June is the month we hold our annual Slayer Retreat and, being a remote workforce, we get pretty excited about spending time with people we work closely with but rarely see. It got us thinking about what advice we could share to those considering, or dealing with a remote (or hybrid) workforce.
There are mixed feelings in the business world on whether a remote workforce “works”. Does creativity or teamwork suffer from not being in the same building? Is productivity as good as “bums in seats”?
I come from years of working in an accounting office where we started transitioning towards a paperless office in 2009. Being able to work from home had therefore been part of accepted work culture long before the pandemic. Maybe it didn’t hurt that employees had to track their time which helped ensure staff remained productive. On the other hand, there was rarely doubt on management’s side that the work was being done – the job had to be completed for the clients.
When Admin Slayer was established 2015 as a 100% virtual assistant company, I found the transition easy - going from driving to work and sitting in a cubicle to having the freedom to work the hours that suited my life, and doing so from the comfort of my home office.
Each business has its unique culture, workforce, and workstyle - all things to take into account if considering a remote workforce. Naturally, I am a huge proponent. If you’re on the fence, let me give you some pros (I’m assuming you're on the fence because you already have the “cons” in your head).
Geography
One of the biggest pros to having a remote workforce is that your talent pool isn’t restricted by geographical boundaries. If you offer 100% remote work, you can hire the best team members, regardless of where they live.
Cost of Living
Geography is becoming particularly more pertinent as the cost of living in major urban areas increases. If your staff can’t afford to live where your work is located, you could lose out on great people if you require them to come into the office each day.
Flexibility
So many people have busy lives with multiple responsibilities and different “core times” of availability, such as when a parent is on school collection, or supporting elderly relatives. Being able to start, stop, and resume their work day around those duties can be a game changer to having happy employees who can still provide their valuable skills to your business over the course of the day. Removing the daily commute - which can be up to 3 hours every day - is a priceless gift of time to your employees.
Being a flexible employer who respects that people can do their work on a non-mandated work schedule will open your door to attract a wider range of talent.
Smart Recruiting
All that being said, you need to hire hard-working people who are committed to their work. There are more than enough employees out there who are happy to simply warm a chair and collect a paycheque (you know who they are!). So before embarking on remote working, you need to be able to trust that people will do what’s expected of them. If you can’t trust them, ask yourself why - is it you, or is it them?
One suggestion (that may or may not apply to your specific industry) is to ask your workers to track and account for their time - is the time they report for each job/project/task reasonable? Are they meeting their targets? Empowering staff to become individually accountable for their time can help separate out those with a strong vs. a weak work ethic.
Keep in mind, however, that time isn’t a necessary indicator of success: creativity, ingenuity, knowledge and experience are hard to value - results are what really matter.
Recognizing Individual Work Patterns
It’s a known fact that different people thrive during different times of the day: some wake up early and are at their most productive then; others hit their stride later in the morning, or later in the day. If you just need the work done, and don’t require constant collaboration, you will get the best from people by respecting these individual patterns and allowing them to work when they’re at their best.
Compromising
Many jobs have become hybrids, allowing people to work from home sometimes, but also requiring them to come into the office at regular intervals. Employees had a lot of power during the pandemic and it’s made a definite mark on the workforce. Some employers pushed back and demanded those “bums in seats” again.
Smaller organizations can increase their chances of keeping their talent by compromising and being flexible with policies. If you mandate people to come into the office one day a week, what unique benefits do you get from that one day?
Do you see your team working harder, or is that in-person time for meetings… meetings that could have been held virtually?
How much are you paying for office space to hold a seat for someone that’s doing most of their work elsewhere?
Do you risk losing a valuable employee because they need or want to move out of the city and therefore won’t be able to make it into the office one day per week?
Are your policies truly benefiting your business?
Are you fully utilizing the great tech which is available for remote collaboration?
Do you really need “employees”?
There is a wide-held preference to hire employees. It’s how things have always been done. It ties that person to your business, and it buys their loyalty….what? It doesn’t always? When you are looking to hire, we highly recommend you consider both employment and outsourcing:
Figure out if you have a full week of work that needs to be done, week after week, month after month.
If you don’t, consider a contractor: a professional who is paid for the hours they work, not for idle time.
Yes, a contractor may have a higher headline rate, but when you calculate the cost of recruiting, training, benefits, and non-productive time of an employee, you quite possibly pay the same amount, or less, over the long run for a contractor.
A contractor will come already competent because being self-employed, they rely on their skills and their ability to deliver in order to support themselves.
Maybe you think a contractor is short-term and they’ll just up and leave? Employees do leave, so you have no guarantees on that front either. Draft your contract so expectations are clear. Any contractor would love to have a steady stream of work, which likely means working for a few different companies because the role they are filling is actually only 5, 10 or 15 hours per week.
Every business is different with unique needs and historical management styles. While old traditions and policies can be difficult to move away from, keeping an open mind to other possibilities is important for longevity and being a place where people love to work.