remote work – Page 4 – Talent500 Blog

5 Necessary tools for managing remote teams

Posted on April 1, 2022April 1, 2022 by satya

Much like the weapon of choice for any warrior, the right tools enable your workforce to perform to the best of their abilities. Having access to the right tool becomes all the more important in a distributed work setting, as team members now need to collaborate across multiple platforms and on numerous projects.

With over a hundred offerings for every single aspect of remote work choosing a tool that works best for your team can be quite a challenge.

We’ve curated the best tools for 5 essential aspects of remote work:

Communication

All successful remote teams leverage a combination of synchronous and asynchronous communication, which requires an entire arsenal of tools. We recommend finding tools that enable you to sync multiple time zones, and can easily be integrated with other applications. Our list of top communication tools includes

Slack

Did you know that ‘Slack’ is an acronym for “Searchable Log of All Conversation and Knowledge”? One of the most widely used communication tools throughout the world, Slack is said to reduce the number of emails by 32% and meetings by 23%. We love slack for its easy to use interface and seamless integration with numerous applications that we use daily.

Zoom

Thanks to the pandemic, Zoom’s popularity has skyrocketed due to the sheer number of video calls that every organisation now requires. Zoom’s USP lies in its versatility. From automated recording of meetings, to integrated breakout rooms, Zoom is a complete video conferencing solution.

MS Teams

A stiff competitor to Slack, Microsoft’s MS Teams is used by over 500,000+ organisations worldwide. Its inbuilt integration with all Office 365 tools like Word and Excel make it the world’s most widely used office collaboration tools.

Project Management

There are over a hundred project management tools in the market today. However, how a software development team functions differs greatly from how an advertising team functions. The trick is to find a project management tool that addresses the specific requirements of your team. Here’s our list

Jira

Jira is considered one of the best tools for agile project management used by software development teams. It is preferred by technical teams as it makes managing workflows, tracking bugs, and getting the next release together effortless.

Trello

An integrated solution for all your project management needs, Trello helps teams break complex deliverables into individual tasks. It offers a wide range of boards, from the simplest “to do/doing/done” workflow to a much more complex board offering options like “backlog/in progress/ blocked/paused/ready for launch/ live”.

Asana

While almost all project management tools offer functionalities like Gantt charts and Kanban boards, we love Asana because of its process management automation.

Knowledge sharing and storage

From GitLab to Airbnb, one thing all successful remote companies have in common is their policy of documentation and knowledge sharing. Having a single source of data which is universally accessible reduces the time spent on location and duplication, and also helps new participants understand the chronological chain of events. Our recommendations include:

DropBox

One of the oldest file sharing tools, DropBox is still used widely by individuals and organisations alike due to its interoperability. It’s easy integration with an exhaustive list of softwares, cloud security, and storage and search capabilities make it a favourite with teams globally.

Confluence

Atlassian’s knowledge management tool makes it to our list due to its structured storage and smart search functions. It allows automatic versioning, instant previews, full-text search, and pinned comments, making knowledge sharing a breeze.

Box

Much like DropBox, Box is another data and file storage solution aimed majorly at enterprise usage. If data security is high up on your priority list, we recommend using Box due to its advanced security controls, intelligent threat detection, and complete information governance.

Collaboration to stay in line with the flow

In the absence of a physical whiteboard and conference room, distributed teams need the right tools for effective collaboration. Today, there exist different tools to help with the various aspects of brainstorming and ideation, from digital whiteboards to video and screen recording applications. Our list includes:

Miro

An online collaborative whiteboard, Miro offers a wide set of functionalities including Agile workflows, ideation & brainstorming and mapping & diagramming. The one thing we love about Miro is its infinite canvas, enabling easy asynchronous collaboration.

Invision

Invision is a digital whiteboard that allows you to wireframe, plan, design presentations, and give and receive feedback smoothly. With over a hundred pre-set templates, planning and collaboration becomes smoother and faster.

Worldtimebuddy

Designed keeping in mind the needs of a distributed team, worldtimebuddy is a world clock, time zone converter, and online meeting scheduler. Simply add the locations of your teammates and then drag and drop the slider to find a good time to meet.

Rewards and recognition

Rewards and recognition form an integral part of any company’s culture. Still sending that old email to show your appreciation? It’s time to get a little more creative. Thankfully, there exist multiple tools that integrate with reward points or coupons to give your workforce tangible rewards.

Bonusly

Designed to help remote teams connect and increase employee engagement, Bonusly enables team members to recognise each other’s contributions and award points. The best part? The points can be redeemed in exchange for gift cards from numerous brands like Amazon, Uber, Starbucks and many more.

HeyTaco

A simple application that can be integrated with both Slack and MS Teams, HeyTaco uses “Tacos” as reward points. Team members can only give out 5 Tacos per day, ensuring that the rewards are used judiciously.

Kazoo

Created to help companies keep their employees motivated and engaged, Kazoo is used by over 600 companies throughout the world. Instead of simply offering a reward-framework, Kazoo also integrates functionalities to track progress, like goals and OKRs.

In the words of Peter Drucker, the founder of modern management, “Efficiency is doing things right. Effectiveness is doing the right things.” Choosing the right tool for your distributed team is a function of two factors – knowing your areas of operation, and understanding your team’s requirements.

Take the first step towards building your distributed workforce with Talent500. Our team of experts and network of highly skilled professionals help you build your global team in over 50 countries. Ready to take the first step? Set up a consultation with our team here.

Rethinking Remote Employee Benefits: Are you aware of these perks?

Posted on April 1, 2022April 1, 2022 by naveen

Remote employee benefits include more than just flexible hours and work-from-home opportunities. As companies are adjusting to most of their workforce working remotely, they are offering new benefits to encourage remote employees. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular benefits that new age companies are offering to their employees.

Why are companies incentivizing work from home culture?

