The Thomas Collective (TTC) conducts an annual “Happiness Audit,” a survey that Human Resources administers with each person in the office. This helps determine what improvements, if any, can be made within the company to ensure that every individual employee is comfortable and motivated at the office every single day.
Due to its size, TTC is able to execute other unique ways to develop the team, including an annual 48-hour trip to study topical trends and use time away to ideate on the company’s business portfolio. The agency has studied Wine in Paris, Historic Travel in Rome, Design in Copenhagen, Eco-Travel in Honduras, Wellness in Iceland and “Glamping” in the US Virgin Islands and Political Travel in Moscow. The trips are planned and executed by rotating members of the agency annually and have included scavenger hunts, scuba lessons, foraging classes, and brainstorming sessions conducted underwater and in the rainforest.
TTC visited the Cloud Forest in Ecuador in November 2014 for an Adventure Travel-themed trend trip where the team lodged at an eco-friendly bird sanctuary, went tubing on a white water river and tackled a challenging zip-line obstacle course.
The firm peppers deadline-heavy workweeks with pajama days, beach bum days (flip flops and altogether inappropriate summer wear) and OMG Mondays (Oh My Gin). In addition to the “fun days” that TTC adds to its work calendar, the firm hosts summer outings with sails around Manhattan, taco tours, or a beach day on the South Shore of Long Island, and one happy holiday outing.
However, one of the most exciting things about working at TTC is the office space itself, which was chosen with complete consideration for its hard working employees, who sometimes work late into the nighttime hours. When visitors step foot into TTC’s airy and sun-drenched loft space, they can’t help but admire the vibrant atmosphere—from the effervescent music, to the dynamic desk set-up, to the white leather couches in the lounge area, to the floor, and to ceiling windows that line three of its four walls. TTC’s space was designed to invite creativity and incite camaraderie.