8 tips for marketing professionals and entrepreneurs working with a remote team in Ukraine

This article was published in the MarketingSherpa email newsletter.

Let me first state the obvious – when it comes to a situation like a humanitarian crisis, the workplace is not the first thing that comes to mind for many people. Perhaps you’re looking for a nonprofit that can help. Or considering how you can use your political voice. These are all topics that many fine journalists are extensively covering right now.

However, your work-life may have an impact as well.

To work in even the smallest marketing department today likely means you have co-workers and collaborators around the globe. So, if you don’t personally work with someone in Ukraine, you likely have a friend or colleague who does. Ukraine was named the delivery destination of the year in 2021 by The Global Sourcing Association. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Ukraine exported $6.8 billion of information technology services in 2021 (according to a report from the IT Ukraine Association trade group) and there are approximately 85,000 to 100,000 export service workers in Ukraine (according to estimates from Gartner).

There is no single answer for what you can and should do as a marketing professional or entrepreneur.

Some think it is distasteful to even talk about work at the same time as a humanitarian crisis. Others think it is essential to keep churning forward no matter what obstacles come along.

Those most deeply in danger likely have a diversity of views as well – form the desire to focus on more vital things during this crucial time, to looking at their work as an economic lifeline and act of defiance.

In this article, we bring you many disparate voices from fellow marketers and entrepreneurs working through this situation right now. Much like when we bring you a case study or podcast interview, the goal is not to claim that any of this information is the single authoritative answer for how to handle the unique challenges you and your team face.

Rather our goal is to bring you specific examples of how others are approaching this Ukraine-Russia war and let their hard work and strategic ideas inspire your own decisions as a compassionate, resilient leader. (Some of the responses have been lightly edited for clarity and article fit)

We’re still the same professionals

Tatiana Gavrilina, Content Marketing Writer, DDI Development (from Kharkiv, Ukraine):

Given the current situation, foreign client teams/marketers should adjust the way they interact with their remote teams in Ukraine. Yes, there is a war going on in Ukraine, but there are still regions and cities where your developers and other team members can stay safe and continue to work on your projects.

How can you be sure that the work is ongoing, and the situation is under control? How can you count on the planned result?

Good questions.

As a representative of an IT company in Ukraine, I can state that in this case the following comes to the rescue:

• Be in constant communication with the management of the Ukrainian partner company.
• Call the entire team, clarify the situation, assign tasks, and keep working. Do so every day.
• Agree with your partner team that you will be informed immediately in case of unforeseen circumstances.
• Ask if everything is alright with your specialists – there will now be even more trust between you, which will result in large-scale and productive projects in the future.

It should be understood that Ukrainian IT specialists are the brains of the country. Now they are not in the best conditions. But they are just as interested in their work as before, and maybe even more.

Many Ukrainian companies had a business continuity plan in case of force majeure. It is this plan that now allows many of us to ensure project continuity and deliver results for you.

Nowadays, the key to success in working with Ukrainian engineering teams is trust, understanding and constant communication.

Please show a little more understanding and trust in your teams, because we want peace as much as you do, as much as everyone else on the planet, and we do our part to achieve it.

We’re still the same professionals you all enjoy working with. We’re still the same professionals who create great projects for you. We’re just going through some tough times right now. We believe that this is a temporary phenomenon, and we will get over the difficulties.

Just stand with us, and the results won’t be long in coming.

Helps us feel that our lives keep going, to feel this connection with reality…

Kate Derkach, PR Manager, Alty (from Kyiv, Ukraine):

We have employees from different cities working remotely in Kharkiv, Kyiv, Odesa, Kyiv region etc. All of them are safe now, some of them already left the country. Some of the employees moved to the west region of Ukraine, where the situation is more or less stable. Those employees who stayed nearby Kyiv are forced to hide from bombs every day and whole night in shelters. But even in such horrible circumstances we try to be useful to our country and those who have internet access and are safe – keep working. It somehow helps us to feel that our lives keep going, to feel this connection with reality…

Our management, led by CEO Leo Goriev, holds everyday check-ups within the team to find out if everybody is safe and whether someone needs help. All employees got their salaries on time as well. We communicate on an everyday basis within the team to provide each other mental support and useful contacts which is so important now. All employees and the company itself provide financial support to our army and pay taxes [beforehand] so that our economy could handle these tough times. We are helping local banks to support the software processes, so that Ukrainians could use online payments methods as before.

