Wellness Benefit program for all employees. This benefit is typically $650 per calendar year and provides reimbursement for anything wellness related, anything from a gym membership to a bike to fishing gear. To help support our employees during the pandemic, we increased the benefit to $850 through the end of 2020, and also encourage employees to use this reimbursement to make working remotely easier. Employees have used the Wellness Benefit for desks, office chairs, even a coffee subscription! We’ve also encouraged employees to take the flexibility they need; we have so many employees balancing work, kids at home, caring for family members (furry family members included!) and we want to ease the stress as much as possible.   

Explore Quick Base's company page

Tulip offers a special budget to create employee-led, Bottom-up events! So if an employee has a crazy cocktail hour they want to run for the team, lead a book club, or find teammates who would like to go kayaking on the Charles, they are welcome to organize and utilize the budget to do so!

Explore Tulip's company page

Pre-Covid we offered a commuter stipend and have now converted that into a work from home stipend. It goes into your first paycheck of the month for you to use for whatever office supplies you may need. 

Explore Piaggio Fast Forward's company page

We cover 100% of health, dental, and vision insurance premiums for both our employees and their families because we truly want to take care of our people.

Explore connectrn's company page

Virgin Pulse offers free lunch when you go into the office. 

Explore Virgin Pulse's company page

At Yesware we moved from in-person, in-office meditation and yoga classes to virtual versions of both. We're also doing more unique virtual team building events through Thriver, who is offering pretty interesting events. So far we did a trivia night and we're also going to be doing a virtual magic show. But probably the most unique thing we did was through Goat2Meeting, where we paid a donation to an animal sanctuary and farm and got a virtual tour and met a bunch of animals over Zoom!

Explore Yesware's company page

While we are also doing the GrubHub giftcard to new employees in place of the first day team lunch they would normally go on, we are ALSO doing a free Headspace membership for all employees. Headspace is a mindfulness app that has workouts, meditations, and more!

Explore everquote's company page

We offered employees every 3rd Friday off for a Wellness Day in 2020. This allows staff and their families to disconnect, focus on adapting to our new normal and to generally recharge. In addition,we also have partnered with ModernHealth, an employee wellness platform that offers wellness services for mental health, professional coaching, meditation and more!

Explore edb's company page

We have a Monday morning all hands. We used to order breakfast into the office. Now, we have been sending some random breakfast related packages - everything from Tatte gift baskets to Flour Pop-Tart baking kits. We try to always send from local businesses, as we know they are also struggling to adapt to the new normal!

Explore numerated's company page

Our of our core values is Meritocracy and when we see great performance, we want to reward it. We spun up the Starburst Swag Store, and managers can issue "All-Star Bucks" (We call our team members All-Stars), and employees can redeem them for cool branded swag. This also helps us welcome new employees with All-Star Bucks so they can get themselves outfitted and ready to represent the company!

Explore starburst's company page

Our employees’ mental health has been top of mind throughout the pandemic. To support employees throughout this stressful time, our CEO, David Cancel, spontaneously gave the entire company four extra days off over the summer. We also have started guided yoga and meditation breaks during the workday, and we have provided a subscription to the Headspace meditation app for all employees free of charge. Another unique perk that Drift offers is our sabbatical - after every three years of employment every Drift employee has the opportunity to take a one month sabbatical. We have seen a lot of our three year employees take advantage of this in fun, unique ways, especially during the pandemic.

Explore drift's company page

A few of Veeva's unique perks include:

• Veeva Giving: At the beginning of each year, every employee has the equivalent of 1% of their base salary to give to the non-profit or charity of their choice. Our employees are passionate about different causes and this gives them the autonomy and ability to make a donation towards what matters to them most.
• Work Anywhere: Our employees have the choice to work from home or in an office on any given day. We want everyone to work in an environment that is best for their productivity and life needs.
• Veeva Break: Veeva closes its offices around the globe for a week at the end of December. By taking time off together, it allows for all of us to get a better break with family and friends and be recharged for the New Year.

Explore veeva's company page

Due to COVID-19, Hydrow evaluated its current benefit's offering and made some necessary changes to continue supporting our people across all levels. Here are a few of the perks we are excited to offer: 

• A yearly subscription for all employees to Headspace because we want to put our employee's health and happiness first.
• A Coffee of the Month to foster a shared and connected experience during our daily work-from-home lives as well as maybe widen our coffee tastes by trying encouraging employees to try something new that they've not tasted before (if an employee does not drink coffee they can use the reimbursement for tea, soft drink, etc. - anything non-alcoholic).
• We launched Hydrow’s Parental Program to help our full-time employees with children under the age of 16 with childcare and more. This new benefit, started September 2020 and will run through May 2021, was part of our larger commitment to creating a culture that is awake, aware, and in action when it comes to helping our crew when they need it most.
• And lastly, be understanding and flexible with work schedules by reinforcing internal policies.