A recent Gallup research shows that 59% of the U.S. employees who started working from their home during the coronavirus pandemic would prefer to become remote workers permanently.

To retain the talent and improve employee engagement, companies are offering some amazing benefits. Studies show that 69% of employees believe a wider array of benefits is important to be more loyal to their employer. Furthermore, 78% of employees report benefits programs as the major reason to stay with an employer.

Let’s face it, the pandemic has caused a major shift in how employees perceive job satisfaction. Here’s a list of some of the most popular benefits that new age companies are offering to their employees.

1. Mental health support

It is not surprising that ever since the pandemic hit us, mental health is on peoples’ minds. According to the recent US Census Bureau survey, more than 42% of people surveyed reported mental health issues such as anxiety or depression, an 11% increase from the previous year.

Employers are proactively providing mental health training sessions for remote workers virtually. If you think it’s the same self-guided meditation sessions scattered all over the internet, it’s not. Chevron Corporation is one such employer offering mental health and well-being support to its remote workers through its Employee Assistance and WorkLife Services program. This program provides remote workers access to licensed counselors to help them cope with mental issues.

Remote workers need more of a practical approach to prevent stress and anxiety and fight burnout. This is why companies are onboarding experts to offer support through mental health information sessions. Good mental health training helps remote workers create a more engaged, safer, and productive work environment without feeling isolated.

2. Increased location and schedule flexibility

Companies are increasingly appreciating the flexibility in work schedules and how it benefits both employer and employee. Employers are offering an increased level of flexibility allowing remote workers to take more responsibility for their schedules. This leaves scope to manage any precarious crises that may arise establishing a healthier work-life balance.

Companies are getting comfortable with custom scheduling and longer deadlines. There have never been better opportunities for remote workers to work from any location they want. If you are planning to become a remote employee but are worried about managing your personal and professional life simultaneously, increased flexibility in terms of location and schedule is an incentive that will help you strike a balance.

American Express, the credit card giant has adopted a flexible scheduling model for its workers offering them the flexibility to work from home and manage their timing for a more balanced work and home life.

3. WFH allowance

Monetary compensation is one of the major contributors to job satisfaction. Companies are incentivizing this by offering work from home allowance.

Remote workers often complain about missing the perks culture of being on campus. Employers like Google are building this gap by offering a stipend for buying home-office equipment, paying internet and phone bills, and setting up workstations.

Organizations are seeing the positive impact of moving dollars to the pockets of employees. Since other bills at home go up, adding WFH allowance in the benefits program makes remote workers feel rewarded.

4. Learning and development opportunities

Previously, remote workers were not able to benefit from upskilling programs companies offered to in-house employees. However, that is not true anymore.

As work-from-home culture is becoming the new normal, companies are offering numerous learning and development opportunities. A recent IBM research suggests that employees are 42% more likely to remain at the same company if they are trained to get more skilled and perform at a higher level.

Employers are helping remote workers learn new technologies, enhance their skills and grow professionally by offering an L&D budget. Another way they are encouraging employees to learn while working simultaneously is by partnering with courses on-demand providers such as Udemy and Coursera. Squarespace’s robust L&D program is a good example of how a blend of in-person and virtual classroom development experience can be effective for the self-paced upskilling of remote employees.

Many companies are now offering remote workers the opportunity to access premium online courseware as a benefit.

5. Subsidized insurance plans

Employers are adjusting their strategies to accommodate remote workers from a health benefits perspective. As employees working from home may not be in the same geographical region as the employer’s office, they may not benefit from in-network coverage offered by the company.

Companies are now offering subsidized insurance plans to help remote workers avoid paying higher costs. DuckDuckGo and the cryptocurrency group Ethereum Foundation signed up with SafetyWing, a company offering subscription-based travel and medical insurance for remote workers to provide insurance cover for their employees.

This adds to the sense of financial security of the employees making them more loyal to the organization.

The best way forward

At Talent500, we help companies build, manage, and scale their distributed teams. With our best-in-class benefits, managing a remote team becomes easy with us as your EOR. We leverage a host of community activities, learning and development initiatives, and many more methods to help bolster employee engagement. To know how we can help you achieve this goal, book a consultation online.

10 common questions to expect during your remote job interview

Posted on March 31, 2022March 31, 2022 by dikshant

According to our talent survey, 45% of professionals prefer completely remote jobs in 2022. If you’re one of them or intrigued by such opportunities, preparing for a remote job interview should be the top priority. While the process remains more or less the same, the type of questions encountered will be based on what you typically wouldn’t consider in the context of a regular job. And for those who are new to the remote workspace, doing some in-depth research into how the model applies to your field and the employer would be incredibly useful. All that being said, here are some of the questions you should consider to prepare for a remote job interview.

Why do you want to work remotely?

This is one of the most likely questions you’d face during a remote job interview. With this question, the interviewer is trying to understand your primary motivations behind choosing remote work. They will be looking at how the reasons why you want to work remotely relate to those of the company. The aforementioned research into the company, especially its values, will be of great use to adequately answer this question.

Describe your approach to time management during remote work?

This question helps potential employers see how you manage time for various tasks, communicate and collaborate with others. Some companies are very structured about what times employees are expected to be available whereas others might be more flexible. How you answer this question will give them an idea of how you would fit into the overall framework of the company. So remember to assess all these factors before answering the question.

How would you describe your workspace at home?

If a hiring manager or recruiter asks about your home office, be as specific and concrete as possible. Firstly, provide clear-cut details on what your work setup is like. Then, talk about the hardware and software in your workspace and how they will help you to do your job productively. During the remote job interview, you may be asked to show your workspace. So make sure your workspace exudes a sense of professionalism and poise before you attend the interview.

How do you plan to establish a good relationship with the remote team?

