Putting our Buddies first: a guide to employee benefits at Unibuddy

Working as part of the Operations Team at Unibuddy can be challenging but it’s definitely one of the most rewarding roles I’ve ever had.  

When the pandemic hit, we were faced with an infinite amount of questions on how to best support all Buddies across the world, both mentally and physically. 

We understood there was not a  ‘one-size-fits-all’ package that we could offer due to our geographical locations, as well as our diversity and cultural differences. So we had to test, trial, and test again to make ensure we were offering the best benefits possible.

Since then, it’s been our top priority to ensure our Buddies feel happy and supported in their roles, and we continue to review and improve our benefits package.

Here’s a bit about some of the key benefits we currently offer at Unibuddy.

Flexible work environment 

We believe that by trusting and empowering our Buddies to make the best decisions for their lives, they will be able to reach their full potential, and it will have a positive impact on their work.

Our expectation is that as we transition to the future of work, our Buddies will work from one of our campuses (what we used to call offices) 20-60% of the week on average unless they have been hired as fully remote.

We’re reimagining what these campuses might look like. Our London space recently reopened across two floors intended to provide everyone with the environment they need to make this new hybrid approach successful.

This includes collaborative spaces, meeting rooms, social areas, and desk space in a quieter area for Buddies to focus when they need to.

As we continue to grow, our aim is to implement this ‘campus’ layout across all of our locations and teams to allow everyone to thrive in a space that’s right for them.

Well-being and mental health support

As an organization and work-family, we recognize the importance of talking about mental health openly and making it a priority when it comes to our policies.

Our goal is to ensure that all employees feel supported when it comes to mental health, and we do our part as a company to remove the stigma. We want all Buddies to feel comfortable speaking to the People Team, their managers, and co-workers about their mental health needs.

We’ve recently launched Spill to all of our Buddies. It’s a mental health care service that integrates with Slack. With Spill, our employees can access professional therapists 24/7, counseling sessions, and emergency call lines.

Learning and development budgets

‘Make the leap’ is one of our key values here at Unibuddy. As a company, we always strive for great versus good. To do that, we want to provide all of our Buddies with the opportunity to learn and grow, adding to existing experience and developing new skills along the way.

We currently offer an annual personal development budget of £1000,  free to spend on courses, books, events, or anything else that’s considered a way to learn. 

We use Sunlight to facilitate this learning culture and allow people to share their purchases with their team if they want to. We’ve seen these used in a variety of ways, from community memberships in marketing to language courses for our Sales Team.

Prioritizing culture

Over the past 18 months, we’ve seen a pandemic shift in our future of work, a Series B raise, and a 200% increase in Buddies. So, things are moving pretty fast as we continue to make huge strides towards our goals. But that doesn’t mean we don’t slow down when we need to.

We’re building a team across the globe during a time in which not everyone is able to meet their colleagues in person, so prioritizing our culture is a big part of who we are and what we do.

Each new Buddy has the chance to introduce themselves with a quick presentation in a company huddle shortly after joining. We’ve found these to be a fun way to embed new starters into the culture here, and it’s a great opportunity for people in different teams to find others with whom they share interests and hobbies.

We’re also pretty social! We have team, office, and company-wide events throughout the year, and we’re excited to see these develop now that they’re not limited to virtual get-togethers. 

We’re excited by the growing number of perspectives and experiences being introduced to our culture, and hiring across the world means we’re constantly welcoming new Buddies with wide-ranging interests and backgrounds.

If you’re interested in joining our team, check out our open roles over on our careers page!

Victoria Clark – Office Manager