Explore Recorded Hydrow's company page

Some of the unique perks that Mimecast has to offer include: 

• SitterStream: A virtual, on-demand babysitting (ages 5-9) and tutoring (ages 10+) service offering 30, 60, and 90-minute engaging, fun, and educational sessions for your children.
• Screen Stars: A virtual, on-demand babysitting (ages 4-9), and homework support service (target age range of 10-18). This service will support accountability and planning for homework. Note that this is not tutoring, which SitterStream provides.
• Caregivers Employee Resource Group: The mission of this employee resource group is to provide space for Mimecasters, who are caregivers at home, to share experiences, best-practices, and connect with one another.

Explore Mimecast's company page

At TRUX we have been offering exclusive perks including:

• Socially distanced outing for small groups like apple picking or golf (following all the state guidelines).
• We gave employees the tech/tools they need to make an at-home "office away from the office" with wireless keyboards, additional monitors, bookshelves, desks, and more.
• Job sharing and flex-time to help employees balance work/home life.
• We are offering to pay a portion of each employee's internet/wireless bill.

Explore TRUX's company page

On top of fantastic Blue Cross Blue Shield medical options, Klaviyo also offers:   

• WFH stipend to set up at home office needs
• Klaviyo University: Klaviyo University was founded in 2019 to provide company-wide learning and development opportunities across the entire company. One of our core values at Klaviyo is that we are curious and we aspire to “always be learning.”
• Training & Learning Allowance: each employee is eligible to spend up to $3,000 per year on training and learning related expenses.
• Fitness reimbursement for in-class and online + new wellness reimbursements coming in January 2021, to include more than just gym memberships and classes.
• Parental leave: All parents are entitled to up to16 weeks fully paid parental leave

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Some of the unique perks at Nexthink include:

• Competitive Compensation & Benefits: Nexthink offers 100% healthcare coverage to its employees, as well as dental, vision and life insurance. Employees are offered stock option grants, pension plans, 401K plans, retirement plans, and other great benefits
• Time Off When Needed: Nexthink knows life isn't always work, work, work. It's important for employees to recharge their batteries and take care of their health - especially during these times. The company offers flexible work hours, paid time off, sick days, paid holidays, volunteer time off, sabbatical, bereavement leave, unlimited PTO, and 16 weeks maternity leave and 4 weeks paternity leave.
• Development and Volunteer Opportunities: Nexthink encourages its employees to push their careers where they want to go. Nexthink offers professional development, tuition assistance, apprenticeship programs, job training, diversity programming and more. Nexthink also recently launched the CSR platform - Alaya - globally. The platform allows individual employees to donate time and funds to non-profits of their choice and get company support for initiatives close to their hearts.

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A few of the unique alterations Rapid7 made to adjust to in this new remote world include:

• Financial allotment for WFH setups
• Global days off to unplug, rest, and recharge
• Daily Lunchtime Trivia in Slack with a $25 (or country equivalent) donation to organization of choice
• Friday Concert Series highlighting guests and our own Moosicians  

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We wanted to ensure that our employees were set up for success and felt supported when we first transitioned to working remotely as a company. We have tried to remain as flexible in our hours as possible to balance work and home life for employees and provided additional company-wide days 

One of the benefits we began to offer was a Home Office Stipend. This allows team members to furnish their home workspaces with whatever they may need. We also expanded our monthly Remote Work Stipend to all employees to cover additional electric or internet costs while working from home. 

We have also shared Uber Eats vouchers for the whole company to celebrate monthly birthdays and anniversaries.

Additionally, we were focused on supporting the mental health and wellbeing of our team members by offering a free subscription to the Calm meditation app. This was part of a greater effort of providing resources and information to support our team during a difficult transition and  any personal situations people may have been experiencing. 

Since we are an audio tech company we thought this aligned well with how we work since Calm offers music, meditation, stories, peaceful background sounds, and even offers things for children!   

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I had a chance to round up some of our awesome benefits that were introduced once we went remote. Here they are:

• Generous home office and telecommute stipend
• Virtual Fitness Classes
• Virtual Open Mic Nights
• Loaner laptop program for parents with children doing virtual learning
• The Kinda Guide, a weekly resource for parents with tips and tricks for navigating remote learning, in partnership with EdNavigator 
• Expanded care benefits to help employees who are balancing caring for others while working remotely 

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