The HR World is Getting Smaller!
Remote work has been a small part of the employment landscape throughout history. However if you still think that you need to have your employees sit next to you every day, think again. The days of being cooped up in your cubicles are gone! Thanks to the internet now, you could be working with employees and colleagues from across borders and time zones. These opportunities are in abundance, spurring many new companies to successfully connect to people forming remote teams. Although setting up offshore teams has become more prevalent, many employers are still hesitant about the jump from traditional office spaces. The main question is: Should you hire remotely?
While many business owners will tout the merits of managerial oversight as a primary detractor to not hiring remote workers, studies have increasingly shown that the benefits can outweigh the negatives. The idea of working without a supervisory eye makes it seems that remote workers have more time to slack and laze around, but that cannot be further from what actually happens. Even though working remotely gives people more flexibility, it does not mean that they skive off their work. In a recent Global Workplace Analytics survey, it was reported that 53% of remote workers were likely to work overtime, while only 28% of their in-office counterparts suggested they would do the same. Additionally, some 86% of people surveyed on remote.co said working remotely allowed them to hit maximum productivity!
Next point would be interesting be it you are a startup or a Fortune 500 company. Having a remote team will save you money! Salary rates differ from market to market; hiring offshore can cut employment costs while promising the same capabilities. A study showed that a business could save $10,000 per employee each year in real estate costs, not to mention other overhead costs associated with having employees on location such as stationery supplies and ergonomic chairs are not included yet. Finally, multiply that by the amount of staff you potentially may have. You got my point.
When you hire people only from within your country, you are restricting your accessible talent pool. We are not saying that talent is super limited here but it must be true that it is ideal having the world to choose from. If you want high quality talent but can’t afford to break the bank, hiring remote teams is a practical move especially for smaller businesses who want to be cost-efficient and have a wide variety of options. Venturing into offshore talent pools can certainly help boost the possibility of finding someone who fits the needs and profile of your company. It will be such a pity if the limitless talent pools offshore remain untapped.
The bottom line still remains with the fact that you would have to fine tune your hiring process for remote employees, by building a greater element of trust, culture and engagement. If these are done right, then hiring remotely will potentially give your business a competitive and crucial advantage.
