Menu

Culture Archives

Home / Tag: Culture

Why you should not hire a remote employee in 2019?

Everybody in an organization wants for their business to grow as fast as possible. Many must be thinking about adding a few more skilled employees to their arsenal, and the idea that must be popping up in your mind is “Should we go for hiring Remote Employees,?”. Let’s explore the pros and cons of this decision.

“Isn’t hiring someone local more convenient?”. There is an advantage to meeting a person face to face, wandering around their desks and checking in on what they are doing and how much of the work they have actually completed. Catching up with them on coffee breaks and water cooler talks, engaging in interesting (sometimes futile) conversation. You can’t do any of that fun stuff with a remote team, can you?

Well, you must have read a lot of blogs telling you all about why you should hire a remote employee, let me tell you why you shouldn’t.

 

01. I would rather hire from a small local pool of talent

The Internet has led to the rise in remote workers becoming integral parts of organizations. The ease of communication and various collaboration tools have further led to ease in acquiring talented employees from all over the world.

But why to look for someone who is physically distant when you can hire someone who you can meet with every day?

Granted, this local person might not be as skilled as the remote employee, but at least you have the benefit of being around him, checking in on him whenever you want, addressing and solving the issues he might be facing.

To do all this with your remote team, you’ll have to have access to a simple collaboration tool, a communication channel.

 

02. I hate having extra money to reinvest into my business

Yes, it’s true, hiring a remote employee can save you a lot of money.

You don’t have to worry about the employee’s desk, computer or any other thing that is needed to work efficiently: remote employees take care of themselves.

But if you hire a local employee, you have the chance to go furniture shopping, buying a brand new, high tech computer sounds so fun, and you wouldn’t want to miss out on that, would you? And if you build a team big enough that it can’t possibly fit in your current workplace, you have the option of finding a new and bigger place!

Remember the scene from Batman where Joker burns down a whole pile of cash? You can enjoy a very similar feeling.

 

03. I don’t like increased productivity 

According to a recent survey, remote employees are more productive than the in-house team.

Related: Remote Teams Vs In-house Teams

You know what happens when employees become more productive right? Goodbye timepass!

Feeling bad that you aren’t getting more time to have those fun, futile conversations with your team? Tired of seeing your employees pour their heart into their work and delivering the best results and that too at the expense of the precious fun time? It’s a blessing that the in-house team isn’t as productive all the time as the remote team. I mean they are productive no doubt, but they can always take some time out during important work to have some fun.

 

04. I prefer a higher turnover rate

If you treat your remote employees right, they are the most loyal employees you will ever come around, which reduces your employee turnover rate. But do you really want to be stuck with the same old faces for the rest of your life? Hiring new employees is a good thing, meeting new employees, introducing them to your company culture, training them, and teaching them new skills is such a great activity to bond, and definitely, one to look forward to.

 

05. I don’t care about global warming

Who doesn’t enjoy a long commute? Bring on the one hour journey to my office in heavy traffic, turning up the music as loud as I can (to drown the honks), burning up gas, and causing pollution. More of that, please!

Remote employees miss out on the fun journey; they work from home or a coworking space. Or a beach. They don’t get to turn up the music in their cars or contribute to the already clogged roads.

 

06. I don’t mind employees taking unexpected vacations and sick days

Remote employees tend to take fewer leaves of absences than the in-house team. Sounds boring right? Being available all the time to work, delivering projects before their deadline, being productive and proactive.

The real fun is in taking a vacation, turning off all modes of communication with your office, and just lying on the beach sipping on a pina colada. We can always get back to work after a good time spent away from it.

I wonder how digital nomads manage to work and travel all at the same time; I find it dreadful to even look at my laptop while I’m on vacation. Who cares about work, right? We’ll be at the office after a couple of days doing the same thing.

Well, I’ve run out of sarcasm, and I hope I have given you enough reasons to start 2019 with remote hiring. What I described above sounds like a complete disaster.

That’s because remote work is the future of work. You already know all the benefits of having a remote team, such as increased productivity, reduced turnover, reduced leaves of absence, etc. But if you’re still unsure, then you can start with one engagement first, and then keep building more efficiency than an in-house team.

If you need to know the current trends of remote work and how to manage a remote team, we have an entire report dedicated to it; you can DOWNLOAD IT HERE.

