Onate – A ‘Remote First’ Company

When Onate launched in Ireland in early 2021, remote working was the norm for everyone. 

It was always the intention at Onate to opt for a ‘remote first’ working environment, regardless of the pandemic. Our staff don’t need to be in the same office five days a week to get the job done. 

All of Onate’s processes are optimised for remote working, rather than adjusting an office way of working to facilitate  staff working from home. This means that everyone is incredibly efficient and aligned, even when not in the office together. 

Onate CEO Dan Gandesha said:

“If you start from a remote-first culture and outlook, you can end up with a much better outcome than an office environment. It’s very easy to take a simplistic approach when it comes to office work, such as do staff come in on time, do they put in long hours, are they always in their seat. Historically, that’s how we assess productivity – it has been a tick-the-box exercise. When you have a remote team, that’s not an option. You have to treat people as grown-ups and trust them.”

As a result of the ‘remote first’ way of working, having no physical office gives Onate better options when it comes to hiring candidates. Onate’s employees are based in Dublin, Kilkenny and Limerick.

Gandesha continued:

“I employed a recruit from Limerick who was the best person for the job we advertised but if I had an office in Dublin and required everyone to be in the office five days a week, I wouldn’t have been able to hire him.’

At Onate, we meet one day a week in a shared office space which gives us opportunities to have coffees and build relationships. Our office day (every Wednesday) has now become Onate’s least productive day in the week. However, from an employee relations perspective, it is important that we meet in person regularly. 

Allowing people to work from home has improved the productivity of the business and borrowers have been impressed by just how quickly we can execute deals. We regularly close loans in less than 10 days and we have closed some loans in as little as 5 days.

Working remotely gives our staff autonomy and makes Onate a far more efficient operator. Even though we’re a ‘remote first’ company, we deliver fast and flexible finance, wherever you are and wherever we are.