Yes, XWP has always been remote.

Remote-first is core and vital to XWP’s culture and how we work.

From the beginning, Dave and XWP rejected the notion that so-called “outsourcing” or “offshoring” and remote, distributed teams were one and the same. Still, XWP remains committed to finding the best people wherever they are, treating them equally, and paying them fairly. This approach massively impacts both XWPeople and our clients. In short, remote work means we can hire the best talent wherever they are.

XWP’s remote agency roots go back more than 15 years, starting with XHTMLized in 2006. It all started with Dave Rosen’s vision for something different: a mission to deconstruct man-made political barriers and empower people no matter where they are born or where they come from. XWP is proud to represent XWPeople from 34 countries and six continents, comprising a rapidly growing global community of over 100 people.

We only hire remote workers, so we can’t speak to how this would be different from on-site hiring. A high-level overview looks like this:

1. Application submission, review, and selection.
2. Initial screening interview via video call, focused on the basic role, qualifications, and values alignment.
3. Hiring manager interview via video call, focused on role-specific skills and more values alignment.
4. Trial project, a paid experience allowing deeper interaction with a broader selection of XWPeople. This can be an investment of four to eight hours.
5. Final interview and offer.

No, all of our screening/evaluation processes are proprietary.

New XWPeople complete a thorough checklist that walks them through onboarding, including meetings with their manager and senior management.

Within a global team, expectations are much closer to a 24-hour response time to chat-based communications, and meetings are scheduled well in advance and coordinated to ensure sustainability for XWPeople regardless of where they are based.

This is not a requirement, and due to the global distribution of our team, it is difficult to coordinate. We do use regional industry events as a great excuse to get large portions of the team together whenever possible.

Trust is absolutely essential. We are a team of colleagues and hire some of the best talent in the world. If you don’t trust the people you bring on board to accomplish what you’ve hired them to do, why have you hired them?

XWP includes every XWPerson in a regional “Homebase” with monthly meetings. We also host regular XWP Live town halls, open to everyone at XWP. XWP also engages dedicated “people advocates” who provide one-to-one support for community members.

XWPeople use their own devices.

XWP offers paid leave options and flexible time off.

Remote is organic with XWP. Everyone works this way, so the culture is entirely devoted to making remote work successful for XWPeople.

Absolutely! Treat your company culture as a product that is just as important as the product or services that you sell to your customers. Be intentional and invest in it.

Establish and encourage trust. As a pioneer in the remote business world, there’s one element that Dave Rosen felt would set XWP apart: “From day one, it was about building trust and creating a community based on trust.” You won’t find activity monitoring software or spying in this workplace, just a clearly defined mission and dedicated people who make it happen.

XWP relies heavily on Slack and an asynchronous style of communication, which allows us to communicate effectively across 17 time zones.

As software tools have evolved, we’ve reached for solutions that boost transparency and real-time collaboration.

Our team works asynchronously and communicates largely via Slack, which keeps us organized across 17 time zones. Keeping an up-to-date shared calendar is also very important for helping team members schedule interactions.

Flexibility, better work-life balance, and the ability to manage my own schedule so I have more time for family, friends, and hobbies.

I live and die by my Google Calendar and attempt to stick to it, so when I sign off, I’m off until I’m ready to sign back on again. It’s important not to get distracted, and my calendar helps me stay on track.