A Work-from-Anywhere Marketing Agency Excelling at Client Expectations and Employee Happiness
Enilon Embraced the Work From Anywhere Philosophy Long Before Covid and Created a Working Culture Where Employees Thrive in a Workplace of Mutual Trust and Accountability. Employee happiness comes from a healthy work culture and the ability for employees to have a say in their work-life balance.
The Shift to a “New” Normal
With the global pandemic, 2020 plagued us with a deadly virus and vast adjustments to a new normal. Restaurants and brick and mortar stores pivoted to contactless ordering and pick-up. The customary handshake or hug became an elbow bump at best but, in most cases, a nod from 6 ft away. Strangers became even stranger, hidden behind masks. And businesses everywhere sent their employees away from their offices to “work from home.” Finally, it became normal to talk about the “new normal.”
With every passing day, the old normal seemed to fade away with no signs of returning to what it once was. But as sure as the rising sun, science and civilization evolved, and with it, breathing life back into some semblance of normalcy. So with varying degrees of comfort, we find ourselves adjusting back to life as we knew it – but not everything about the old normal has been welcomed back with open arms. So you see, although the list is quite long on the ways the pandemic created a new normal that we are anxious to see go, the one thing that many are prepared to cling to with white knuckles is the ability to work remotely.
Pandemic, Schandemic – We Already Worked From Home
At Enilon, we have been a “work from anywhere” agency since the summer of 2018. In this regard, we were pretty fortunate not to have a significant hurdle to make this transition amid a pandemic. And as we saw the events unfold around us, we knew many businesses would soon ask themselves why they hadn’t made the change more quickly and that many employees would likely resist a return to the office mandate. After all, the benefits are overwhelming for everyone.
As a business, we have reduced our expenses by 15%. This alone cascades into more competitive pricing against our counterparts for our clients and potential clients, as well as in our ability to operate a financially stable company – prepared for the devastating impact of a global pandemic. Removing the daily commute and in-office distractions have been a mutually beneficial arrangement. In some cases, employees are finding more time in their day for work-life balance. Often they are happy to focus on extra uninterrupted work time. In either scenario, it’s a win-win.
Talent Pool Party
And talent? Well, not all talent loves the smoldering Texas heat or the size of bugs that come with the territory. Since becoming a work from anywhere agency, we are now coast-to-coast in 7+ states. Headquartered in Fort Worth, TX, some of our employees took the opportunity to move out of state while going remote allowed us to cast a broader, nationwide net to increase our talent pool. More extraordinary talent enables us to deliver higher quality work for our clients.
In a not-so-interesting turn of events, companies are turning a blind eye to these benefits and ignoring the pleas from their employees to allow them to continue to work from home. For companies like Enilon, who have embraced this business model, it leaves us scratching our collective heads.
Lack of Trust, Lack of Care
There can only be one reason, and notice I didn’t say “good reason.” These companies place greater importance on the adage “you aren’t working if I can’t see you.” What does this mean? In other words, employers don’t believe workers can be more productive and efficient in the lack of commute and distractions. Or they don’t care that you will be a happier employee without those hurdles and the ability for better work-life balance.
A few reasons some companies might display an unwillingness to embrace remote working:
- an inherent lack of trust in their talent
- the physical presence of others feeds someone’s ego
- a “good ol’ days” mindset (which is counter to a digital agency and anyone looking to embark on a digital transformation)
- an unreasonable love of siloed existence
- the butts-in-seats myth that if you can see someone at their desk, it proves they are productive
- some businesses (wrongly, imprudently) have to justify the big bucks they have spent on massive real estate building their compound
But proceed with caution. Not all companies that will allow you to work remotely are created equal. Many are in relentless pursuit of maximizing their benefits while robbing you of yours. Some remote work horror stories include companies that:
- Require employees to keep their webcam on 24/7
- Monitor your keystrokes and clock you out after X amount of time
- Have policies against employees doing chores during work hours
- Believe a formal office is free from distractions
- Focus on time and place rather than the quality of work
- Require proof of formal child-care from remote workers
But, for a business, there is much more to embrace about working remotely than sending employees home with laptops. If you will, a culture-within-a-culture built on mutual trust and accountability is the culture that creates a win-win scenario.
Companies Leading the Charge
Some of the most successful and innovative companies are remote-work companies or a hybrid:
- Basecamp
- Buffer
- Cisco
- Enilon
- Ghost
- GitHub
- Intuit
- Shopify
- Slack
- Trello
Since Covid19, these companies have allowed their employees to not just go remote during lockdown but stay remote permanently:
- Amazon
- American Express
- Capital One
- Cigna
- Coinbase
- Dropbox
- Microsoft
- Square
- Upwork
- Verizon
Trust Breeds Loyalty
At Enilon, you will find that most of our team ducks out to pick up their kids from school in the middle of the afternoon. This task takes 30 minutes, and then you’ll find them back online and available. It’s short and simple, but for those of us with kids, this means the world. And guess what? Our business goes on, and our team delivers high-quality work.
Like any other business, we have standard operating hours, but when it’s 8:35 AM CST, and we send an IM with no response, there are no concerns. Why? That person may be getting their children breakfast or in a different time zone – still asleep, BUT we know they’ll respond promptly, relative to the situation.
Do Not Disturb
Please make no mistake; working from home comes with its own challenges and distractions. For this reason, we implemented a daily 3 hour DND (do not disturb) period. This DND policy is the envy of some of our top clients. So much so that some are seriously considering implementing their version of the policy. They see the benefits of fending off the “tyranny of the urgent” and prioritize the ever-encroaching army of meetings. At Enilon, our teams can get some quality work and block out solid time for distraction-free ideation, creative brainstorming, high-level strategic planning, and more.
Enilon employees are allowed the flexibility to design their day and come back to their work when it’s convenient for them. And in our experience, they always do. For others, this allows for some focused, uninterrupted work time – to provide excellent work for our clients. The formula is simple, Enilon provides a remote working culture that clearly communicates to our employees that we trust them to deliver great work. As a result, our employees establish excellent self-discipline to maximize the benefits, yet deliver outstanding work! This formula equates to happy employees = happy company, and happy company = happy clients.
Smiles-on-faces vs Butts-in-seats
Remote working is newer for some than others, but one thing is for sure, it is here to stay for a vast majority of the working world. What this should tell you is that there are two types of companies out there today? There is one type that can embrace change, understand the needs of their employees in a changing world, and build a mutual trust and accountability culture. The other kind of company is addicted to the status quo, too reliant on a brick-and-mortar, physical butts-in-seats mentality, and quite likely unwilling to trust employees or possibly consider their needs above the companies. Enilon chooses trust over distrust, innovation instead of status quo, and happily fulfilled employees or smiles-on-faces over butts-in-seats.
We’re Hiring!
Do you love innovation, collaboration, fulfilling work, and high-level marketing at the agency level? Do you desire to work from anywhere while collaborating with a professional team of digital marketing experts that strive for excellence? Consider placing your work-life balance and happiness in your own hands! If this sounds like the place you’d like to work, then check out our open positions.
