As many companies that had to shift their operations online during the pandemic have learned, it takes more than virtual meetings, Slack $WORK channels, and regular quarantinis to make it all work.
It comes as no surprise then that the top-ranked companies in Quartzâs 2021 ranking of the best companies for remote workers had embraced the work-from-anywhere ethos before the pandemic. Flatfile, Loom, and Workatoârespectively the No. 1 companies on our lists of top small, mediums, and large employersâused the lockdown year to finesse their policies and deepen their understanding of how to foster a high-functioning workplace online. For these three companies, going remote wasnât just a contingency plan or a nice-to-have accommodation for employeesâitâs been core to their success.
Flatfile, Loom, and Workato share common traits: Theyâre US-based tech startups that are in the midst of rapid expansions. All three companies cite their ability to hire and support talent virtually anywhere in the world as a competitive advantage. Two of the three also have used their own products to make remote work easier and engaging for their virtual workforces.
But for all the benefits of telework, each company also recognizes the value of in-person gatherings. Their remote work policies fund activities for staff members to periodically break away from the Zoom $ZM grid and meet face-to-face. As Joe Thomas, Loomâs CEO, puts it: âThereâs just something deeply biological and human about getting together in person at some sort of cadence.â
đ Founded: 2018
đ„ Number of employees: 50 going on 80
đHeadquarters: Fully distributed, 30% of workforce in Denver, Colorado
đ§ Key strategies: Hire for fit; invest in retention
âWe were remote before it was cool,â says David Boskovic, CEO of the software company Flatfile. Boskovic and co-founder Eric Crane conceived of a fully distributed structure from the start, and sought to build the company with experienced staffers who shared their ethos.
âWe realized that not everybody wants to be a remote employee,â explains Boskovic, who is based in Denver. âOne of the first things we did was make sure is that people who are joining the team really enjoy a remote world.â
Flatfileâs founders made a decision to employ primarily senior staffers who need less supervision. Says Boskovic, âWe only hire people who are on the top third quartile of their talent bracket. This allows us to have people who can get going with very little oversight and generally drive their own growth in the company. â
Itâs not just a matter of hiring top talent, but also supporting them. Among the benefits at Flatfile, every employee gets a $10,000 allowance to design an ideal home office. âWe want to invest in providing an effective work environment for our employees. We know that if theyâre distracted, they wonât be as as productive and have a lot more stress that affects your ability to work,â he says.
For Flatfile, the investment makes plain business sense. âCompanies oftentimes pay upwards of $20,000 to acquire a new employee, and the replacement cost of employees is significantly north of that,â Boskovic explains, factoring in recruitment and training expenses. âItâs something that we can absolutely justify going forward.â
đ Founded: 2016
đ„ Number of employees: 160, 65% US-based
đHeadquarters: San Francisco, California
đ§ Key strategies: Remote-first policy; eliminate geographic differential pay scales; impromptu video check-ins
Soon after its launch, video-messaging software maker Loom discovered that its asynchronous communication technology was popular with distributed teamsâwhich is exactly the type of clientele that founders Joe Thomas, Shahed Khan, and Vinay Hiremath designed their company to cater to.
âWeâve been a remote-first company from the beginning,â says Thomas, Loomâs CEO. âItâs been so important to who we are as a company that we made âremote firstâ one of our five cultural values.â The company embraced flexible work hours, provided stipends for co-working spaces, and even had a self-imposed âremote weekâ where previously office-bound employees periodically worked away from their San Francisco headquarters.
Loom also eliminated geographic pay differentials, the practice of bumping up the salaries of staffers who lived in expensive cities like New York City or San Francisco, or reducing salaries in places with a lower cost of living. âWe believe that equal work should get equal pay,â says Thomas. He says the goal is to make every employee feel like a âfirst-class citizenâ entitled to the same benefits, opportunities, and parity in meetings, no matter their geography.
The social component of work remains top of mind for Thomas, who reported to Loomâs San Francisco office every day prior to the pandemic, with his dog in tow. The company is currently building a new headquarters in San Francisco and creating regional hubs for employees across the US, and renting a Lake Tahoe retreat for team meetings.
But in remote settings, Thomas says the companyâs own product helped form bonds among team members (known as âLoomatesâ) scattered around the world. âWe were able to be remote first in our communication and collaboration practices very early on because we are using asynchronous video at scale,â he says.
Thomas confesses that he found working from home challenging at first. But to him, the pandemic has only fortified the wisdom of Loomâs founding strategy. âIt boils down to two things,â he says. âIt makes individual employees happier and it makes organizations more resilient.â
đ Founded: 2013
đ„ Number of employees: 480, workforce nearly doubled over the past last year
đHeadquarters: Mountain View, California
đ§ Key strategies: Automate tedious business procedures, invest in a smart office-booking systems
It takes about 30 seconds to submit an expense report at Workato, while reserving a desk at the companyâs headquarters can be done through Amazon $AMZNâs Alexa. The workflow automation technology maker has eliminated many of the usual friction points of remote work life, in effect giving its employees a live demonstration of their productâs automation prowess.
As a global enterprise, Workatoâa contraction of âwork automationââhad a head start in navigating the challenges of distributed teams. During the pandemic, it upped the effort, reimbursing staffers up to $850 for their home office setup, and not making them jump through hoops to file receipts (the process is instantaneous over Slack). The entire company also takes an extra day off each month in addition to scheduled holidays.
âWe want happy employees. I think it pays back,â says Carter Busse, the companyâs new chief information officer, who had never worked at home prior to the pandemic. He says that Workatoâs telework philosophy and array of Slack bots have made the transition easy. âItâs very refreshing to come to a place thatâs transparent with its employees. We are flexible and open,â he says.
Meanwhile, Workato has parlayed what it learned about operating a high-functioning distributed company into a new automation platform for companies preparing to reopen offices. Automation Accelerator, as itâs called, is meant to simplify tasks like vaccination validation, contact tracing, capacity management, desk spacing, and desk reservations.
Like Loomâs Thomas, Busse is a believer in striking a balance between remote work and in-person gatherings. âWe have to build those relationships,â he says. âI donât think thereâs any technology in the world that can replace bringing people together physically.â
