Team culture plays a vital role in any business, which is why Hunt + Hawk’s co-founders Sonya Vanjicki and Ryan Devlin recently paid a visit to a couple of key team members in The Philippines. How do you build team culture when two of your team members are based in Manila? If you’re Hunt + Hawk’s intrepid co-founders, you hop on a plane and fly to Manila to visit a pair of team members who’ve been an integral part of the business from day one.

Jennelyn and Kristin – known universally to everyone in the Brisbane office as Jen and Tin – have worked closely together with Sonya and Ryan for the better part of a decade. But there’s a catch. Sonya had personally met Jen once on a previous trip to The Philippines ten years ago, while neither of Hunt & Hawk’s co-founders had ever met Tin – although both offshore employees have been involved in the business since it was first founded. So what’s the secret to Hunt & Hawk’s offshoring success? It all starts with remembering to have some fun.

With Jen and Tin living a couple of hours away from each other and Manila notorious for its traffic, the first decision was a simple one – meet somewhere in the middle. That turned out to be the New World Makati Hotel in one of Manila’s main business districts, which served as an ideal makeshift operations centre for the week. First impressions of the dynamic duo? Let’s just say they were favourable. “It’s funny how different Jen and Tin are in person,” Vanjicki laughed.

“Being on the ground with them, you really got to appreciate their quirks and immerse yourself in all facets of their lives, which was wonderful.” For Ryan, finally meeting a couple of employees in person he’s spent hours communicating with on Zoom was an equally obvious highlight. “The most enjoyable part was really just spending some good, high-quality time with Jen and Tin,” he said. “It was great to get to know them and their extended families and really get to experience their incredible personalities – which you don’t always get to see over a virtual connection,” he added. “Plus it was important for me to understand a little bit more about the culture and business climate that a couple of our valued team members work in every day.” Once the initial meet and greets took place in muggy Manila, the serious business of what sort of fun activities to partake in took centre stage.

Having scheduled half-days of office work to try and wring out every last second of enjoyment from the trip, cultural activities including everything from a hair-raising All Terrain Vehicle ride to a waterfall hike that truly tested the limits of endurance. “The ATVs were super fun,” Vanjicki explained. “The whole time, I was yelling to Ryan: this would not be legal in Australia!” As for Ryan, his favourite activity was a more sedate one – a sit-down meal with Jen and Tin and the members of their extended families.

“We also did a walking history tour around an old Spanish fort in Manila, called Intramuros, on our first day there,” he said. “Then later that night, we all went out to dinner at the Mall of Asia – which is one of the biggest shopping centres in Asia. “It was Sonya and me, plus Jen and Tin and their partners and kids, and we all sat in a big circle around this Lazy Susan enjoying this big buffet-style banquet. “It was the first time we were really all together and it was just such a special moment.” Less special – for Ryan at least – was a hastily arranged hike that saw the group clamber up the side of a steep mountain in punishingly hot and humid conditions. “They said it would take 15 minutes each way,” Devlin chuckled.

For all the fun activities and team-building moments, what resonated most was simply the chance to forge some personal connections. While the Brisbane office interacts with Jen and Tin on digital communication tools like Zoom and Slack every day, Sonya and Ryan’s trip to Manila helped solidify relationships first formed many years ago. For Hunt & Hawk’s long-standing Marketing Team Lead, Tin, the trip reinforced just why she has spent so many years working closely with the business. “What I love about Hunt & Hawk is the whole team and culture around it,” she said.

“I feel like we’re all constantly learning and growing, we’re not afraid to try new things, and it’s just a terrific working environment.” For the firm’s Client Success Manager, Jen, the visit was just as special. “I didn’t realise how much I missed the personal interaction with my Hunt & Hawk colleagues until Sonya and Ryan’s came to visit,” she said. “It really meant a lot to us that they didn’t just spend time with Tin and I – but with our whole families as well.” She echoed Tin’s thoughts as to why she’s worked for the business for so many years. “One of the things I love about Hunt & Hawk is the flexibility Sonya and Ryan provide, allowing me to explore so many varied interests,” she said. “I’ve honestly learned so much and gained skills in this job I never imagined I would.”

For Sonya and Ryan, the trip was the culmination of a long and fruitful working relationship with a couple of team members who feel like part of the Hunt & Hawk furniture. “It was really just a shared, special feeling,” Vanjicki said of spending the week with Jen and Tin. “Team culture is really important to us, it’s the essence of a brand and I love that that ethos has helped us maintain such strong working relationships without an in-person visit all this time.

“But there’s so much history between the four of us – meeting helped solidify our relationship even further and the enjoyment of working with Jen and Tin hit home.”