Across the globe, many people got their first real taste of working remotely in March 2020. For most, it didn’t go smoothly. 

According to Harvard Business Review, the necessary move to working from home had a significant impact on most companies, the majority seeing over a 6 percent drop in productivity. For the most part, this decline was attributed to a lack of employee engagement, poor collaboration and inefficiencies in work.

In light of those findings, it becomes clear why some organizations, like Resident, actually found great success in an otherwise challenging time. The company beat its own expectations, according to the product marketing team, and it’s done so in a way that allows employees to feel connected, motivated and inspired. 

Granted, the team had a headstart in adapting to a new normal, as they had been remote-first long before COVID-19. This, said Social Media Manager Susy Salcedo, nipped any inefficiencies in the bud and allowed her teammates to focus on moving quickly — instead of getting bogged down with adjusting to working from home.

“We were set up for success in working remotely from the beginning. We didn’t have any difficulties grasping how to move everything online,” Salcedo said. “If anything, prior to COVID, we would have to get accustomed to working in an office when we went in.”

And as for other factors that could influence workplace success, like employee engagement and poor collaboration? Head of Marketing Junior Reyes said these just aren’t issues at Resident, citing his team’s empathy and drive as key reasons why they haven’t missed a beat.

“The culture we have is to care for each other and allow for flexibility, which is what allows us to succeed in hard times,” Reyes said. “It feels natural. We’re still working the same way and we’re very focused.”

To understand how Resident fostered a remote environment where employees feel invigorated and successful, Built In NYC spoke to Reyes, Salcedo and their peers Jared Brody and Matthew Chavez. 

What did life at Resident look like before COVID-19? What changed when everything went remote?

Social Media Manager Susy Salcedo: We’ve always had a work-from-home friendly culture, which I think helped align us with a sense of duty, no matter what. So when the pandemic hit, there wasn’t any chaos. We have a lot of very tech-savvy people at Resident: For us, managing a Google Drive and using Slack and Zoom were already part of our daily routine. 

We pride ourselves in being a company that tests everything, and that includes different software and technologies. We’re always testing a new platform that will make our lives easier. The minute something changes on a tech level, we’re all like, “OK, give us a day and we’ll figure it out.”
 

My team wants to succeed, and when they see success, they want to build on it.”

VP of Acquisition Jared Brody: Before the pandemic, we were getting to a point where we were very structured in managing goals on a granular level. When COVID happened, everything went out the door: We set a new KPI, and we hit it. I think that’s because my team wants to succeed, and when they see success, they want to build on it. We’ve gone with the flow and were more fluid than we were in the past, and we’ve met and exceeded expectations. 

Matthew, you actually didn’t know what Resident was like pre-pandemic. What was it like joining a new company remotely?

Head of Paid Social Matthew Chavez: It was a pretty seamless experience. We have a special channel on Slack where all the new people are welcomed by the team. I think that's one of the things that really helps out with not feeling so weird coming into a company remotely. I felt at home on my first day. In general, the team has such cohesiveness in working together remotely that I feel like I’m hanging out with these people every day.

What does Resident’s culture look like now? How has it grown over the last year in a remote environment?

Head of Marketing (TV, Programmatic, YouTube, New Channels) Junior Reyes: We have another Slack channel called Residents Unite, where we host and plan activities for absolutely everything. I’ve never seen that level of energy anywhere else, especially in a remote environment. There’s a whole calendar planned out for contests, info sessions and holidays. It’s a whole movement of people engaged and communicating — it’s been so consistent. It’s just another way the company has built this remote community that helps each other out with anything.

Chavez: The company does a really good job of making sure people know they matter. In remote environments, it’s easy to think you don’t, because you’re not around people physically every day. I’ll go back to Slack and say we have a praise channel, where we give shout-outs to individuals and groups. It’s very active and contributes to the positive culture we have. 
 

I’ve never seen that level of energy anywhere else, especially in a remote environment.”

Salcedo: We’ve also been doing a wellness challenge. We all split up into teams on an app, and your team can win challenges. Our HR and people team is really working hard to make things fun. Anyone can teach someone to lead a workout class over Zoom, but because we’re all online at different times, this is something that really caters to how we work. 

Brody: We set up virtual Friday get-togethers, where the goal is to spend part of the time communicating to the team what I’ve learned from upper management on leadership calls and ensure we’re all on the same page. And then the other part of these meetings is to spend time doing something fun. We started doing quizzes and games, and whoever wins gets, say, a gift card to Amazon. That’s turned into other things, like virtual contests that include family members — or sometimes, nothing is planned and we’ll just talk to each other. It’s been a good thing in keeping the team together. 

What has Resident done differently than other companies in making remote work a success?

Reyes: The biggest difference Resident has is our attitude. Everybody wants to help out in any way they can. For example, Suzy started managing organic social and then adapted to paid social, she’s been in our commercials and she was a blogger on our site for a long time. Or look at Jared, who joined the company and saw that the marketing team needed some help with analytics dashboards. He stepped in to be that analytics person and he owns it, it’s his baby.

The culture we have is to care for each other and allow for flexibility, which is what allows us to succeed in hard times. It feels natural, because we’re still working the same way, we’re very focused.

Chavez: The key to all of this is that we all have a passion for what we’re doing. This isn’t just eight hours for us. It’s become an addiction to see the growth and success of the company. We feel like it’s our own business, and I think that’s what makes us different from a lot of our competitors.