There’s been countless articles investigating working from home (WFH) since the pandemic hit, pondering the positives, the negatives, and when staff should return to the office.

But this isn’t one of them.

At Ailo we’ve always supported our people to not just work from home, but to work from anywhere. We know that the best talent isn’t just in capital cities or close to offices. And we know that people move states, or even countries. We believe location shouldn’t dictate whether a talented individual can join our team.

Ailo Co-CEO, Ashley Renner, said Ailo has always taken a contemporary approach to work, even before the pandemic hit.

“Most people in Australia live, as a round trip, about two hours from the office. I believe not having that commute all the time is good for people’s wellbeing. People have kids, they have chores around the house, and that extra time back in the day can be very beneficial for stress levels,” Ash said.

“We still have team get-togethers, lunches, and team building exercises, but our people have the freedom to decide what works for them day to day.”

At Ailo we have a few tricks up our sleeve to keep our team culture vibrant, even from a distance. Here’s some of our favourites.

Who doesn’t love a coffee date? Ailo’s clever Coffee Roulette bot randomly assigns team members a buddy to have an online (or real-life!) coffee date. This gives us a chance to chat with people from other teams we may not usually connect with.

And the best part? The bot was designed and built in-house by two of our own Ailo staffers!

Did you know you can still find adventure without leaving your home?

The Ailo team has explored the wonders and weirdness of medieval Prague, led by a real tour guide, by video link. We’ve also completed virtual Escape Rooms together!

At Christmas time we also compete in hilarious gingerbread house building competitions – hosted on Google Meet. December 2021 saw some controversy in the Marketing team with allegations of match fixing, bribery, and super glue being used instead of icing!

When we can, we still like to get together ‘in real life’ with axe-throwing competitions, go-karting, karaoke, and of course countless lunches and dinners together.

This one is simple – we like to keep our cameras on during meetings and chats. It helps mimic face-to-face connection, makes it easier to see non-verbal cues, and helps us feel closer. If you’re working with a kid on your lap, or a dog next to you on the couch, and piles of laundry behind you, don’t worry– we don’t mind!

We give our team members financial support to set up a comfortable and productive WFH space. You won’t see an ironing board as a desk, or a hard kitchen stool being used as a seat around here!

We have regular access to live, thought-provoking sessions from some of the world’s best business mentors, including Professor Simon Bell (University of Melbourne), and Professor Boris Groysberg (Harvard Business School). Ailo’s founders Ash and Ben White also hold fortnightly open mic sessions, where everyone and anyone in the company can join to ask questions, share an opinion, or simply listen.

How do we ensure happy staff when we’re spread out? Ailo also uses digital platforms, like OfficeVibe, to regularly capture employee sentiment in real-time, letting us know if morale is low or high and if any issues need to be addressed.

Ailo is growing quickly, and that means we’re always looking for more great people to join our mission to improve the experience of property management.

“Our business stretches across multiple industries– proptech, fintech, and of course property management – so our people really get a wide range of experience,” Ash said.

In particular, Ash said Ailo is always on the lookout for talented engineers.

“Our engineering applicants take a ‘zombie test’ and a psychometric test. We know these are a time commitment, so it's our policy that applicants can actually take those test results to other employers if they decide not to accept a role with us," Ash said.