We used to have clients from Belarus but now we have terminated contracts with them due to the fact that Belarus supports Russian aggression and provides free access to our borders to Russian tanks. Our team really appreciates this decision which coincides with their and the country's values.

Main tips for marketing specialists and entrepreneurs working with a remote team in Ukraine – are care, support and definite position towards this war.

Anyhow, we stay positive about our brave and courageous Ukrainian Forces, we feel how the whole world stands for Ukraine against this Russian beast and we believe in our victory as never before!

Thank you so much for this support and care!

Keep several channels of communication open in case one goes down

Vladimir Gendelman, Founder and CEO, Company Folders, Inc.:

I am an emigrant from Kharkiv, Ukraine and I employ a team of seven software programmers, graphic designers, and quality assurance engineers in Ukraine. Currently, all of them have been displaced from their homes and are crowded into villages and cities that are completely unprepared for millions of refugees. The only exception is one employee in Mykolaiv, who is caring for his elderly parents and has been unable to escape the shelling there.

The last two weeks have been an intense challenge for all of us as our US team worked around the clock to help our Ukraine team get to safety and make sure they were adequately supplied. We have been in constant consultation with a former US Army colonel on tactics and strategic targets to help direct them to where they would be safest, and we sent extra funds in case the banks shut down. The team was previously based in Donetsk, the epicenter of the uprising in 2014, so unfortunately, this is not the first time we’ve dealt with destabilization caused by Russian aggression.

When I was able to get our amazing Ukraine team regrouped and back to work in 2014, Company Folders, Inc., made Inc.’s list of 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in America for the next three years: 2015, 2016, and 2017.

We are, unfortunately, dealing with this challenge for the second time. Here are my top two tips:

Safety First – if you’re working with employees in Ukraine, the first priority is their safety. Spend what you need to. Engage whatever resources you have at your disposal. Connect with experts. Keep them in touch with each other. Help guide them to a safe place and give them the resources to get there and stay there or move again if necessary.

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate – Being suddenly plunged into war is terrifying and can be very isolating. Companies with employees or contractors in Ukraine should keep in touch constantly. Don’t just reach out with thoughts and prayers—invite your people to share their experiences and feelings if they want. Reassure them it will end, and they will make it through. Don’t be afraid to talk shop—sometimes work is a welcome distraction from war. If you are in a position to provide material support, don’t assume you know what they need—ask them what they need, listen, and give them what they ask for. Finally, keep several channels of communication open in case one goes down.

Arrange transportation and accommodations

Hila Shitrit-Nissim, CMO, BLEND Localization:

With BLEND’s presence in the Ukraine, it’s heartbreaking to see our close friends and colleagues experience the tragedies of war in the 21st century. We’re fortunate many of our staff have fled Kyiv and are in safer areas of Ukraine or elsewhere but a few are still fighting for their lives. To do our part in making things easier for our team, we’ve helped arrange transport and accommodation, have offered them a place to stay and work in Lviv or Romania – but they can work from any place in the world, wherever is safe and best for them.

We know the financial turmoil of this war is weighing and so we keep paying salaries, have extended Paid Time Off, as much as they need, and have even paid some salaries in advance. We’ve invited our colleagues to Israel too and maintain daily contact with ongoing updates. Our thoughts are with everyone in Ukraine, and we are doing what we can to support our Ukrainian friends, colleagues and their families during this time.

Transfer grants and expense reimbursement

Ruth Ben Asher, Vice President, HR EMEA, Verbit:

Verbit's management team monitors the situation in Ukraine closely. In January, we prepared a business continuity plan in case of emergency and opened a dedicated communication channel with our 37 Ukraine-based staff to discuss the very fluid situation.

