Like a little air of vacation in the middle of the week. Last April, Emma dropped her weekly routine to spend a few days in a pretty house in Perche, in the middle of the Normandy countryside. Private bathrooms in all the rooms, large spaces, equipped kitchen, high-performance wifi, and even a pétanque court and outdoor brazier… Everything seemed to be thought out for recharging your batteries with family or friends, far from the hustle and bustle of Paris. And yet, it was with her office colleagues that this 22-year-old analyst took possession of the premises, in order to telecommute as a team for three days. Directly offered to employees by CapHorn, the investment fund dependent on the Anaxago platform for which she has been working since January, the trip did not cost Emma a euro. “It’s an approach entirely organized and financed by the company, to allow us to strengthen the ties in the team and get to know each other better”, she summarizes, conquered.
In the program ? Morning sports sessions between employees, kitchen entertainment at lunchtime, long walks in nature, restaurant in town… While continuing to telecommute, participate in team meetings and organize workshops on the objectives of the coming year. “It was really constructive: we made our mark on each other, we discovered each other in another context”, estimates Emma, delighted to have been able to cook with her direct manager or discuss her professional ambitions in a more “posed” frame. “Even if we wonder a little what breakfast or community life with colleagues will look like, in the end it allows us to break this hierarchical relationship and strengthen ties”. So much so that a few weeks later, Emma again left for a teleworking session with seven of her colleagues, in a house by the sea.
“We are testing this experience so that, eventually, we can offer it to all our employees several times a year,” says François Santi, partner at CapHorn and himself a participant in these trips. In a post-Covid context where his employees meet more than they know each other, the team leader is categorical. “It is essential to strengthen our corporate culture, while discussing subjects that we normally never have time to deal with”. Above all, despite the cost of such initiatives – 70 euros per night and per person for the last team stay – François Santi considers the investment “necessary”. “I am fundamentally convinced that we no longer attract new talent solely by salary. This kind of advantage has become a real bargaining chip with future employees, it’s a plus”, he concludes.
“There is a real demand”
And start-ups intend to ride the trend. The various trips in which Emma has taken part since her arrival have thus been entirely organized by the company Naboo, created in October 2021 and specialized in this type of experience. On its site, the company offers more than 200 villas, lodges or mansions in the middle of nature, with good wifi and able to accommodate between three and fifteen people. For a subscription of 1.50 euros per employee per month, client companies can also benefit from the contacts of local partners, restaurateurs, taxi drivers or even yoga teachers, available to “enrich and facilitate the experience of employees”. “For a simple organization, we have created a sort of corporate social network, where all employees can connect to indicate their availability and their preferences for stays”, specifies Maxime Eduardo, co-founder and CEO of Naboo. “An algorithm then takes care of finding a date that suits everyone and an available place”. On each organized trip and for prices ranging from 150 to 400 euros per person and per day, the company then receives 15% of the booking fees.
And his bet seems successful: just a year and a half after its creation, Naboo has already raised two million euros from several investment funds – including CapHorn – and conquered more than 1000 users belonging to 70 different companies. “There is a real demand, because companies have understood that the employee-employer relationship is changing very quickly, and has been reversed. We must now always give more freedom to the employee, while maintaining a certain corporate culture” , believes Maxime Eduardo. “There is a craze that we did not see coming”, abounds Yacine Bakouche, director of Teletravel, a company responsible for organizing teleworking stays recently launched by the Best Of Tours agency. “Companies have to adapt. They are moving away from the old advantages of the reduction type at the gym, to offer new flexibility and new projects to their employees”, he deciphers. While, since the Covid, employers have also allowed their teams to work from other regions of France, or even from abroad, the entrepreneur has noticed “a sharp increase in demand” for these stays between colleagues. “About thirty companies” would have already inquired or would have already booked this type of trip with Teletravel, “in order to bring together, weld and retain their teams, while recruiting new talents”.
Donatella, product manager for storage and logistics company Ovrsea, a Naboo customer, agrees. At 24, these telework stays could well make her want to stay attached to her job and her colleagues for longer. “It’s not necessarily an advantage that would make me choose one position over another with an equal salary offer. On the other hand, it gives me a real sense of belonging, and a new motivation”, she develops . A few weeks ago, the young woman left for a few days in Étretat, accompanied by three work colleagues and at the expense of the company.
Team meetings in the morning, lunch in a creperie at noon, telecommuting, a game of tennis and walks at the end of the day, escape game and board games in the evening… The recipe is always the same, and works. “It was pleasant moments, I felt like I had time. Everyone was really focused on meetings and projects”, summarizes the young woman, who nevertheless admits to having been “slightly in the rush” on returning from the stay. “Obviously, we always lose a few hours of work in the strict sense of the term… But that has a real impact on team cohesion and long-term projects.