The digital age is driving major transformation in the workplace. Today, high-performing organizations operate more like empowered networks than traditional corporate hierarchies. And through all this change a new class of employee has emerged: the remote worker.
The biggest benefit of a remote workforce, from the company’s perspective, is “bar none, a massive talent pool to explore for great culture and skill fit,” says Jake Goldman, the president and founder of 10up Inc. 10up is a website design and development company with 115 team members.
While most remote companies report using phone and video conferencing to conduct job interviews, some used other means. Automattic, the web development company that operates WordPress.com and has more than 325 remote workers, conducts interviews mainly over text chat.
Remote companies also look for specific attributes that make people not only excellent remote workers, but also exceptionally productive employees. Remote companies LoveToKnow, ScrapingHub, and Speak, all say they specifically look for great communication skills, regardless of job function.
Traditional companies foster company culture mainly through in-person activities. Virtual companies come up with clever ways to build and develop remote company cultures. FireEngineRed, a marketing, technology and data solutions company, says the company has virtual book and walking clubs. The “water cooler” conversations might have to happen in a chat room, and it uses Yammer for extracurricular discussions.
One of the biggest concerns of in-office managers who allow employees to work from home is knowing whether those people will be productive at home. Face time -- seeing someone working -- plays a huge role in traditional management techniques, but in a remote environment, managers must adopt more accurate and focused measurements of productivity. ScrapingHub, a data and information extraction company with 107 remote workers, focuses on motivation over productivity.
In looking at what remote companies do differently than office-bound companies, it’s just that remote companies don’t have the physical presence to fall back on, so they tend to be more proactive in cultivating top notch management techniques early on. Specifically, communication skills are essential for the modern knowledge worker. Company culture is vital to hiring and retaining workers.
Switching management techniques to focus less on face time and more on goals and results would increase productivity at every company. As working from home continues to grow, all companies can learn from those that embrace remote work.
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