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At the $3.5 billion security company Verkada, the first round of drinks is on the boss. But there\u2019s a catch: You\u2019ll have to take at least two colleges with you.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all a part of the company\u2019s \u201c3-3-3 perk\u201d that lets employees expense up to $30 in food and drinks if they go out together after 3 p.m. in groups of at least three.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to make it easy for employees to hang out,\u201d Verkada\u2019s CEO Filip Kaliszan recently said on the tech podcast, The Logan Bartlett Show<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The concept has since gone viral on TikTok with over 365,000 views of the video in just a few days.\u00a0<\/p>\n While some may question the value in footing the bill for workers to ditch work early and have a pint, Kaliszan is betting on workers using that time to pick each other\u2019s brains and spark innovation.<\/p>\n \u201cChances are you\u2019ll talk about something that\u2019s relevant or work-related or you\u2019ll share ideas and ultimately that\u2019s going to benefit us,\u201d Kaliszan argued.<\/p>\n For startups like Verkada, high engagement and creativity is vital to maintaining competitiveness in an industry populated by $100 billion tech giants.<\/p>\n \u201cThe traditional way to do this is happy hour,\u201d Verkada CFO Kameron Rezai told Business Insider<\/a><\/em>. \u201cWe thought, can we do it better?\u201d<\/p>\n Verkada\u2019s 3-3-3 perk is one of many new \u201ctactics\u201d the company has deployed to encourage workers to interact in-person more.<\/p>\n Founded in 2016, the California-based company went from selling security cameras to offering six different product lines across 15 locations around the world. In 2023 alone, the company says it grew in size by 60% as it announced<\/a> it would open offices in New York, Tokyo and more.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were doubling our employee base every 12 months,\u201d Rezai said on the podcast, adding that the growth explains why the company controversially<\/a> called it quits on remote work early on in the pandemic.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ultimately, scaling with people who have never met didn\u2019t promote camaraderie at Verkada and conversations on Slack among the company\u2019s engineers quickly turned sour.<\/p>\n \u201cI saw this phenomenon where people would otherwise be friends, start talking to each other exclusively via text,\u201d he added. \u201cThey would get into these deep arguments\u2026. writing essays to each other proving each other wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n By June 2020, the company implemented a strict in-person policy requiring all employees to come in five days a week and put measures in place to avoid hiring remote workers altogether.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now, Kaliszan wanted to get his workforce mingling.<\/p>\n Before launching the \u201c3-3-3\u201d program in April last year, employees could go for drinks at the expense of the company if they wanted to\u2014but they didn\u2019t know that.\u00a0<\/p>\n So by making it an official company-wide perk and advertising it with posters around the office and in elevators, he says it\u2019s gotten an uptick.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t about the money, it wasn\u2019t about the budget,\u201d Kaliszan added. \u201cIt was about everyone knowing that this is something they can do and then everyone getting excited about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Now all 1,800 of Verkada\u2019s employees have participated in the program at least once, he told Business Insider<\/em>, adding that the 3-3-3 Slack channel gets around four to five posts a day.\u00a0<\/p>\n Although most firms have summoned their workers back to the office, at least for two to three days of the week, people are still struggling to meaningfully connect with others.\u00a0<\/p>\n Instead of striking up a conversation with their-coworkers, Gen Z and millennials workers are turning to TikTok in a desperate bid to find friends.\u00a0<\/p>\n The hashtag #friendapplications where young lonely people share their favorite movies, music and hobbies in the hopes of finding a buddy, currently has over 47 million views and counting.<\/p>\n It\u2019s why many were quick to praise Verkada\u2019s efforts to encourage team bonding outside of work.<\/p>\n \u201cBuilding work relationships and networking is a necessary skill so I\u2019m glad they are prioritizing and paying for it,\u201d one user wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is a lot better use of money then like a team building exercise or hiring a speaker,\u201d another added.<\/p>\n However some were skeptical over whether this is just another tokenistic perk being run by a corporate giant with profits\u2014not peopl\u2014in mind.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2019Ultimately it\u2019s going to benefit us\u2019 = about the bottom line NOT human connection. Come on people\u2026wow,\u201d one person commented.<\/p>\n \u201cFast forward 3 years, the company has IPO\u2019d, shareholders dictate everything, & the company cuts all perks and 50,000 employees,\u201d chimed another.<\/p>\n Others pointed out that working moms\u2014\u201cwho have to pick up their kids at 3\u201d\u2014won\u2019t be able to benefit from the program.<\/p>\n Fortune<\/em> has contacted Verkada for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nBringing workers together again<\/h2>\n
Putting friendship back at the heart of business<\/h2>\n
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