As a result, we’ve offered financial assistance in the form of transfer grants and expense reimbursement to employees who chose to relocate to safer countries nearby like Poland, the UK and Israel. Additionally, we now issue monthly salary payments at the start of each month, ensuring staff have the ability to withdraw their paychecks in the event of banking disruptions. Our team has also been given full flexibility and time off, and we are in direct contact with each employee daily to understand their needs so we can best support them while they focus on the safety of themselves and loved ones.

Money

Richard Clews, Founder & Chief Pants Officer, Pants&Socks.com:

I employ four Ukrainian team members in FTE (Full-Time Equivalent) positions.

After speaking to my team members, we agreed the best thing I could do is help them financially. I have now paid several months’ worth of salaries forward to all four of my people.

That money can help people in Ukraine buy their way out of their country, find somewhere to live, get food, help family members. To me, it’s the biggest difference maker right now.

Pay them with stable currency

Johannes Larsson, CEO, Johannes Larsson:

I own a business that has remote employees from Ukraine.  

The Ukrainian hryvnia is in a volatile place now, so one way you can help is to pay employees in a more stable currency for the meantime. You can opt for US dollars or even consider crypto, as these will provide more financial security during a time when the future of the country is highly uncertain.

Our company pays employees from Ukraine and other European countries in € euros via Wise. Some prefer PayPal, which is also an option.

Using company skills and resources to help Ukrainians

Alina Vandenberghe, co-founder and CXO, Chili Piper:

Ukrainians are facing an unprecedented war and as politicians in neighboring countries have been slow to move, it’s up to employers to take care of their employees in the country. Ukrainians are going through dramatic trauma, leaving their partners and family members behind, not knowing if they’ll find them safely. They’re leaving their homes for the unknown, going to stay in people’s homes they don’t even know, and it’s all very scary. We have asked our Ukrainian employees to not work under these dire circumstances.

At Chili Piper, we are horrified, angered and saddened by the war in Ukraine and condemn this unjustified, unprovoked and unlawful invasion. As such, we have mobilized various resources through our nonprofit, Citizens of our Planet, to help our Ukrainian employees, their families and all Ukrainians by partnering with local governments, NGOs and authorities to protect displaced citizens.

We started with funding regional NGOs at the borders of Ukraine to help refugees that were coming through. As we started deploying cash, we realized there are massive amounts of people trying to cross the borders and they don’t know which lines are the longest, some take four days, and they don’t have enough gas or food to wait that long. Some don’t have cars and they’re freezing in the long lines. As such, we have built BRIDGE, a tech platform that connects NGOs requesting supplies with those looking to help and provide them. We have also created a Relocation Document with our key philanthropic partner, Techfugees Foundation, which has been used by more than 10,000 Ukrainians. This relocation document helps refugees see shared border wait times, documents needed, routes to escape and the supplies needed by location.

Our employees in Belarus, Poland, Romania and Slovakia are also impacted and Chili Piper is taking steps to help them navigate their delicate situation by allowing them to take the time to reconfigure their lives around a very hard politically charged situation. They have all assisted us with helping efforts in their towns and regions as well as with translations to make it easier for refugees to figure out how to pass through these borders.

We have also raised nearly $200,000 in donations for local NGOs, and plan to raise at least $1 million total. The funds have provided basic necessities to refugees as well as shelters along the border. We hope for a resolution to the ongoing crisis soon.

Related Resources (highlighting your peers in Ukraine)

B2C Branding: 3 quick case studies of enhancing the brand with a better customer experience – Quick Case Study #3 in this article features L'Oréal Ukraine

Brand Voice: 3 quick marketing case studies from Pedigree, a freelance marketplace, and a marketing agency – Quick Case Study #2 in this article features Lemon.io, which is headquartered in Ukraine

Hidden Opportunities: Three quick case studies where marketers discovered treasure in their SEO, homepage, and lead data – Quick Case Study #1 in this article features Greenice, which is headquartered in Ukraine