While many job seekers want to work remotely, some have no interest in it. Maybe they enjoy office culture too much, or they don’t think they have what it takes to successfully telecommute. Perhaps there are too many distractions at home, or they simply don’t know enough about remote work to understand all the benefits. Whatever the reason, there are people who may not be too keen on the concept. And as an employer, there may come a time where you want to hire one of these people for a remote position.
There are a lot of ways this can happen. Maybe halfway though the interview process, your company decides to make this a remote role, and the top candidate is someone who doesn’t love the idea of working from home. Or, you interviewed this person for an on-site job that wasn’t a great match, but they’re perfect for another open position…that happens to be remote.
If you find that you have to sell the idea of remote work to a job candidate who desires the cubicle life, these ideas just might convince your candidate to work remotely:
1. Explain the benefits of remote work.
Three words: work-life balance.
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Having a remote job is by far one of the biggest ways for any employee to almost seamlessly mesh their personal and professional lives. When you’re stuck inside an office for eight hours (or more) a day, it doesn’t leave a lot of time to tend to your own personal health, fulfill your role as caregiver to a loved one, or bring cupcakes for your child’s in-school birthday party.
2. Give guidance.
Your soon-to-be remote worker might be reticent to try working from home simply because he hasn’t done it before and is afraid to fail. So offer him some tips on how to successfully telecommute. Setting up a dedicated office space, keeping a somewhat steady schedule, and minimizing distractions can all help keep him on task. You can even assign him a “buddy” remote worker whom he can turn to if he finds himself battling loneliness (which can sometimes happen with newbie remote workers), or just to offer tips and tricks on how to make remote work, you know, work for him.
3. Offer some stats.
Studies abound on how remote workers are far happier than those who work in a traditional workplace. Another thing to stress to your job candidate is that people who telecommute have higher productivity levels than office dwellers (there are lots of studies that confirm this, too!). Why? Well, without the distractions and drama that are typical in the office environment, workers can focus on what really matters most—getting the job done.
4. Fight the fear.
Maybe your future employee is afraid that he’ll have IT issues and not know how to fix them. Or perhaps he’s concerned that without you or his coworkers around he’ll have a hard time staying present. Talk through his fears to find out why he feels remote work won’t be right for him. It might be as simple as explaining how to fix potential technical issues and reminding him that he is still part of a team and won’t be working in a bubble. This can be enough to get him over the hump and help him to sign on to the idea of remote work.
5. Make a compromise.
If your candidate is still on the fence about working remotely—and you really want to hire this individual—then it’s time to start negotiating. If you have an actual headquarters or offices, suggest that he try working remotely a few days a week to start. Getting his feet wet by working from home at least part-time can help him make the mental transition to remote work and see that it’s a simple learning curve he has to master before he can dive into full-time telecommuting. It can also help him work out any kinks or potentially show you as an employer that this individual might not be an ideal remote worker.
Typically, employers are the ones who have to negotiate with employees who want to work remotely, rather than convincing employees to do so. But if you find a job candidate who you fall in love with and would be fantastic for the job, then it’s worth it to invest in them by convincing them to work remotely.
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