Hiring Managers today are realizing more candidates than ever before are seeking remote work to improve their work-life balances and provide themselves the best opportunities. In fact, The number of telecommuting workers has increased 115% in the last decade according to Global Workplace Analytics. However, not all hiring managers are in favor of this trend.
Remote work is currently one of the most debated trends in the workplace due to the vastly differing opinions about where employees are the most focused and perform at their best.
Both sides make a strong case for why telecommuting is more or less effective than the traditional use of human capital, but there is no true, all-encompassing answer and the decision to hire remotely can depend greatly on the role specifics.
At TwentyPine, we find that Salesforce is one of those industries that generally benefit from hiring remotely. On the candidate side, a lot of roles are web-based and project-focused, which is ideal for telecommuting. On the client side, remote workers are enticing because they can drastically improve the pool of talent for the hire a company is making.
We hear a lot of misconceptions about hiring remote talent, so let us break down the most common misunderstandings for you.
Fiction: Employees who work remotely are less productive.
Fact: SurePayroll reports that more than two-thirds of employers notice increased productivity from telecommuters.
Contrary to skeptics, working remotely allows employees to improve their overall efficiency.
Studies indicate that remote workers perform better, take less sick time off, are more engaged, and have greater senses of satisfaction with their work and personal lives.
Rather than being less motivated, remote workers have actually demonstrated even greater levels of dependability and productivity.
Additionally, an employee working from home is free from distractions like idle chatter at the water cooler, over-hearing co-workers’ conversations, being barraged with impromptu meeting requests, and having to take time to go to pot-luck lunches or birthday celebrations. Instead, they’re better able to focus on the tasks at hand without as many interruptions.
Fiction: Employers have nothing to gain from hiring remote workers.
Fact: The average business could save up to $11,000 per halftime remote employee, per year, according to an article on Lifesize blog.
One of the more unexpected benefits of adopting remote work is the reduction in overhead costs. Companies report that the work-from-home model lowers their operational costs, by cutting back as much as $10,000 per employee in real estate costs and reducing unscheduled absences-which generally cost employers $1,800 per employee per year-by as much as 63%.
Add in employees’ increased productivity, and the economic gains your organization will make as a result of hiring remotely will far outweigh any of the inconveniences of adopting a new style of work.
Fiction: Employees lose something by not being in the office.
Fact: Remote employees save more than 225 hours and up to $4,000 by not commuting resulting in higher levels of motivation from being able to adapt their work schedules.
Less time in the car translates to more time to focus on responsibilities and better morale, not to mention, an environmental benefit, due to employees consuming substantially less gas.
In addition to cutting down on commute times, flexible work schedules also allow employees to balance their jobs and personal lives better.
Consider if your analyst is a night owl. He might make his best decisions late at night when there are truly no distractions. Or maybe your developer is a weekend warrior: She might write her best code on laid-back Sunday mornings while sipping French-pressed coffee. Perhaps your administrator is most available to build reports and customize dashboards between 7:15 a.m., so he can still get his second grader on the school bus.
Remote work allows your employees to play to their strengths.
To compensate for the lost face-to-face interaction, your managers will simply have to place a greater emphasis on building rapport with your team by setting up video meetings, making time to get to know employees personally, and organizing quarterly retreats to develop cohesion on your team.
Fiction: It’s hard to manage remote employee progress and keep them engaged.
Fact: Communicating frequently and setting very clear metrics, weekly goals, and specific touch-point meetings to check in ensures they’re staying on task.
The engagement of your employees depend on the culture and norms developed by your organization. You don’t want to be policing every move your employees make outside of the traditional office space, but you also don’t want them to feel free to slack off.
Clearly defined timelines and progress reports hold employees more accountable to their deadlines. Office management tools such as Slack and Skype for Business allow employees to remain engaged on a day-to-day basis through accessible lines of communication.
Consider the work that a developer on your Salesforce team is doing. The nature of their job is very project-based, it usually comes with already defined timelines, and they like to work in “sprints” to finish the job. There isn’t much he or she can do in the office that he or she can’t do in the comfort of his or her own home and on his or her own time. Development especially benefits from an environment that is tailored to their needs and free from distraction.
Having trouble finding your ideal Solution Architect role? It may be time to widen your search!