When you work remotely, it’s easy to feel disconnected from your coworkers and even disenchanted with your job. That’s why it’s important to maintain good relationships with team members, regardless of time zones or distances. When this question is asked during the remote job interview, talk about how you’ve maintained professional relationships in the past. Then, mention the steps you’d take to attain similar results under the remote model. These could include having conversations with coworkers outside of work, providing timely assistance, participating in recreational group activities online, etc.

What steps do you take to prevent distractions when working from home?

The thing most people don’t realize about remote jobs is that it can be difficult to stay focused when at home. Problems like friends calling for a chat, a sink full of dishes, or children at home from school all need to be accounted for. When you encounter this question during the remote job interview, mention all those distractions you could face and the strategies you would employ to avert them.

Have you worked from home before?

Don’t let this question bother you during the remote job interview if you don’t have any prior experience. The mass adoption of the remote work model is still an ongoing process in many countries. Hence it is not expected that you have all the specifics figured out. However, doing research to demonstrate some understanding of the work model in your answer can be reassuring for the interviewer.

How are you prepared for any net connectivity-related issues?

This is one of those questions that is meant to gauge your level of preparation for the role. Since internet access is an essential aspect of remote work, it is expected that you take all the necessary measures to ensure it all goes smoothly. When you get this question during a remote job interview, use it as a chance to show how proactive and intuitive you are. Mention all the alternatives you could use in case of failure such as backup hotspot devices, nearby net cafes, additional WiFi routers, etc.

Would you mind doing some travel for work if needed?

One of the perks of working under the remote model is to cut out the need for commuting to work. Yet, there can be instances when your physical presence is required. For example, an upskilling convention at a specific geographical location that required mandatory attendance from employees. Essentially, the purpose of this question is to see how willing you would be to travel if the situation demands it.

What are the pros and cons for you when it comes to working in an office?

A question like this during the remote job interview might be a test to assess your attitude towards work. Since you would have worked in a traditional office space recently, the chances are you would bring the same work ethic and mindset to remote work. Hence, take care to evaluate how every pro and con you talk about comes across to the interviewer. Don’t sound drab when listing out the downsides of working in an office.

How much supervision would you require to complete tasks successfully?

If you get asked this question during a remote job interview, don’t lose your composure. Answer it honestly. If you need a lot of guidance, or generally prefer to receive detailed directions for projects and tasks, say so. Then explain how you can get what you need from your remote manager and coworkers, such as by scheduling regular check-ins.

In essence, a remote job interview is not radically different from an interview for an on-site job. The level of preparation required is mostly similar in magnitude. The only distinction is taking time to prepare questions regarding the unique aspects of remote work and how it applies to your field. As long as you’ve done your research on those, you’re good to go.

Now that you know the kind of questions to expect for a remote job interview, check out remote work opportunities that might suit you. Visit the official Talent500 website for the latest updates on remote job openings in world-class companies.

Reskilling and upskilling: A strategic response to continuously changing skill demands

Posted on March 1, 2022March 1, 2022 by poosarladileep

Rapid digitization is forcing companies to take a long, hard look at the skills of their employees and invest heavily in reskilling them to maintain their position in the market. In its recent ‘Talent Trends’ report, PwC clearly outlined that “Developing a workforce with the digital and transferable skills you need — and the ability to adapt quickly in a world of constant change —does not happen organically or by accident.”

As an employer, the onus is on you to make employees partner in the upskilling and reskilling process, and get the most out of the investment you make in hiring the right talent. McKinsey has a warning for businesses, as they believe that 14% of the workforce worldwide will be forced to change jobs with the rise of artificial intelligence, automation, and other technological advancements in the coming years. The economies are already changing in response to digital innovation and the workforce has to adapt quickly in response. To remain a winner against such market forces, you have to invest in employee skill expansion.

Job requirements are changing at a faster pace

This rapid pace of change in job descriptions points towards the growing demand for upskilling. The importance of reskilling is highlighted in a new report on workforce upskilling by the World Economic Forum. The survey states that one in four adults reported a need for reskilling or upskilling to match the skills they need for their current job. Many legacy businesses fail to understand the fact that skill requirements are transforming at an unprecedented rate.

A Gartner report evaluating the skill requirement change pace showed that 33% of the skills listed in a typical job description in 2017 are no longer a requirement in 2021.

That’s a depletion of one-third of the skills within four years!

And, it’s not just for any specific position or role.

The same Gartner report highlighted that today, employers ask for 10% more skills than in previous years. Due to higher expectations and now-redundant skills, employers are looking for candidates with vastly different skill sets. This makes reskilling workforces more valuable.

The talent and skills gap is growing wider by the day

Another consequence of Covid was that it forced a large workforce to learn skills on the fly. Companies met this challenge with a varying degree of success, highlighting the need for an effective and efficient reskilling program at the workplace. As the adoption of technologies like blockchain and artificial intelligence continues to grow, equipping your workforce with the required skills to take up new responsibilities is a decision favorable to business growth. This is also mandatory to maintain the core competencies of a business.

Covid has accelerated the shift towards a global workforce. Most companies are shifting entirely or parts of their business online that require their employees to have different skill sets. According to McKinsey, 87% of CEOs report noticing skill gaps in their employees when the services are moved online. If this mismatch between skills and requirements is too large, companies have to think about reskilling the workers to better meet the requirements of the roles.

The good news is that many companies are already making it their top priority. As per an L&D study, 59% of the professionals’ rate upskilling and reskilling employees as the priority of their business goal for the coming year. As building new skills in employees is much more efficient than hiring a new workforce, it also positively impacts the employee-employer relationship.

Reskilling the workforce is a collaborative effort

Today, employees wield more power as the labor market has tightened laws. As an employer, it is your responsibility to make them feel that they have major control over their professional development. It doesn’t mean that you make them entirely responsible for reskilling efforts, but rather involve them in the upskilling and reskilling process so they do not feel like just a cog in a machine.

