While many companies are reaping the benefits of hiring remote staff many people are hesitant due to the certain stigmas. While these could potentially be a problem for you, if you find the right company to partner with, they should either directly solve these problems for you or teach you how to overcome them. The three most common arguments against remote staffing would be: management, communication, and how they affect your current staff.
MANAGEMENT OF REMOTE STAFF
It’s a myth that you won’t get to manage your staff. The whole point of remote staffing is that you get to focus on the operations side of things, the remote staffing company you partner with will handle all administrative tasks involving them, HR, IT, and when it calls for it, recruitment. If you’re worried about monitoring and measuring your remote staffs’ productivity there are tools for that as well. Applications such as time tracking software and project management software are available for that extra oversight that you might be wanting.
On top of applications, some remote staffing companies offer onsite management. This comes in the form of an account manager. This person will act as your boots on the ground when you need the extra oversight or just want someone to physically watch over your employees. Obviously this works better if your remote staff are working in the office, but still functions as a second check and balance as even if they work from their own homes, the account manager still functions as a point of contact.
COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS
Staying in touch with your staff seems like a much bigger challenge than it really is. With a plethora of chat applications out there now, communication is easier than ever. In the event that computers are all down, you are still able to use phones and any agreed upon communication methods. Apps like Skype, Slack, Zoom, and more mobile ones like What’sApp and Viber allow people from all over the world to stay in contact with each other. Just choose the ones that work best for you and your staff.
Another common point that is brought up is the language barrier. This is a big point as how can you have staff working for you, if you can’t communicate with them? On EF’s Proficiency Index, the Philippines is ranked #27 out of 100 countries that speak English outside North America and ranks #2 out of 24 in Asian, only being beaten by Singapore. Most people in the Philippines can speak English. From blue collar to white collar, workers can speak some level of English. During your talks with a remote staffing company, make sure you indicate your level of English proficiency to make sure you get the quality you want. As part of the interview process, you should be the last person the candidates talk to, so you’d be able to gauge their English yourself.
REMOTE STAFF’S IMPACT ON CURRENT STAFF
Many people worry about how hiring remote staff could adversely affect their current staff. All initial thoughts generally end up with one conclusion: their jobs would be at risk. To make a long story short, the remote staff wouldn’t replace them, just make their jobs easier. More often than not, remote staff take over backend tasks which frees up your staff to do more important and time sensitive tasks.
Many of these cons are listed due to a single bad experience. If you’re serious about hiring remote staff, make sure that the company you select to help manage your staff is one that you can work with. They take responsibility for the administrative side of things so you can focus on having them up and running and doing what they need to do.