Toptal and the future of remote working in a post-Covid world

Ahead of Toptal CEO Taso Du Val’s talk at Web Summit 2022, we sat down with Toptal’s senior VP of talent operations, Christy Schumann, to talk about remote work, freelancing, and women in the tech industry.

Toptal was founded as a remote company in 2010. As such, the company – which works with the top three percent of talent across a variety of tech sectors – has a wealth of experience in an area that many other companies only started getting to grips with over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Christy Schumann, senior VP of talent operations at Toptal, spoke to us about how the company operates successfully with a fully distributed international workforce.

Christy explains the advantages and disadvantages of remote work, the necessary tools to make it a success, the role of women in the tech industry, and Toptal’s plans for Web Summit 2022.

Christy Schumann, VP of talent operations at Toptal. Image: Toptal

Why was Toptal founded as a fully remote company?

Toptal was founded as a fully remote company for a few reasons.

First, we firmly believe that no company should limit its access to talent because of geography. By having no geographical restrictions and no offices, Toptal is able to find and engage the best talent for our core team, and for the talent in our network. Our clients have access to the top three percent of freelancers in 100-plus countries.

The economic benefits of minimising overhead costs, such as rent or other building maintenance expenses, can also contribute. Remote companies save significant funds without the need to pay rent and other building fees. Workers save money without the costs of a commute as well.

Last, but maybe most importantly, remote work offers balance and flexibility that talent today demands. We’ve found that’s a major contributing factor to why many people choose to freelance and join our talent network. The work style allows them a level of autonomy that a traditional nine to five does not, and that really helps attract and retain the best talent.

What are the advantages of remote working for a company like Toptal?

Being a truly global company offers diversity of thought among our core team and talent network members, rather than having a few physical global hubs that still feel limited by location. For example, at Toptal we often have 10-plus countries represented just in a small team call. Our all-hands meetings for the entire company have people from more than 100 countries.

I also would add that remote work emphasises the need for metrics and asynchronous means of evaluating results. This not only provides autonomy, but clarity into what success in a role looks like so that everyone is aligned on a common goal and the results we’re trying to achieve.

We focus heavily on goal setting, constant communication and establishing clear expectations to set ourselves up for success in a remote environment. Ultimately, the time spent at a desk isn’t what matters. What matters is results.

Freelancers in our talent network are afforded the opportunity to work with the most exciting hypergrowth startups and Fortune 500 companies, no matter where they are.

With a more traditional work model, tech talent must live near a major metropolitan area to work with pre-eminent businesses at an office. We remove that barrier for both talent and companies. With our model, a gifted software engineer who lives in Poland can work with a massive London- or Madrid-based tech firm, for example.

As a company that has championed remote working since 2010, what advice would you give for making remote a success?

Given our tenure and standing as the largest fully distributed workforce in the world, we wrote the Suddenly Remote Playbook on this very topic.

One can consider seven key areas to build a great remote company:

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People: From the start, tailor your interview process for new hires to identify talent that will thrive in a remote setting. There are challenges when it comes to remote work. We’ve found it’s critical to set expectations with people at the very beginning, and to select people who are capable of working independently.

Onboarding, mentorship, and career development: These are also key focus areas companies should invest in to keep remote workers engaged, passionate about their work, and excited about the future of the company.

Culture: Culture is much more than team happy hours, and it takes experience and dedication to build and foster a great company culture – even more so without any offices. Our chief people officer, Michelle Labbe, and her team have cultivated a culture that is uniquely Toptal, and that helps us attract and retain the best people.

Productivity: Team members should have access to best practices for working at home, holding meaningful meetings and enabling metric-led self-management.

Security and support: Remote work often opens companies up to higher security risks, so we’re dedicated to educating our team on how to keep themselves, their technology and the company’s intellectual property safe.

Tools for an asynchronous and organised workplace: Teams should have access to basic tools that allow for productive work. For example, use Slack, Zoom and other web-based programs that allow for easy collaboration.

Plan for potential pitfalls: Companies should anticipate and have a plan to avoid potential difficulties that can come with remote work. Consider something like internet connectivity issues or localised power outages.

Remote worker sits on the floor with laptop, talking on the phone. Image: Prostock-studio/Shutterstock

Are there any processes or tools that you would recommend in an age of remote work?

Toptal utilises the ‘Objectives and Key Results’ methodology. This gives all teams complete visibility into what everyone is working on, how we want to achieve success, and what that success looks like. We track outcomes on a quarterly basis, and that helps us refine strategies wherever needed and double down on things that are working well.

We are heavily focused on metrics and analytics here. Each of our operational teams have very clear quantitative metrics and also qualitative items that they are measured on so that they can know where they’re achieving versus where there is opportunity for further development.

Meeting cadence is another important aspect of well-operated distributed teams. A clear and regular meeting cadence helps to set the pace for remote work and also gives a predictable forum for updates, live working sessions and collaboration.

One of the advantages of remote working is the ability to hire the best people from anywhere in the world. Are there challenges to geographic diversity, and do you have any advice on how to overcome these?

There certainly are challenges to hiring core team members and adding people to our talent network from all over the world.

Perhaps most simple is that Toptal screens for English-language proficiency. This helps alleviate any potential communication barriers. A large portion of our client base is in the US, so having talent with a mastery of English is a must.

Time zones can also present collaboration challenges. We’ve found that asynchronous work and digital co-working tools can alleviate a lot of these challenges.

Remote worker engages in online meeting. Image: fizkes/Shutterstock

Toptal is the sponsor of Web Summit’s Women in Tech Lounge. What can be done to get more women into the industry?

I think it’s important for women to know they can be part of tech companies in many different ways – it doesn’t have to be as an engineer, where women are indeed underrepresented today. Women can get involved in tech in other non-technical roles that may or may not lend themselves to something more technical along the way.

There’s a misconception that women in tech must equate to women engineers in tech. Women can be in programme manager roles, strategy roles, marketing, operational, etc… There are many paths to careers in tech.

What are your plans for Web Summit?

Toptal is sponsoring the Women in Tech Lounge at Web Summit, where numerous women will speak on a variety of topics related to technology, and to the challenges and opportunities for women in this space.

I’m really excited to host a few of our fireside chats with esteemed guest speakers. Everyone is welcome at the Women in Tech Lounge, and I hope I have the opportunity to network with many fellow Web Summit attendees.

Additionally, Toptal CEO Taso Du Val will be a featured speaker on Wednesday November 2, discussing remote work with Recode senior data editor Rani Molla.

We’re excited to be here again this year. It’s one of the highlights for us, as we get the opportunity to reconnect in person with our clients, talent network and core team colleagues.

Toptal CEO Taso Du Val will take to the SaaS Monster stage on Wednesday November 2 for a talk entitled ‘Borderless hiring to drive innovation in challenging times’. Don’t miss it.

Main image of remote worker at work on their laptop in a garden: Alex Brylov /Shutterstock