Start by explaining the tangible advantages of reskilling training to the employees. Let them know how their role requirements continue to change, and how reskilling is in their best interest. Also emphasize that employees will have a say in how their training will progress.

Reskilling can also boost employee retention as shown by an IBM research. According to the study, employees are 42% more likely to remain at the same company if they receive training that helped them perform their role at a higher level.

Make upskilling and reskilling your employees a priority for 2022 and beyond. It will play a pivotal role in ensuring your business growth and maintaining competency.

Talent500 can help bridge the skill gap and hire pre-vetted and location-independent professionals. To know more, request a consultation online.

Working from home vs. Working from anywhere: what employers must know

Posted on March 1, 2022March 1, 2022 by satya

What’s in a name?

Location-independent, remote worker, digital nomad – in the last couple of years, we have heard multiple variations of the same concept. Before we begin, let’s get our basics right.

Working from home is not the same as working remotely; while the former means exactly what it sounds like, the latter pertains to the idea of your workplace not being fixed. This could include digital nomads spending each month in a new continent, or a tech consultant travelling to multiple office locations every quarter. “Working from home” could refer to freelancers or full time employees; as well as remote workers.

A third category is that of hybrid workforces – where employees alternate between working from home and working from the office. Post pandemic, a large percentage of the working population chose to work remotely for some parts of the week. Tech companies like Twitter, Apple and Microsoft are great examples of companies that adapted smartly to the situation.

But why are we discussing this? In a nutshell, because being open to a location independent workforce is one of the best steps a company can take in order to increase its growth and productivity. The multiple benefits of being a remote first company include:

Access to an unrestricted pool of talent, unfettered by geographical barriers;
Cost efficient hiring, thanks to the comparative cost of hiring talent globally;
Increased levels of productivity as employees work according to their own schedules;
Increased flexibility for employees resulting in higher levels of autonomy, engagement and happiness;
Reduced operational costs in the form of office rent, electricity and other such fixed costs.

So how does a workplace make the transition? As the first step, here are some essential considerations that employers must take into account to nurture a remote workplace:

Asynchronous communication

In a geographically dispersed team, asynchronous communication enables each contributor to work according to their own time zone, but still play an integral part in the project deliverables. As an employer, encourage the use of asynchronous communication in the form of pre-recorded videos and voice notes, emails and slack messages wherever possible. Read more about how open source leader Github is using asynchronous communication to extract the complete productivity of its fully remote team.

Knowledge sharing

Colleagues located at different corners of the world can’t tap one another on the shoulder to ask questions or to get help. Siloed data is one of the biggest problems faced by remote teams, leading to a direct loss in productivity. Often, a large chunk of time is wasted in locating the most recent version of a document.

Having a central, universally accessible source of all work related information is a highly beneficial practice. More importantly, it ensures that attrition in the company does not result in loss of knowledge and data. From Auttomattic to Slack, a central source of knowledge forms the backbone of all successful remote workforces. Tools like Notion enable teams to document standard operating procedures along with related data. Box and Canto are great for the management of shared digital assets.

Boost social interaction

How do you build trust and relationships between coworkers in the absence of coffee breaks and water cooler conversations? In this podcast, Matt Mullenweg, the CEO of Auttomatic talks about how fully remote workplaces need to intentionally create avenues for social interaction.

Managers and leaders must intentionally include time for non-work conversations and regular team building sessions. This enables team members to form bonds of trust and empathy. From Gatheraround to Donut, there exist hundreds of tools to help strengthen the connection between members of distributed teams. We also love the idea of virtual water coolers – online spaces where remote colleagues can gather for casual conversations and non work banter.

Performance evaluation

Quality over quantity is a principle that applies squarely to most things, and evaluating your remote team is no exception. Begin by setting objective standards for the evaluation of your employees that are not based on the number of working hours. We recommend de-prioritizing the transactional nature of work and taking into account multiple metrics like customer feedback, collaborative effort and initiative.

A holistic evaluation of any employee’s performance includes self evaluation, one-on-one conversations and actionable, constructive feedback. In a remote setting, how you give instructions and feedback plays a major role in the way your workforce experiences your company culture. It is not enough to simply include the words “flexibility” and “empathy” in your core values; they must reflect equally in your performance evaluations.

Data security

Solar Winds, Colonial Pipelines and Sony – we’ve all heard of high profile cybersecurity breaches that have held sensitive data and millions of dollars ransome. Here’s a scary number – cybercrime could cost the world economy a total of $10.5 trillion annually by 2025.

As we work to establish completely remote workplaces, we must accept the fact that all-remote companies have to work harder to protect employee, corporate, and customer data. Subtract the secure network and firewall protections that all of us take for granted, and add the perils of working on public wifi or non-work computers – and you have the perfect recipe for disaster. Thankfully, there are a large number of steps that employers and employees can take to protect the security of their data. Some of these include the usage of VPNs (virtual private networks), sliding web-cams, password protected documents and a cloud based, centralised storage system.

Working remotely was always a highly viable option; however, it took a pandemic for us to realize how beneficial it could be for businesses universally. With technology and location strategy enabling us to eradicate the barriers of geography and time zones, there has never been a better time to build your global team.

Take the first step towards building your distributed workforce with Talent500. Our team of experts and network of highly skilled professionals help you build your global team in over 50 countries. Ready to take the first step? Set up a consultation with our team here.

6 steps managers can take to enhance the productivity of their distributed teams

Posted on February 16, 2022February 16, 2022 by naveen

Worldwide, the percentage of people working remotely has risen from 17% in 2019 to 32% in 2021. More importantly, 99% of people surveyed in this period chose to work remotely for some part of their week.

However, the shift to location-independent work demands a clear switch in the way managers lead their teams. As the manager of a remote team, how do you ensure productivity when you can no longer check in on your team physically? We’re here to help.

