Cultivating a Thriving Remote-First Culture in Partnership with Remote

At a glance

Discover the evolution of TheyDo, a pioneering journey management platform that has embraced remote work and fostered inclusivity to build a thriving global team culture. From the start, TheyDo embraced a remote-first model, assembling a team that spans 34 nationalities, 25 countries, two continents and counting. Through a strategic partnership with Remote,

TheyDo navigated the challenges of global hiring, compliance, and seamless collaboration with initiatives centred on values-driven talent acquisition—creating a culture rooted in productivity and genuine belonging. TheyDo was honoured with the Liftoff Award for Startups and Excellence in Remote Work Culture at the 2024 Remote Excellence Awards, along with commendations in DE&I and Talent Strategy categories. This case study reveals how TheyDo’s commitment to inclusivity, supported by Remote’s expertise, has unlocked exceptional agility and cultural cohesion in the era of global workforces.

• Founded in 2021 in the Netherlands. Currently at Series A

• Remote-first: fully distributed, global team.

• Employs 34 nationalities across two continents.

• Featured in Cord’s Top 10 for Gender Diversity

• Achieved 7x increase amongst women in engineering

• 88% recommend TheyDo as a great place to work.

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TheyDois the leading Journey Management platform for customer-centric teams, with the mission to make the customer journey the most powerful business tool there is. Designed for those who know that great experiences come from true collaboration, TheyDo enables seamless alignment across products, teams, and locations.

TheyDo is a global, fully distributed company that’s reshaped what it means to work remotely. From inception, TheyDo embraced remote work as part of its DNA, with a remote-first model allowing for a team that spans 25 countries across North America and Europe. With a strong focus on inclusivity, empowerment, and team well-being, TheyDo has created a culture where values drive impact.

Read on to discover how TheyDo’s remote-first, inclusive culture—powered by strategic talent acquisition, a commitment to DE&I, and seamless global collaboration—has set a new standard for thriving in a distributed world.

Mission

Since day one, TheyDo’s mission has been to build a culture of productivity, collaboration, and belonging that attracts top talent from around the world. Anchored in a remote-first model, the company is dedicated to creating an environment that engages and retains a high-calibre, globally distributed team while ensuring smooth compliance and operational efficiency.

At the heart of this mission are TheyDo’s core values—Journey Together, Customer-Fueled, Own It, and Cloaks Off—which are brought to life daily. These values, together with a strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I), foster a cohesive, purpose-driven culture that empowers team members to thrive and align with TheyDo’s strategic goals.

“What we do is unique: no one in this market has seen it before, and when our customers start to use it, their eyes light up. Remote is our partner, helping us build our global team and comply with local laws so that we don’t make any mistakes.”

Approach

• Strategic Talent Acquisition and Development:TheyDo’s talent strategy focuses on attracting and retaining exceptional talent that resonates with its values. Key to this strategy is the “Values Interview” stage, a process that ensures candidates not only have role competency but align deeply with TheyDo’s values. Introduced in 2023, this approach has proven effective, as evidenced by high engagement scores (88%) from current team members who feel new hires positively contribute to TheyDo’s culture.

• Remote-First Framework:TheyDo operates with an asynchronous work model, empowering team members to contribute autonomously from any time zone. With a toolkit of platforms including Notion, Slack, Loom, Gather, and TheyDo’s own software, the team collaborates seamlessly while maximising flexibility and work-life balance. This remote-first model dismantles geographical barriers, expanding TheyDo’s talent pool to include specialised skills and diverse perspectives.

• Intentional Culture-Building and Inclusivity:TheyDo’s Culture Committee, representing 20% of the workforce, has led initiatives that foster inclusivity and belonging, such as DEIB referral jams, inclusive language guidelines, and curated cultural celebrations like Chinese New Year trivia and Pride history events with Drag Bingo. Additionally, bi-annual retreats and quarterly virtual events provide both in-person and online opportunities for team members to connect, which has strengthened the TheyDo community. The “Values Champions” Slack channel, where team members recognise each other’s contributions, has become a cherished part of TheyDo’s culture.

