At a time when legislation companies are struggling to retain expertise and wrestling to steadiness hybrid workplaces, the Texas-based company legislation agency Vela Wooden did one thing distinctive: It despatched its workers and their households to Portugal for a month. Why did it do it? How did it do it? What did purchasers suppose? And are there classes for different companies?

For the solutions to these questions and extra, our company this week are the 2 title companions of the agency: Kevin Vela, who’s the agency’s managing companion, and Radney Wooden. (Vela is pictured proper above, Wooden left.) As you’ll hear, theirs will not be a conventional company agency in lots of respects, as they’re selective within the purchasers they tackle and dedicated to work-life steadiness amongst their workers.

Journey was already integral to the agency’s tradition, within the perception that it helps develop extra motivated and well-rounded workers. Associate Wooden has traveled extensively all through the world and based an organization to facilitate distant work for professionals. A number of years in the past, the agency adopted its Desk Independence program to encourage particular person workers to work from different nations.

However the Portugal journey — which the agency dubbed VW Overseas — took that to a brand new stage, providing its total employees the chance to work from Portugal for a month and convey their households. It supplied a $3,000 stipend for journey, organized a co-working house, and helped with journey and different actions. About half the employees took them up on the supply.

Each Vela and Wooden say the journey yielded advantages they’d not even anticipated. And they’re already planning subsequent yr’s journey.

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