Many organizations may find themselves wading into new territory when it comes to setting standards for hiring remote workers. While some companies have years of experience offering flexible work options, others are working to establish standards that can apply when they hire telecommuters.
A discussion of the ways to attract and hire telecommuters was a featured panel discussion during the inaugural TRaD Works Forum in Washington, D.C., last year, featuring leaders who hire and manage flexible workers. TRaD is an acronym for telecommuting, remote, and distributed teams, a phrase coined by FlexJobs CEO Sara Sutton. The second annual TRaD Works Forum, slated for September 27-29, 2017, will feature industry and thought leaders in work flexibility.
We’ve assembled some of the top tips from a TRaD Works panel discussion on how to use TRaD work to recruit and hire remote workers. The discussion covers not only how to hire remote workers, but how to transition existing team members from traditional to virtual work. Moderated by Laura Shin, a journalist who writes for Forbes magazine, the panel featured four prominent management leaders from diverse industries.
Here are insights from TRaD leaders on how to find and hire telecommuters:
Create a “purposeful plan.”
TRaD panel member Janice Petz, who is a senior talent acquisition partner at UnitedHealth Group, talked about the company’s continuing journey offering flexible work, including remote options. One of the biggest lessons so far? “You have to have a purposeful plan,” Petz said.
A diversified healthcare company and a global leader in providing solutions to help people live healthier lives, UnitedHealth Group has done a lot of pilots in its efforts to expand work flexibility, and remote work options in particular, to non-exempt as well as exempt employees. UnitedHealth Group is moving from thinking of working from home as an “earned” right, to view virtual work as an opportunity for the company and its employees alike.
In the past, Petz said, “Within the non-exempt space we’ve always said ‘no,’ and I’m not sure we knew exactly why we were saying no.” Fear and trust issues may have played a major role, Petz said. Part of the transition to broadening remote work policies has been to determine whether there’s a “culture fit” with the potential hire, Petz said.
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Understand differences between workers hired to work virtually and those transitioning to remote work.
At American Express, the number of virtual workers is substantial and continuing to grow, said Cynthia Doi, director of the company’s customer engagement network. During the TRaD panel, Doi noted that American Express initially found that there were differences between people who were hired to work virtually from the outset versus employees who were shifted to remote work from traditional jobs.
Team members hired on the “national model” outperformed other workers, American Express found. Why? The company cast a “wide net” to find virtual customer care employees, and “that gave us a pretty deep pool to draw from,” Doi said. Just as important is that those national employees were excited about virtual work, or already had remote work experience, “and understood what it’s like to work from home.”
TRaD panelist Sarah Chouinard, who is director of talent acquisition at TTEC, agreed that being able to hire from a nationwide pool is a huge advantage. “You can hire great depth of experience and talent when you don’t have those geographic restrictions,” Chouinard said.
Establish a baseline for technical proficiency.
It may be fair to assume that every job candidate applying for virtual work has access to a computer. But when it comes to technological proficiency, skills can vary widely when you hire telecommuters. “Make sure they have basic technical trouble-shooting skills,” Doi advised.
Chouianard, the TTEC director, noted that in the early stages of hiring telecommuters at her company, there used to be a level of trusting the employee’s word that their equipment was up to speed. But that proved impractical, she said.
Now, technical experts at TTEC test job candidates’ computer speeds and other metrics of their home-based equipment during the hiring process. “It’s obviously critical to find that out early in the process before you hire people,” Chouinard said of ensuring that prospective employees have the right equipment to do the job. Once a new team member is onboard, TTEC regularly tests team members’ technical equipment to ensure that established technical metrics are maintained.
Ensure a good cultural fit.
To hire telecommuters who will be successful in the long run, Kaplan, the nationally recognized test prep company, takes steps to establish whether the job candidate will be a good fit. TRaD panelist Mari Kent, senior director of academic operations at Kaplan, said the company has moved away from its initial wariness about candidates who are enthusiastic about remote work. “It’s not a warning flag all of the time,” but instead may simply indicate their passion and commitment to working virtually, Kent said.
In its hiring process, Kaplan uses “score cards” that are similar for both remote and onsite job openings. For home-based workers, there’s a focus not only on self-discipline and core competencies to do the job, but also on whether a home-based employee can recognize when they need assistance. “We look for individuals who aren’t afraid to ask for help or ask for feedback,” Kent said.
Doi, of American Express, offered advice along the same lines, saying it’s critical that potential employers understand that working from home is not a “laid-back” situation when it comes to expectations for employee productivity. “That’s not the job,” Doi said. “The job really is identical to the job you would have if you were sitting in a call center.”
Emphasize engagement during the hiring process.
If your company is looking to hire telecommuters, here are some of the engagement strategies our panelists use at their organizations. Establishing similar programs and emphasizing them during the hiring process could help your recruitment efforts:
- Put some of the decisions about engagement activities in the employees’ hands, Petz said. “We ask, what do [they] want to do for fun?” she said.
- Highlight engagement activities like virtual happy hours, trivia contests, and platforms like Skype and Google Hangouts where employees can connect, Kent and Doi advised.
- Set up fun virtual contests and offer prizes like “company swag”—clothing or office items with the company logo—to drive participation. That tactic has met with success at TTEC, said Chouinard.
Readers, if you’re interested in learning more about how to recruit and hire telecommuters, contact us at TRaD Works to stay on top of the latest news and events and request an invitation to our upcoming TRaD Works Forum.
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