“As a firm started by a father and son 32 years ago, a sense of family connectedness permeates the organization,” said Sean Cauvel, managing partner at Los Angeles-based Westmount Asset Management. “We try to still instill that sense of family,”

During the pandemic, the firm worked extra hard to keep virtual colleagues feeling cared for, taking a number of creative steps, including:

• Publishing a daily, now weekly, newsletter that covered what was happening at the firm, such as successes and tech upgrades, highlighted each employee with personal Q&As and photos of their workspaces, and provided a fun “Guess Who?” feature with clues about an unnamed co-worker.
• Periodically sending lunches and dinners to employees’ homes, as well as gift cards for hotel stays and specialty food sites.
• Holding a virtual wine and cheese tasting.
• Providing a $400 stipend so employees could upgrade their home offices with equipment like monitors and chairs.

Morale stayed high, Cauvel said. “There’s a palpable esprit de corps that creates a certain energy and a feeling that our future is bright.”