Remote working was a nice job perk until 2019-2020 when the pandemic exposed the business sector to a new reality. If an employee had a personal matter to tend to, an understanding manager would allow them to work from home that day.
Times have changed and remote working is now the standard. The technological advancements of the last two-three years have made it easier than ever to hold meetings, share ideas and manage entire departments from anywhere in the world as long as everyone has a high-speed internet connection. And so the great resignation started, with a lot of tech giants moving their operations online.
But any drastic change has its disparagers and remote working is no exception. There are still a lot of supporters of centralised workplaces that presumably stimulate cross-collaboration and guarantee maximum productivity. Do they?
The prevalence of open work spaces are often concentration killers – especially for creatives. Imagine being in the middle of writing an article or even something as straightforward as an email when suddenly someone calls your name from the other end of the room… your train of thought has gone completely off the track (you get the pun).
In spite of all the blistering criticism, hiring remote teams will become the norm. Sooner than we think. In its Future Workforce Report, freelancer network Upwork indicates that 38% of hiring managers estimate their teams will be predominantly remote in the next ten years. Furthermore, the World Economic Forum refers to remote work as, “one of the biggest drivers of transformation of business models.”
In this article, we analyse four reasons why hiring remote talent is the way to move forward. Generally, every new thing seems terrifying in the beginning. Yet, when you dare look beyond idiosyncrasies, you will be able to see the benefits. And hiring remote teams is one of those scary ideas and perhaps the best way to drive business growth.
Cut down office expenses
With the real estate prices going from high to high in Europe, most of the consumer and media interest turns to the cost of buying or renting a home and office space. According to Eurostat data, house prices jumped by 6.8% in the Euro area and 7.5% in the EU, in the third quarter of 2022 compared to the same period of 2021.
Hiring remote staff will save you the headache and the office renting expense. Your team will also benefit from the much coveted brain space they need to create and innovate. In addition, your employees will work even longer hours since they won’t need to commute anymore.
A treasure trove of talent
A handful of industries, such as tech or financial services tend to be concentrated in certain areas. Silicon Valley is the heartland of tech, famous for ultra-high cost of living and well, the billion-dollar worth start-ups. Similarly, Wall Street is the kingdom of finance, equally famous for six-digit costs. Only the best of the best get the chance to be interviewed by these companies. Even fewer make it …. until they don’t. After hiring comes firing. Meta, Microsoft, Amazon and Google have laid off more than 150,000 employees in the last few months. Where would all that talent go? Either start their own businesses or… work for other companies more willing and able to cater to their needs.
Having a geographically-distributed workforce gives you access to a diverse talent pool and, most importantly, culturally diverse. Cultural diversity fosters creativity, growth and innovation. Hiring employees with different backgrounds can only take your business to new heights.
Heightened productivity
Remote work detractors argue employees tend to slack off if left unsupervised. Gallup’s State of the American Workplace Report shows that professionals working remotely are in fact 60%-80% more productive than those who work in a traditional business environment. Furthermore, being able to work comfortably from home also increases concentration levels and the improves attention span. So, in short, you get more work done.
Remote work policies that allow employees to work on their own schedules have also been demonstrated to increase productivity. Having the option to take as many breaks as you want, when you want gives you a chance to recharge and put things into perspective without the pressures of the 9-to-5 environment.
Higher employee satisfaction and retention
It’s no secret that people enjoy working from home. And happy employees keep their jobs for long time. Remote work comes with unbeatable perks:
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- Work from anywhere – Whether you prefer working from home, a co-working space or a cafe, you can do it.
- Better work-life balance – Working from home means spending more time with your family, more time to recharge and more time for yourself too.
- Save time and money – Needless to say that not having to commute to work, not having to deal with rush hour traffic would save you the headache and the time.
Remote working not only eliminates the burdens of traditional business, but also shows that the company switching to remote working values its people and trusts them to perform, no matter where they are.
Moving your operations entirely online
Of course, nothing happens overnight. It will certainly take some time to adjust to the new status quo, especially, if you’ve been running a traditional business. Here are a few tips to help you find your path to running a thriving online business:
- Keep everyone connected. Establish a universal communication channel with your remote team(s). Whether you use Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Slack, or other videoconferencing tools, consistency is key.
- Make it easy to share work. When people are spread across five continents, working on the same project is challenging to say the least, without a tool such as Office365 or Google Docs which makes sharing and collaboration across teams seamless.
- Arrange payroll and health insurance taxes. Hiring people globally comes with the challenge of having to learn the local jurisdictions and policies regarding taxation. Make sure you plan everything properly.
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- Schedule regular department or team meetings. Remote employees are often unaware of the company’s overall progress and news. Having regular catch-up online meetings to update everyone on the latest developments will keep them engaged.
- Aim for a time zone overlap. Some remote companies require their employees to be in similar time zones. While this is not a prerequisite, it’s something worth considering especially for client-facing roles and teams working closely together – i.e., PR, Marketing and Design.
- Make banking smooth. Choose a digital payment solution that suits everyone’s needs. Zazoo is one such solution that allows easy banking wherever you are in the world. Designed with digital nomads in mind, Zazoo generates an EU IBAN for every user operating with and in the EU.
Offering a choice of payment models and options, the online payment app is easy to use from anywhere in the world and supports multiple currencies. Are you ready to go digital? Contact us to find out more.
