Katerina Trajchevska

I sincerely believe that face-to-face onboarding is one of the best investments you can make in your people to build stronger teams, faster. Entering a post-COVID world, I wanted to flip the script on what starting a remote job feels like. For a lot of people, especially in junior roles, it’s isolating, like you’re being dropped onto an island with a laptop and Slack login. By bringing people together for their first few days, we try to boostrap their personal networks within a company: a cohort of peers they can reach out for help after the onboarding week is over. They meet each other, learn together, eat together, and even compete in friendly Kahoot quizzes that reinforce what they’ve learned each day. Sure, remote onboarding is easier. But it skips the intangible, emotional aspects of joining a company. We all want to work on what matters, and with people we enjoy the company of. You can’t use remote onboarding as a substitute for bonding over lunch, or sharing a joke between sessions. We didn’t build this onboarding in a vacuum either. It was a collaborative effort between various departments, from People to Revenue to Engineering. All that brainstorming led to a 3-day program structured around clear daily themes, each led by different departments across our company. Since rolling out this program, we’ve seen 🚀 Faster ramp-up times 🧠 Higher confidence 🤝 Stronger cross-functional connections 🗣️ Increased comfort approaching leadership 🧭 More clarity in role and expectations In-person onboarding isn't about nostalgia. It's about meeting new Teleporters' expectations. And they expect resaonable things: pleasant coworkers, approacheable management, and clarity from the beginning. It's a signal to our new hires that you matter, and we're here to set you up for success.

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🌱 Building Culture at Startups Having worked with some incredible global tech startups - both remote and onsite, I’ve realized that company culture isn’t built through engagement activities, flowers, or birthday cakes alone. Those are great gestures, but culture runs much deeper. Culture is built in every conversation, every greeting, and every positive contribution you make at work. It’s in how you treat people when no one’s watching, how you respond to feedback, and how approachable you are when someone needs your help. 💬 Be the positive energy in the room. 🤝 Make meaningful connections with your colleagues. 🙌 Create a space where people feel comfortable reaching out, not just for work, but for support. ✨ Remember: more than events and activities, people make the culture. When each of us takes ownership of building an inclusive, respectful, and uplifting environment, we move beyond “company culture”, instead we create a place people truly want to belong to. #StartupCulture #Leadership #EmployeeEngagement #WorkCulture #HR #PeopleFirst

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This week, I’m spotlighting companies that have chosen fully remote and remote-first approaches, and added their own flair to it: 🐶 Tyk – Remote-first, but with dog-friendly offices in London, Atlanta, and Singapore for those who want time together IRL 🌍 Vable – Remote and global, with teammates across Bulgaria, Germany, Croatia, South Africa, the UK, Ukraine, and the US, with core hours that help everyone stay connected across time zones 🎉 Flume Sales Training – A remote-first team that comes together once a year for an in-person gathering. Connection doesn’t always need to be constant - just meaningful 🧪 Simitive – Based at Bristol & Bath Science Park, but have embraced remote-first work from day one. Office space when you want it, flexibility when you need it 🛍️ Not On The High Street – Remote-first culture with 45 days a year to work from anywhere, designed to support autonomy, community, and creativity 🧘‍♀️ sparemytime – Remote-first, with a focus on enabling people to work wherever they feel most productive and balanced 🏡 Collins Property Recruitment – Their team is fully remote and spread across the UK. Flexibility and balance are built into how they operate - not just what they offer 🧑‍💻 Camunda – Fully remote, prioritising flexibility to suit diverse lifestyles with a monthly co-working allowance and home office setup support 🌐 Boomi – A mix of fully remote and hybrid roles, with WeWork partnerships giving access to global workspaces when people want a change of scene These companies aren’t just offering location flexibility - they’re building environments that work for them, their missions, and their people. Discover more about these companies and more offering location freedom on Flexa 🔍 #RemoteFirst #EmployerBrand #FutureOfWork #WorkThatWorks

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They were hiring so fast, the background checks couldn’t keep up. Fantuan 饭团 was scaling into new markets, onboarding couriers at breakneck speed - and every extra day a check took was a day someone wasn’t out delivering orders. That lag didn’t just slow hiring, it slowed growth. So they rebuilt the process. Stripped out bottlenecks. Automated what they could. And plugged Certn in behind the scenes to keep checks moving as fast as their recruiting team. The impact: “Before, we needed local staff to carry out background checks. With Certn, we can have one person doing checks for multiple regions and it’s all connected through one dashboard.” - James Chan, Operations Manager, Fantuan When speed is your competitive edge, you can’t afford friction in the middle of your hiring funnel. Remove it, and the rest moves a whole lot faster.

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