What we have learned

Flexibility is non-negotiable

A whopping 82% of workers surveyed said that that lack of flexibility is their mean reason for not accepting a job offer. 69% of millennials would give up on certain work benefits for a more flexible working space. Want to retain your star performers? You know what to do.

“Flexibility” refers to the ability of an employee to break free from the 9 to 5 window of traditional working hours. There remains little doubt today that the work-life narrative has taken a 180-degree turn post-pandemic.

With this intermingling of personal and professional responsibilities, it is important that every team member has the flexibility to decide how, when, and where they work.

Communication is essential, but so are boundaries

We understand that driving key results and outcomes requires you to stay on top of everything. However, it is equally important to not let the need for quantitative productivity eclipse your team’s quality of life.

Disconnecting from work is one of the biggest challenges faced by remote workers, with employees feeling that they must always be “present”. While it’s a good thing to be available for your team at all times, watch the thin line between “available” and “intruding”.

Our take: We highly recommend following the 9 to 9 rule – restrict all work-related communication between 9 AM to 9 PM.

Here are some steps that managers can take in order to enhance the quality of remote work:

1. Share your vision and goals

After all, there is no better motivation than a shared goal. Sharing your vision about the team’s short and long-term goals is a great way to get buy-in from your team members. It helps your team members find deeper meaning in what they do, and understand how they are contributing to the bigger picture.

We recommend dividing this into two stages:

Sharing the broader vision

By this, we don’t just mean the company’s vision and mission, although that’s a great place to start. Talk to your team members about the problem that you are solving as a company, service, or product. One of the best ways to motivate your team members is by helping them understand how their individual goals are aligned with the company’s goals.

Sharing short-term goals

Having shared the common goal with your team members, the next step is to get them on board with the short-term milestones. Instead of simply assigning tasks, include your team members in the ideation and goal-setting stages. Set realistic timelines after consulting with your team to ensure timely deliverance.

2. Find the right project management tool

From Trello and Asana to Jira and ClickUp, there are over a hundred project management tools today. The trick is to find a project management tool that addresses the specific needs of your team. Jira is considered one of the best tools for agile project management, whereas Trello helps teams break complex deliverables into individual tasks.

Is your team struggling to find an overlap between too many time zones, or facing trouble with collaboration? Understanding the barriers faced by your team will help you identify the tool that is the most effective for you.

3. Encourage asynchronous communication

Managing multiple time zones is a problem faced by most remote teams. Asynchronous communication solves this by giving team members the agency to work according to their own schedules. According to Darren Murph, Head of Remote, Gitlab, “the first steps to maximizing productive remote workflows include understanding and embracing asynchronous work”.

However, leveraging the complete potential of asynchronous communication will require some homework on your part. Documentation is a good place to begin with.

Digital whiteboards like Miro or knowledge management tools like Confluence and Notion enable each team member to participate according to their schedule. Ensure that all relevant details are stored at a central place, available to every stakeholder in the project. Divide all communication into synchronous and asynchronous according to urgency and importance.

4. Cut down on video calls

Remember the good old days, when video calls were a luxury, to be used only for connecting with overseas clients or team members in different branches of the office?

Not every conversation needs to be a meeting, and not every meeting needs to be compulsory. As a rule, try and make attendance optional for all meetings. This enables all key stakeholders to prioritize their day according to their individual requirements instead of forcing them to attend each call.

We also recommend cutting down on recurring meetings. Perhaps a project required bi-weekly updates in the beginning but will run perfectly well with a weekly meeting now. Dividing meetings into blocks of 25 and 50 minutes instead of 30 and 60 is another simple, yet effective way to reduce zoom fatigue. Many companies like Citigroup reserve a no-meeting day in the week, where the entire organization does not schedule any video calls.

5. Encourage autonomy and ownership

It is now scientifically proven that an increase in employee autonomy increases productivity. Want a productive team? Resist the urge to micromanage.

Instead of regularly checking in on your employees, define clear goals, milestones, and timelines. Remember that you hired your team due to their experience and skill set, and trust them to drive the results. If a team member has a specific skill or experience that is valuable to a project, encourage them to take the lead. When giving feedback, remember to give constructive, actionable points instead of mere criticism.

Not only does this build trust, it also increases job satisfaction. As a result, companies see a higher employee engagement and retention.

6. Invest in the right tech

Arming your team with the right tech and tools is one of the best ways to boost your team’s productivity. Here are a few ways in which you could empower your team by enabling them:

Home-office setup

The lack of a proper workspace is a big hindrance to productivity. Help your team members overcome this hurdle by giving them access to a home office allowance. Whether it is in the form of an ergonomic chair, uninterrupted power supply, or a better computer, these small steps go a long way in helping your remote team maximize its productivity.

Tech-tools and software

Imagine asking an athlete to run in the wrong shoes. Sounds stupid, doesn’t it? And yet, innumerable managers make the same mistake when they deny their team members access to certain essential paid software or applications. Most tools offer a limited period free trial – use this time to assess the value it can add to your deliverables.

Automation

Today, thanks to the integration of AI & ML into every industry, we have tools to automate the most repetitive and standardized tasks. From invoicing and data entry to inventory management and capturing customer feedback, there are tools to automate most processes. Freeing your workforce from these mundane tasks will enable them to concentrate on more analytical tasks.

In the words of Peter Drucker, the founder of modern management, “Efficiency is doing things right. Effectiveness is doing the right things.”

The way we work might have changed, but what remains constant is the role that good leadership plays in driving productivity in a team. Whether it is in terms of effective communication, taking ownership of tasks, or empowering and investing in your workforce, managers must lead by example.

6 strategies for building a hybrid workforce from CEOs who did it overnight

Posted on February 7, 2022 by shanthamurthy

Data from a study by Upwork’s Chief Economist, Adam Ozimek, is conclusive: the remote revolution is here and accelerating. The 5-year growth rate for fully-remote teams rose from 30% pre-pandemic, to 65% post-pandemic. The figures for work forces that can be called “significantly remote” and “some remote” are similar and favor flexible work.

