Why We Built a 100% Remote Agency
At Webtopia, we have made the decision to build our agency as a 100% remote company. This probably wouldn’t have been possible a few years ago, but now we have incredible tech, fast internet and collaboration tools that make it not only easy, but in many ways, much better. This is why it works for us:
More Diversity in The Team
Opening up the talent pool to anyone, no matter what the location, can also help increase diversity in our team. I believe that having a diverse team leads to better ideas, and ultimately better business decisions being made. We’re building an agency that will cater to companies and customer segments from many different backgrounds across the UK (and eventually the world) – and we can understand our clients and their target customers better if we have a wide representation of backgrounds on our team.
Tap Into Amazing Talent
There is so much great talent out there today – and yet, when companies hire for a brick-and-mortar location, they restrict their talent pool to those in their geographic area. We care about hiring the absolute best people who have the right experience, skills and a passion for digital advertising, and desire to contribute to building a great company culture – and those people could be anywhere. Often those people have a lot of choices about who they could work for - so by offering flexibility and a great work culture we can punch above our weight and get access to the very best talent.
Reduce Strain on our Team, and The Environment
Many companies hold on to old ideas about ‘working from home’, even as their team suffer under rising housing prices, long commutes, and the difficulties of living away from their family and loved ones. I should know – I live in London, far from my family who are in New Zealand, and I need the option to go there for extended periods. City hubs like London, San Francisco and even Auckland New Zealand are at a breaking point – they are becoming more crowded and housing prices are out of normal people’s reach. When companies are 100% remote, it liberates employees by separating the choice of the ideal job from the choice of the ideal place to live, allowing them to make each decision separately.
Working remotely also reduces stress on the team by giving them the opportunity to create a work environment in which they thrive.
Work in this field requires extended concentration, and time to think to come up with great ideas, something many people can’t do in a loud office environment.
Providing the flexibility to complete daily life tasks like going to a doctor’s appointment or receiving a delivery. For my team raising children, caring for aging parents, remote work can mean the difference between being able to participate in the workforce or being shut out of it, or forced to take less interesting or challenging work. I want Webtopia team members to have the freedom to choose both the work arrangement and the living arrangement that lets them to be happy and successful.
And of course, by reducing the hours spent commuting by our team, we are reducing their carbon footprint.
It’s about Trust & Responsibility
One of the things that made a big impression on me while working at Etsy was the culture of trust & responsibility.
When companies truly trust their employees and empower them to work in the way that is best for them, I believe it leads to greater productivity and ultimately loyalty by those employees.
As a manager, I have always told my team, “I don’t care where you work or when you work, as long as you deliver quality work, passion and energy.” Some managers or companies object, worrying about the small percentage of people who will use remote work as an excuse to slack off. But if you don’t trust your employees to work remotely, do you really trust them at all? The same technology that allows us to be effective anywhere can just as readily be used to be ineffective in an office. Many people report they are actually more productive when working remotely, without the office distractions and wasted commute time. Whether remote or in person, if the work isn’t getting done, it becomes obvious pretty quickly.
There are absolutely challenges to building and running a remote company, but for Webtopia, the benefits far outweigh the challenges.
Jessie Healy, Founder and Director.
