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But, with the way we work starting to become more flexible, does the interview process need be tweaked to ensure businesses can find the right people, people who will work well when working remotely, 100 per cent of the time? Possibly. But before we dive into the detail here, let’s understand what exactly is meant by remote working, and what has led to its rise in popularity.
Attitudes towards traditional ways of working are also changing. And this is mirrored in the statistics -globally, more than half of all employers now allow some form of remote work. And from an employer point of view, the benefits are clear and are wide ranging, from a reduction in office space and cost of utilities, to the prospect of reduced employee turnover (Owl Labs’ also reported that companies allowing remote work experienced a 25% reduction in employee turnover, when compared to the 44% of companies worldwide that don’t permit remote work whatsoever).
Allowing remote working also provides access to a far wider talent pool – increasing your ability to access to in-demand skills. The benefit of remote working could help you attract top talent, for example, almost 70 per cent of Millennials – who will make up half of the entire workforce within the next two years – reported that they would trade other, more traditional workplace benefits in return for flexible working options. According to Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of WordPress, Millennials are set to get just what they want – in a recent Ted Talk, be predicted that 90% of the world’s most influential companies would be operating this way within the next two decades.
The benefits of remote working are clear to see from the remote workers perspective too – feeling trusted, valued and appreciated, with more flexibility and autonomy in their role. Unsurprisingly, then, Owl Labs’ found that remote workers felt much happier, and more productive, than those who worked in the office full time. Even one day of remote work per month was found to increase happiness and productivity by an astonishing 24 per cent.
Despite the substantial benefits of remote working, there are still potential pitfalls involved for both employer and employee, which both sides should be aware of. Breakdowns in both communication and collaborative working can still occur, simply by having an individual, or several team members, away from the rest of the business.
Remote workers can struggle to fit in with the culture of the workplace, suffer from loneliness and burnout, experience problems being consistently engaged with their work, and even come to feel shunned and left out.
Similarly, employees who don’t work remotely could come to feel undervalued, knowing that other individuals have been rewarded with this responsibility. In the TedTalk I mentioned above, Matt Mullenweg explained how he has acknowledged this problem in his own business. He revealed that he doesn’t actually describe remote workers as ‘remote’, as this implies that some employees are essential while others are not, instead he uses the word ‘distributed’.
So, regardless of what we call it, remote working certainly isn’t for everyone and for every organisation – which is why carefully interviewing candidates who have applied to work this way is so important.
Essentially, the trust that you place in your remote employees needs to be returned in the form of results. An article published by Forbes outlines 10 essential traits that you should be able to identify in the right individual, which will help you to decide whether they can deliver what you expect of them. The ideal candidate should be:
1. Someone who values results over process
2. A self-starter
3. Able to complete a test project
4. Both punctual and responsive
5. Motivated by something larger than themselves
6. A natural problem solver
7. Able to demonstrate attention for detail and the ability to track their KPIs
8. In possession of a strong, technical aptitude
9. Experienced in some form of remote work already
10.Focused on growth
The Owl Labs report also found that full-time remote workers were twice as likely to be individual contributors, as opposed to people managers, so this is another quality you could look for while interviewing candidates for the role.
By the very nature of how and where they will work, you may never meet the candidate, not even during the interview process. In these scenarios, video interviews are often used, allowing the interviewer to assess the candidate’s communication skills, body language and ability to engage with others. A video interview can help you to assess how comfortable they are when using technology, which could indicate how effectively they are likely to use it when working with the rest of your team.
The interview needs to allow you to assess if the candidate does indeed have the right traits to work effectively, remotely. Focusing on goals, experiences, problem solving abilities, and communications skills, the right questions could lead to very telling answers from the candidate.
So, below, I’ve plotted out some suggested interview questions, which I think will help you effectively assess a candidate who will be working remotely, 100% of the time:
The questions above should help you to ascertain which candidates are suited to working remotely, and which possibly are not.
Although this method of working is set to increase over the coming years, getting the correct person in place now is essential. After all, as businesses and working practices continue to evolve, these individuals could become the benchmark for future candidates, and help you to develop your remote-working strategies, policies, and targets over time. The ultimate proof of their suitability will be the standard of their work when in the job, but by approaching the interview in the right way, you’ll stand a good chance of identifying the right people to add to your remote workforce.
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