Blog

4 Ways 2X Supported My Remote-Working Experience

April 27, 2022
By Salman Marizki, Senior Data Ops Specialist

Like many others, my career was affected by movement restriction lockdowns during the pandemic. With my family and newborn son back in Indonesia, I really needed a remote job and a flexible working schedule. That’s when I came across 2X.

Prior to this, I was a full-stack developer in a small firm, juggling multiple job roles while flying back and forth between KL and Jakarta every two weeks to spend time with my new family. But when the pandemic hit and international borders closed, remote work was the only solution for me.

I’ll be honest. 2X wasn’t my first choice.

I interviewed with many companies and received competitive offers from them too. But none of them were open to the concept of remote working. I knew everyone had their reservations about hiring remote workers, struggling with questions like, “Are they actually going to work?” and “How will I communicate with them?”

2X was the only company I interviewed with that didn’t see remote working as an obstacle in the hiring process. They knew the risks of not being able to onboard a new employee in person. Yet, they were completely prepared to invest their time, tools, and guidance in me so we could navigate the remote working experience together. Here are four ways 2X supported me as a new employee based overseas.

A Culture of Collaboration and Open Communication

As a remote worker, one of the biggest challenges I had to face was communication and building trust with my co-workers. Being the new guy, I initially approached conversations with the mindset of being extra careful. I was worried that if I didn’t ask the right questions, it would create misunderstandings that I couldn’t clarify from my position overseas.

But everyone, from my Client Success Director, Alex Teoh, to mentors like Jason Fortescue and Zora Lam—always made time to reassure me and walk me through what I didn’t understand. They answered all my questions, even the ones that I thought were irrelevant. It made me realize that at 2X, the culture of collaboration isn’t just encouraged, it’s cultivated by how the company and its employees look to improve every process—even when it came down to mentoring new workers.

That culture inspired me to go the extra mile in reaching out to my fellow 2X-ers with the same assurance they showed me. I always informed them that I was on top of my work by giving an estimated time of completion and following through with every task that was assigned to me.
It may have seemed like a small gesture at the time, but these actions went a long way in establishing the relationships that I share with my team today. We worked together with open communication and mutual trust, which empowered me with the confidence to take on more clients. Within a few months, I was growing my B2B knowledge rapidly having served clients in multiple industries.

Given Ownership to Embrace Leadership

One of the things that I love about working in 2X is that everyone—from top management down to new associates—are given full ownership of their work. Even as a remote worker, I was given the same access to resources and responsibilities as those provided to the team in KL.

I was also given opportunities to be a part of different client teams and sit in on governance calls that helped me grow exponentially in understanding the B2B marketing industry. Being entrusted with that kind of accountability even in my early days as a Data Ops Associate made me more motivated to generate my best work every chance I could.

And I was rewarded for it. When I was promoted to Data Ops Specialist within eight months of starting at 2X, I was given two new associates to manage. I soon came to realize that part of taking ownership of my work meant learning how to lead others from afar. The 2X approach to leadership isn’t top-down, we learn from the people we lead as much as they learn from us. The process of guiding and mentoring associates has given me a higher-level approach to problem-solving.

2X understands that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to learning. With my latest promotion to Senior Data Ops Specialist, I learned that as seniors, we need to personally understand the difficulties that our associates face before coming up with a solution that we both can learn from and achieve greater impact—together.

Walking the Talk with Work-Life Balance

You know you’ve struck gold when you find employers who measure the value of your work by the outcomes you produce and not the number of hours you log in. That’s exactly what you can expect when you work in 2X.

Since the start of the pandemic, I prioritized finding a remote working job so that I could spend time with my newborn son—and I’m glad to say that working at 2X has allowed me to achieve that. I’m given a lot of flexibility to plan my work in advance and this allows me to focus on being more efficient with how I schedule my time. On most days, I don’t even need to follow an average 9 to 5 schedule.

Unlike most employers, 2X doesn’t just talk big when it comes to work-life balance—they follow through on their word. Employees are given mental health support, mental wellness leave, and the freedom to manage their own work schedule. If I wasn’t given this independence, I would have missed out on many of my son’s milestones. So, I’m grateful that 2X is invested in my growth, not just as an employee, but also as a man who is navigating the early stages of fatherhood while working abroad.

There is No “I” in TEAM

At 2X, there is no such thing as stepping on your peers to get ahead. We are encouraged to get ahead by helping others around us be successful. Before joining 2X, I had the mindset of getting things done individually and being good at what I do. But after learning the company culture, I realized the importance of taking a step back to look at things from a team level and think, “if I were to do this, what sort of impact can I generate for the data team or the other data analyst on this project?”

Looking back at my journey, I can say that everything I’ve accomplished in 2X would not have been possible without the support of Sean Wong, our Vice President of Operations and Infrastructure and Yong Siew Mee, our Managing Director. 2X was the only company that gave me a shot as a remote worker and if not for this opportunity, I don’t think I would be here, achieving the growth I have achieved today. I’m excited to see what lies ahead of my 2X journey. Despite all the challenges that have been thrown at me, I’m looking forward to more.

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