While nobody was trained to pivot to a cloud-based office overnight, some of the biggest names in the industry have – and increased their markets while doing so too! Read on to learn from 6 companies leading the remote-hybrid work challenge.

Twitter: Flexible work starts with flexible leadership

The attitude a company’s leadership has towards work from home defines how the option is received. For Twitter, the option to work from home “forever” was always on the cards. Back in 2018, Jack Dorsey, then Twitter CEO, had mentioned the idea of Twitter employees being open-minded when it came to flexible work and “optimizing for where people feel their most creative.”

When leaders are positive about remote work, employees can leverage the option to its fullest potential. Employees know that they aren’t going to “miss a promotion”, have to meet certain “expectations”, or have to worry about “micromanagement”.

Jennifer Christie, Chief HR Officer at Twitter, urges Tweeps to #LoveWhereverYouWork. “Opening offices will be our decision, when and if our employees come back, will be theirs,” she says.

Slack: Manager-employee transparency is crucial to success

Slack backed up its decision to offer employees the “option to work remotely on a permanent basis if they choose” with healthy, open conversation.

According to studies, many employees quit for reasons such as:

No clear direction
Poor relationships with managers

Slack avoids these and does an excellent job at engaging employees by bringing future-defining deliberations into the common forum. When employees are made part of the process of change, the buy-in is strong. For instance, while affirming that the company will be more distributed in the future, Slack asks its employees to think about things like:

The challenge of building a culture of belonging
Improving trust amongst employees who have never met in person.

By being open about the hurdles, Slack employees are more likely to share a common vision. Ultimately, Slack has its employees understand that remote work is more than “technology and tools”. It’s about “culture and norms”.

Upwork: Productivity cannot be tied to a desk, but the office isn’t dead

For freelance platform Upwork, remote work has always been part of their DNA. However, the pandemic led it to a remote-first model. Its CEO, Hayden Brown tweeted, “Going forward, working remotely will be the default for everyone, while teams will also be able to come together—once it’s safe—for intentional collaboration and socialization.”

From the time of the announcement, May 2020, till December 2021, Upwork’s market cap has grown from $1.43 billion to $4.27 billion, and this includes its rising beyond $7 billion on multiple occasions.

Loss of productivity? The figures point to the opposite.

However, instead of shutting all offices, Upwork intends to work with 2 of its 3 workspaces. The reason? “Intentional collaboration and socialization.” Yes, despite the upsides of remote work, Upwork’s approach shows that companies must find space for human connections.

Google: Hybrid work models must be effective and attractive

Tech giant Google seems certain that a fully remote setup cannot be the future for its vast and myriad operations. In-person collaboration is a must. Its approach has been that of encouraging “voluntary return to office”, and secondly of embedding flexibility into Googlers’ work life in multiple ways.

At Google, hybrid work is attractive:

~60% of Googlers will work from office about 3 out of 5 days a week
~20% of Googlers can work from global locations
~20% of Googlers can work remotely
To support holiday travel, Googlers can work from anywhere for about 4 weeks
Employees across Google will enjoy the day off on “reset” days

After tasting the benefits of remote work, many employees seem to need a reason to return to the office. With hybrid work being unchartered territory, companies like Google are envisioning work models that safeguard company culture and goals, as well as allow for employee benefits.

Salesforce: Remote-first works best when coupled with employee-first

In an interview with CNBC, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said he expects 50-60% of his workforce to work from home in the future. This step towards a digital future despite making huge real estate commitments showcases Salesforce’s greater commitment to its people.

For Salesforce, becoming remote-first is a product of being employee-first. When the pandemic struck, the company ran employee wellness surveys to discover employee pain points. The results were revealing.

~50% of employees wanted to come to office only few times each month
80% wanted to remain connected to a physical space

Keeping the results in mind, Salesforce devised a hybrid work plan in which:

Most employees will come to office 1-3 days a week
Some will be fully remote
A small amount will be predominantly office-based

Keeping to its people-centric approach, Salesforce doesn’t compel itself to fit hybrid work into the confines of company culture. Rather, it views the future of work as “the next evolution of its culture.”

Shopify: The home office deserves to be an office

Amid the pandemic, CEO Tobi Lütke announced that Shopify would henceforth be a “digital-by-default company.” “Office-centricity” in his words was “over.”

Shopify had remote employees on their roster well before the pandemic, and the company was proficient at this model. Existing remote workers would know that even if office-centricity was over, the office experience wasn’t. That’s because Shopify considers investments in home office setups a matter of great importance, according to an interview with John Riordan, Director of Support, Ireland. It’s about making work from home sustainable, even enjoyable. Amid the pandemic, Shopify is reported to have offered its employees $1,000 towards their home office setups!

The approaches taken by industry leaders show that when you are open to change, people-first, and intentional with your vision, the transition to hybrid work can happen without major hiccups.

How to land a high paying remote job as a frontend developer

Posted on February 4, 2022February 4, 2022 by vallish

Landing a high-paying remote job with numerous perks such as paid vacation, fat bonuses, etc. is the dream of many frontend developers – pros and newbies alike.

Are you one of them? Have you been fantasizing about getting a remote developer job that pays you over $100k a year and allows you to travel the world?

Luckily, that dream is quite possible.

And that’s what this post is about. To show you practical tips for landing that remote developer job you’ve always dreamed of.

A note of warning, though: there’s nothing magical about these tips. And they won’t be so easy. As such, if you are looking for quick fixes or shortcuts, you are better off looking elsewhere. But if you are ready and willing to put in the needed work and persist, this post is definitely for you.

Let’s get started already.

In-Demand Skill Sets

Before setting out to find a remote frontend developer job, you need to pick up the right skillset. Or at least decide which skill to focus on first.