“Remote helps us unlock unlimited talent pools, and having the best talent gives us the greatest chance of business success. They enable us to onboard quickly and seamlessly, providing specialist knowledge on local labour laws. This combination of expertise, speed, and quality creates a win-win situation for both the candidate—our new hire—and for TheyDo.”

Impact

TheyDo’s strategic approach to remote work and DE&I has achieved notable results.

“Having such a variety of people in over 25 countries today is giving us superpowers to really be creative in this space. Building all that is the most exciting thing in the world for this team.”

• High Engagement and Satisfaction:TheyDo's engagement survey in October '24 highlights their organisation as a great place to work (88% NPS). Team members believe in TheyDo's mission and vision (96% NPS) and believe their people leader is a role model for their company values (88% NPS). Such positive feedback highlights TheyDo’s success in creating an environment where employees feel valued, supported, and productive.

• Diversity and Leadership Representation:Since implementing its DE&I strategy, TheyDo has increased women in engineering roles by 700%. TheyDo’s commitment to gender diversity was further highlighted when the company was recognised in Cord’s Top 10 for Gender Diversity and secured $34M in funding from a female led group of investors. This progress underscores TheyDo’s proactive approach to building an inclusive workforce.

• Global Talent Acquisition Success:In 2023, TheyDo had over 15,000 candidates enter their process for 40 roles, maintaining a rigorous standard of quality for hires. With an impressive 90% offer acceptance rate in 2023 (and 93% acceptance rate in early 2024), TheyDo demonstrates its attractiveness as an employer and the effectiveness of its remote-first, inclusive strategy in attracting and retaining top-tier talent.

• Personal Impact Stories:Team members regularly share stories of how remote work has enhanced their lives, whether it’s parents who appreciate more family time, neurodivergent team members who thrive in personalised work environments, or those who value the flexibility of setting their own schedules. These anecdotes capture the sense of belonging and freedom that defines TheyDo’s culture and reflects its genuine commitment to employee well-being.

“I feel a lot of gratitude that I'm able to work for such a great company, even though I live in Mexico City. We have such an amazingly strong, diverse, global team. We're set up for success.” Rosanne de Vos, Senior Journey Management Coach

Pivotal partnership with Remote

Remote has been instrumental in enabling TheyDo to hire, manage and pay its global team with full compliance across global markets.

“Our customers are fortune 500 brands that have a global presence, so the biggest impact for us is to be able to serve them around the globe. We don’t need to have an entity to serve our customers where they are: Remote gives me a lot of peace of mind that wherever we want to hire someone, it works, and we’re doing exactly everything by the book.” Jochem van der Veer, CEO & Co-Founder

• Global compliance:Remote has streamlined compliance with local regulations, ensuring smooth onboarding for new hires and full adherence to relevant laws across TheyDo’s global operations. This partnership enables TheyDo’s Talent Acquisition team to focus on their core mission of attracting top talent, while relying on Remote’s resources for essential functions like benefits management and compliance.

• Hiring Efficiency:With Remote’s support, TheyDo has improved key hiring metrics, such as reducing both Time to Hire and Time to Offer, compared to its previous Employer of Record setup. Remote’s resources have enabled TheyDo to expand talent acquisition efforts with speed and precision, while maintaining efficiency and reducing compliance risks.

• Reliable Global Support:Remote’s dedicated Account Management and Customer Success teams, available whenever questions arise, has been invaluable in ensuring a seamless hiring process and providing responsive support across different time zones. This level of partnership has been critical to TheyDo’s distributed model, allowing the company to manage a diverse, multinational team with confidence and ease.

Conclusion

TheyDo’s case demonstrates that a remote-first, inclusive, and strategically designed talent approach can create a thriving and engaged global workforce. Through its partnership with Remote, TheyDo has been able to manage compliance, scale efficiently, and maintain a high bar for talent acquisition.

For startups looking to grow their teams and foster a remote-first culture, TheyDo sets an exemplary standard in using distributed talent to drive innovation, engagement, and sustainable success.You can read more about TheyDo's remote-first talent and retention strategies on their website.