REMOTE WORK IS THE PRESENT
Why Global Tech Startups Should Consider Hiring Talents Remotely
In The Beginning
The world as we know has transformed throughout time and what interests us most is the change in how we communicate, as humans.
Technology, from times of Alexander Graham Bell to those of Martin Cooper and the likes of Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, has offered humans new ways to communicate, collaborate, conduct businesses and build bridges between all of us — without physical limits.
Come 1960s when Americans funded ARPANET and thanks to Robert Kahn and Vint Cerf for TCP/IP the world eventually got the Internet.
The Internet changed everything. I mean, you are reading this article right now thanks to the Internet. The Internet brought limitless possibilities and changed the way we do almost everything. It changed the way we eat, the way we learn, the way we communicate, the way we travel, the way we live and most importantly the way we work.
Borderless Economy
The world today is a village. This means someone in Tanzania is a finger tip away from someone in Norway or Sweden or Swiss. The idea that the world is a global village means you can collaborate with anyone from anywhere in the world.
Hence running of businesses is changing drastically in interesting ways. Organizations are finding a lot of opportunities to expand and run in other countries. Resources can also be found very easily in a borderless world. Hence, products are made very effectively and efficiently. Source — MBA SKOOL (2011)
Remote work is on the rise. The ability to work from outside a corporate office has been feasible for a few decades however only recently the concept of working remotely is becoming mainstream.
Understanding Remote Work
Remote work is a working style that allows professionals to work outside of a traditional office environment. It means that you don’t have to resume to the physical office of the company you work.
Whether this means employees working from home, coffee shops, hotels or any other place out of office location, more workers are finding themselves with the flexibility to work remotely.
According to FlexJobs and Global Workplace Analytics, there has been a 115% per cent increase in telecommuting between 2005 and 2015 (3.9 million employees in 2015, up from 1.8 million in 2005).
Factors such as difficult commutes, dwindling office space, over the use of “totally open workspaces” that do not allow for focused work and advances in technology are making remote work easier than ever. Both employees and employers are capitalising on these benefits.
Why Global Tech Startups Should Consider Hiring Talents Remotely
Employees aren’t the only ones who benefit from working remotely; a company can benefit just as greatly by allowing employees to work remotely.
1. Hire Around the Globe to Snag the Best Employees
“Letting people work remotely is about getting access to the best people wherever they are,” write Basecamp co-founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson in their book Remote: Office Not Required.
Hiring a distributed team can help you find the most qualified people in the most unexpected places.
When you hire people who need to commute to work, you’re restricting your accessible talent pool to your geographical area. Which is why so many HR managers are using different ways to find top talent outside of the company commuting radius.
When you are open to employing remote workers, you open your company up to the opportunity to have the best and the brightest join your team for much less than you would spend to hire someone in-house.
Statistics that reveal how remote work options impact the talent pool, include:
- 70% of employees say the ability to work remotely will be important in choosing their next job
- Notoriously hard-to-recruit (and retain) Millennials rate flexible work arrangements as an 8 on a scale of 10 for impact on job satisfaction
- 36% of employees would choose remote work options over a raise
2. Cost Savings
Empowering workers to engage in remote work saves both the company and employees a significant amount of money.
As for companies, savings come in the form of less money spent on office real estate, furniture, janitorial services, electricity, and other overhead costs. They can invest in less office space while expanding their access to a global talent pool.
Additionally, one of the benefits of remote workers is that companies are able to reduce spending on the purchase and maintenance of technology.
Remote workers can use their own devices, manage projects through cloud-based software, and connect face-to-face to collaborate with fellow employees anytime, anywhere using affordable collaborative technologies (e.g. Cisco Spark, Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams, Skype for Business, WebEx, Instant Messengers, etc.) to create a dynamic and interactive experience.
3. Offer Freedom of Time and Place to Boost Productivity
The freedom to work from anywhere you desire is an attractive benefit — but it is only true freedom when you can also work from wherever you’d like.