And, if you need any help building a team, RemotePanda is just a click away.

How To Make Your Organization Remote Friendly?

Fierce competition, hiring suitable candidates, and acquiring loyal customers are some of the biggest problems faced by startups.

Our experience shows that the best solutions to address these are simple: amazing employees.

Employees are the biggest assets of an organization. Read that again - it’s the most important and time-tested truth that there is in business. Superstar employees are the ultimate weapon against competition, the cornerstone of amazing customer service, and makes your organization resilient to any other problem which may arise.

But it’s not so simple. It’s hard to find great talent. So what do you do when your superstar is nowhere to be found? You can start by broadening your search. Try thinking globally.

Thanks to the internet, it has become tremendously easy to get a hold of a person who is living thousands of miles away. Every startup wants fast growth, and for that, they need great talent. Many times, it doesn’t matter if that talent is local or in a completely different timezone.

But, there’s another catch Are you able to retain your remote workers? In other words, Are you providing an environment where your remote team can be productive, where they can grow?

Checking in on your in-house team and taking care of the issues they are facing is easy. But remote workers are physically distant from you, and you can’t see what they are doing and what problems they are facing. It certainly isn’t viable to call them every hour to check in on your remote team. This leads to isolation and reduced social interaction, which may lead to stress and anxiety.

Related: “How to stay mentally healthy while working remotely?”

It’s indispensable to develop a plan to include your remote team in your in-house family, getting them acquainted with your company culture, and making them feel comfortable.

Let’s look at some of the ways you can make your organization remote friendly.

1. Communication:

Communication is the most important factor in making your organization remote friendly. You have a distributed team, so water cooler talk isn’t an option anymore, and swinging by your coworkers’ desk is impossible. So, it’s time to rely heavily on instant messengers and video calls.

In one of a webinar “5 Mistakes You Are Making With Your Remote Staff”, Krish Chopra, Co-Founder of NPHub said –

“You have water cooler talks or coffee where you hang out with your coworkers every day, you need to schedule that time for your remote teams as well.”

Create channels where your team can communicate, and not just about work. Constant communication is a good way of getting the in-house team and your remote team to interact and know each other well, and also to get work done.

Remember, there is no such thing as over-communicating when you have a distributed team.

2. Trust:

If you want your company to grow with your distributed team, you need to foster a culture of trust. The employer isn’t aware of the whereabouts of his remote team and the work routine they have, but that should not be a reason for him to be doubtful about their work arrangement. Employers should trust their remote teams, and that’s how they can set a great example of trust in the organization as a whole.

Mention to your team that mistakes are alright, supposing they talk about those mistakes, learn from each other, and bond together.

Don’t be afraid of giving leadership opportunities to remote workers just because they aren’t in front of you all the time.

3. Train your team:

It’s critical to give your remote team the appropriate training needed to perform their duties. Your in-house team always has the advantage of watching you work and pick up on some tips and tricks. This won’t be the case with your remote team. You will need to think about how to give your remote employees an environment where they can thrive, constantly improve, enjoy their work, and be more productive.

4. Team retreats are also for remote teams:

Team retreats are probably the thing employees look forward to. Who would want to miss an opportunity to go out with the team, have fun, and especially meet your remote teams?

Organizations should organize a team retreat once in a while; this gives a chance for the in-house team to meet face to face with the remote team.

Meeting in a new environment, away from work, getting to know each other over a couple of drinks and games, can make your remote team feel like they are an essential part of the family.

5. Buddy system:

The buddy system can work wonders in increasing interaction between your local and remote teams. Pairing members from your in-house team with members from your remote teams is an excellent way of training your remote team, getting things done, and making your team feel comfortable around each other.

Conclusion:

It’s high time for organizations to start planning how work will look like with a remote team. With the millennial workforce on the rise, the 9 to 5 schedule isn’t what it used to be, employees they like to do things on their own terms, on their own time. Making everybody feel like an integral part of your organization should be one of the top priorities. Millennials come with different perceptions towards the world and have a different skill set; it’s up to you how to utilize those skills in the best interest of the employees and the company.

These tips will get you started in making your organization remote friendly, but you may need to think on different, innovative methods to make sure that an entire team is a single unit firing at peak efficiency.