Computer Vision Platform Chooch, announced it is possible to create a diverse yet culturally connected remote workforce – even if your company is a hyper-growth software startup with employees living and working all over the world.
Tools like Slack and Zoom were important. But the ultimate key to success in connecting remote workers was less about technology and more about people.
This year when Chooch promoted Noel McCullar to Head of People Operations, everything started to come together. This role was created because the company believes in diversity and the power of hiring and promoting the best people anywhere in the world. Plus, the role was needed because the number of remote workers – most of whom live and work outside of Silicon Valley and some of whom even live and work outside of the United States – tripled from 20 to 60, creating urgency to connect remote employees culturally.
McCullar was the ideal choice for the Head of People Operations role. He had managed customer success at Google, Apple and ZenDesk. McCullar exemplified the company culture because he was one of the first employees at Chooch, where he wore several different hats before being tapped for his number one strength – people.
McCullar put his people skills to use and launched Friday Morning Weekly StandUps via Zoom. After fun exchanges, the Weekly StandUps begin with an update from the CEO on key achievements for the week. And, then McCullar tees up the cultural topic for the rest of the meeting.
“We believe in the potential power of every individual,” said Emrah Gultekin, CEO and co-founder of Chooch. “It takes a good environment to bring out individual contributions. We are pleased to be able to hire and promote talents like Noel, helping Chooch crack the code on culturally connecting our remote workers.”