“The key to remote work is living where you work best,” says Neil Patel in Entrepreneur Magazine “Your environment does impact how you work. Thus, it’s only sensible and wise to live in an area where you can do your best work.”
Remote employees are more likely to put in extra effort in their jobs, going above and beyond to get their work done in comparison to in-office employees.
Working remotely typically leads to fewer distractions, fewer office politics, a quieter noise level, less or more efficient meetings, the ability to dress more casually and comfortably and a more personalized office environment.
One recent study found that 53 per cent of remote employees say they are willing to work overtime, compared to only 28 per cent of on-site employees. This same survey also found that:
- 45% of remote workers report they are able to work smarter (get more done in less time)
- 44% say they are less distracted and accomplish more than in the office
- 90% of managers report employees are more productive when given the flexibility to choose when and how they work
4. Stay Accountable to Focus on the Important Things
“A remote work environment should encourage performance — not present,” says entrepreneur Neil Patel. Then, you won’t have to worry about time off and how many hours people are working. “You are simply looking for high- performers who can get stuff done.”
The ability to hand off work is a productivity benefit, but it’s also motivator since you know you must accomplish tasks so you can hand them off to co-workers at day’s end. “It puts a little pressure on you to get your work done,”
In fact, the opportunity to work remotely alone brings a new perspective to a remote workers’ position. They see it as motivation or a reward for their excellent work and are stimulated to continue to surpass their goals in order to continue living the lifestyle that they’ve come to love.
Things to Consider to Ensure Workplace Flexibility
For the companies that do decide to use remote working as a strategic lever, there are five areas they can consider to ensure workplace flexibility is embedded into the work culture:
Consider flexibility as a strategic business Imperative
Workplace flexibility is a strategic lever not an employee perk. Companies should embedding workplace flexibility and remote working into their culture.
Offer training for both virtual workers and virtual managers
Companies that are seeing business impacts on workplace flexibility have designed policies and training to prepare both virtual employees and virtual managers to succeed in the new world of work.
Through engaging exercises and assessments, this training is a valuable resource for both managers and employees. In addition, if remote workers do return to the office, it is important to offer the proper training and tools for them to adjust.
Invest in the training and usage of state of the art digital technologies to stay agile
Research shows companies where remote working “works” have a culture of online collaboration and invest in and train workers to use a range of real-time digital technologies such as Skype for Business, Google Hangouts, Yammer, Slack, and Microsoft Teams.
The implementation of these tools is especially beneficial for teams dispersed globally. Employees who are trained in how to use these digital tools can collaborate online despite working in different locations.
Craft robust communication
Creating a flexible workplace policy is just the beginning. For many, working remotely is a change in management issue and must be treated as such. Additionally, workers are often confused as to their company’s workplace flexibility policy.
For a remote work program to succeed, its components must be communicated to and understood by everyone involved. Peer to peer recognition and acknowledging the achievements of everyone no matter where they are located is also an important component of transparent and successful communication.
Measure results and track business benefits
Tracking benefits from flexible work programs such as retention, cost savings, employee efficiency and happiness, etc., will allow companies to recognize what is working and which areas need improvement and growth.
The future of work needs to start with employee trust and view employees as workers who are able to collaborate, innovate, and co-create with team members. Then, companies should examine key roles and objectives to decide if working remotely will deliver the business results needed and if yes, what support systems need to be put into places like employee training, manager training and robust digital technologies.
The upside of remote working can be a workforce that thrives on trust, pervasive communications and real-time collaboration. Misconceptions such as loneliness, isolation, and “lack of face time,” can be surmounted by training, investment in digital technologies and a belief that remote workers can do their jobs efficiently away from the office. Work flexibility is the expectation of the future. Businesses that recognise this and treat this as a business decision will have a competitive advantage in accessing a global talent pool.
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