The thing is, front-end development is very wide, and the programming languages are nearly endless. React, Angular, Sass, jQuery, Vue.js, Typescript, CSS…the list is endless. Unless you are Albert Einstein, mastering all these languages is as good as impossible. The good news is that you don’t have to.

Just pick one or two languages and run with them. For example, you can pick React and then complement it with CSS or Sass (or both), and you are good to go. Not sure which language you can take up? Start with React. It is not only very popular but also in demand.

Need proof? As of right now, there are over 56,000 React Developer jobs on Indeed.

With that said, here are easy, practical steps to getting a remote job as a front-end developer.

“A goal without a plan is just a wish”….Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

What are your plans for securing that dream job? If you don’t have one yet, the tips below can help.

Tip 1: Focus on high-paying companies

If you are going to be well-paid as a developer, the best thing to do is apply to clients willing to pay you handsomely. This set of clients understand your worth and are willing to pay you nicely.

How do you find such clients? The key is searching for them in the right place. And one good place to start is AngelList. On AngelList, you will find lots of vetted, well-funded startups that don’t shy away from paying developers nicely. Other online platforms to find high-paying clients include Workable and Stack Overflow

Regardless of the route you choose, keep in mind that the goal is to pitch high-paying clients. These include well-funded startups, established organizations such as Salesforce, Oracle, Google, and big agencies.

Tip 2: Know your salary expectation

Try and get a rough estimate of how much front-end developers make on average. Knowing this will help you adjust your salary expectation appropriately. Looking at different job postings, as well as websites like Glassdoor is a good idea.

Tip 3: Establish credibility to make people want to pay you more

There are lots of crappy developers out there that make finding good ones a bit hard. That said, it’s important to establish credibility as a developer to get the attention of a potential employer. In other words, a mere glance at your profile should assure a client that you are indeed a pro.

Here’s how you can begin:

Contribute to discussions – both online and offline – within your industry.
Share your thoughts on established online directories such as Quora, Medium, Forbes, etc.
Share testimonials of past clients you’ve worked with on your portfolio website or social media handles.
Volunteer for a charity cause.

These are just a few suggestions to help you get started!

Tip 4: Target countries and cities where developers are paid well

Like real estate, location also matters a lot when it comes to landing a high-paying front-end development job. You will want to target clients located in countries and cities with a high standard of living. Vancouver, Copenhagen, London, Raleigh, are some of them.

You should also keep your job search in countries with high demand for developers with good wages. The United States, The United Kingdom, Central Europe, Singapore, etc. are good examples.

Tip 5: Target the right job sourcing platform

There are a ton of websites where you can find remote work. However, not all of them were created equal. The right job sourcing platform should be able to connect you with a wide range of potential employers, and also give you the flexibility of choosing between long and short term projects, like Talent500. You could also try platforms like Upwork, AngelList, Stack Overflow Jobs, etc.

These are platforms you will find enterprise clients looking for talent like you.

Tip 6: Work on lots of freelance projects

You don’t necessarily need to work as a full-time developer for a company to rake in $100k a year. Chasing freelance gigs can even make you more and in a shorter time.

Should you aim to do ten projects of $10k, five projects of $20k, or two projects of $50k a year? Well, it all depends on how skilled you are at finding freelance projects. You can leverage websites such as X-team, Gigster, etc to find remote freelance projects.

Alternatively, you could ask for referrals from your network. You never know where it might lead you. If those aren’t working, consider running ads on Google to market your skills.

Tip 7: Work from cities with low taxes

One of the major benefits of remote work is that you can work from any corner of the world. Nevertheless, some countries and cities have unfavorable tax laws, and you will want to avoid them. They include Los Angeles, Washington, Illinois, Seattle, and a host of others. You might end up blowing up your earnings on taxes if you work from these cities.

What to do?

Move abroad to tax-friendly countries to maximize your earnings. They include the Cayman Islands, Monaco, Bahamas, etc. Surprisingly, the cost of living in these places is anything but costly.

Tip 8: Get help from established developers

What better way to become a highly paid developer than to learn from already established developers who are making it big time?

So, we scoured the internet to find tips and advice from high-earning developers. Here are some that we found:

Continually invest in your development. Most importantly, invest in skills that pay.
Master the art of marketing your skills.
Get certifications.
Get used to doing things differently.

Tip 9: Send cold pitches to startups

Is there a startup or organization you’ve always wanted to work for? Why not send them an email introducing yourself and stating what you can do for them?

For one thing, sending cold pitches saves you the trouble of competing with other developers for a job role. If you don’t have any particular startup in mind, head over to Crunchbase or AngelList. There, you will find a ton of companies you can pitch to, together with the contact details.

Better yet, you can check out websites such as The Muse or Venturefizz. You will also find a list of companies you can contact for a remote job role.

Tip 10: Attend startup events

Even though it is a remote role that you are looking for, you don’t have to keep your job search exclusively remote. It is always a good idea to connect with real people by attending startup events within or without your city.

Attending startup events affords you the opportunity to meet with startup founders and recruiters looking for talents like you. Not sure how to find such events?

Head over to Meetup.com or Eventbrite and plug in your city. You will find lots of upcoming events you can attend.

Landing a high-paying remote job as a front-end developer is anything but hard or complicated. By following the tips we’ve shared in this post, you are halfway to getting one.

Another way to get there reliably is to sign up for Talent500. Join a global network of developers, upskill efficiently, and position yourself for success amongst the top Fortune 500 companies. Get started today and sign up now!

8 ways to boost employee engagement levels to new heights

Posted on January 25, 2022January 25, 2022 by surya

There is no doubt that employee engagement is critical to employee satisfaction and retention. To put this in numbers, companies that can successfully engage their employees increase their chances of retention by 87% as per studies. A happy and satisfied workforce is motivated to churn out their best, perform optimally and maintain better overall productivity, ultimately adding to company coffers.

Unfortunately, the pandemic and its restrictions have made employee engagement an uphill battle for HR departments. With little to no personal interaction and a taxing transition to the remote work environment, many companies now face a significant change in culture. While this has received positive feedback, it has led to low employee engagement in many cases. Addressing this problem is critical, and there are many tactics you can undertake.

Here is a mixed bag of long-term strategies and quick fixes you can implement to boost your company’s employee engagement.

Optimize processes to increase efficiency at work

Prior to the pandemic, a OnePoll survey found that 26% of an employee’s time in a working day is wasted doing unnecessary chores. These tasks included working with outdated processes and technology or attending unnecessary meetings that offered little to no value. The impact of such inefficiency worsened in a remote working environment. The Gallup State of the Global Workplace Report in 2020 found that engagement dropped to 20% last year. Naturally, it is safe to assume that this did no favors for an employee’s overall daily performance.

Replacing inefficient practices with optimized and time-saving ones can improve an employee’s work quality, thereby boosting morale. For instance, having an effective document management process in place can ensure that employees have one less thing to worry about, making work manageable. According to the same report, work-induced stress was also at a high, with worry amounting to 41% of the problem. Instituting provisions that minimize instances of stress and worry is sure to increase efficiency, and engagement as well.

Create open communication channels and prioritize feedback

Communication is another aspect of an employee’s workday that normally requires optimization. This not only includes HR-employee communication but also communication among colleagues. Effective comms ensure employees can complete daily tasks without any hitches. Streamlining modes of communication can further help streamline workflow, as well as the chain of command.

With more companies embracing remote or hybrid working styles, it is now essential to have desktop-less communication channels. This will help ensure:

Easy accessibility and availability of all persons involved with a given project.
Reduce friction caused by the lack of physical presence, usually known to restrict workflow.

Employees want feedback, as this helps them feel acknowledged. It simultaneously improves employee engagement as there are no gaps in the communication. Enhancing communication between management and employees seems the obvious first step in this regard. Other smart options include:

Asking managers and team leaders to schedule frequent check-ins and review sessions with their teams.
Providing additional training to ensure that a blanket-style approach isn’t employed to every employee’s need or problem.
Creating an environment that encourages open and honest conversation between employees and management.
Encouraging managers to deploy every possible communication channel to give and receive feedback.

Review and polish your onboarding process

Well begun is half done, and this applies to your company’s onboarding process as well. This is a pivotal moment where the new joinee gets a first-hand experience of the company’s culture, atmosphere, and fellow employees. If done right, it can set the correct tone for a new employee, helping them envision their career growth and personal development. So, your onboarding should lay the foundation of a working relationship that is engaging and inclusive.

A critical aspect of the onboarding experience is the office intranet. It helps new employees to know and understand your business, the processes to be followed, fellow employees, and company culture. Moreover, adding a personal space like ‘My Profile’ provides a digital space for employees to express themselves, building camaraderie. All of this guarantees a simple, effective, and seamless onboarding experience, ensuring employee engagement from the start.

Provide working flexibility to employees

Employees expect their companies to help them achieve the elusive and much-needed work-life balance. They expect employers to be empathetic enough to help them meet their personal commitments. Work-from-home flexibility and remote opportunities were proven tools that guaranteed satisfaction, and to an extent increased employee engagement. But with the pandemic and the recent shift to digital working conditions, additions must be made.

For instance, allowing your employees to choose their work timings is a good start. This shows that you care about them and their personal lives and are invested in their well-being. Optimize your processes and workflow in a manner that allows your employees freedom in choosing their timings. Showing empathy on your part will significantly boost engagement and overall productivity.

Recognize, appreciate, and reward employee efforts

When employees feel acknowledged, valued and rewarded, they are motivated to do better. However, this should not be the sole purpose of recognizing and appreciating employee efforts. Ensure that you do so solely for the quality of work and effort, highlighting their value to the company. Seeing colleagues being motivated and rewarded for their work and efforts will also boost the morale of the entire workforce. It will inspire them to work harder, ultimately improving employee engagement.

Invest in upskilling your workforce

Investing in your workforce is synonymous with investing in your business. Providing employees with opportunities, training, and education to upskill tells employees that you see potential and are ready to invest in them. Not doing so can not only harm productivity, but also affect retention and employee engagement. Helping your employees improve in the very aspects they are lacking inspires confidence, improving engagement.

Promote shared company culture and core values

Take efforts to promote a consistent culture and core values throughout the company. This ensures that every employee shares, and is part of a common culture that drives them at work. While it helps improve employee interaction and engagement, it also helps align employee goals to company purpose. A transparent and shared company culture results in a highly productive and fun working environment. Moreover, it fosters a bond of trust between managers and employees.

Undertake actionable employment satisfaction and engagement surveys

A successful employee engagement strategy is incomplete without taking honest feedback and reviews. A transparent and collaborative approach can help you build a lasting and effective engagement program. To this effect, undertake regular feedback in the form of polls, surveys, and interviews. This makes the employee a stakeholder in the betterment of the workforce, providing you with actionable data about your engagement program.

Money is not the only reason employees leave companies. Employees today want a job that caters to their well-being while treating them with respect and in an inclusive manner. A well thought-out and employee-centric engagement program can help you create a brand that attracts new talent and retains the current workforce.

As per a survey, a point increase in employee satisfaction transcends to a 1.3-point increase in customer satisfaction. So, it is in your company’s best interest to prioritize employee well-being to ensure customer happiness.

At Talent500, we help you build employee engagement solutions that feature a streamlined onboarding process, and access tools that optimize engagement. With our best-in-class benefits, managing a remote team becomes easy with us as your EOR. We leverage a host of community activities, learning and development initiatives, and many more methods to help bolster employee engagement. To know how we can help you achieve this goal, book a consultation online.

Workplace bias is real: Combat it & attract the best global talent

Posted on December 1, 2021December 1, 2021 by poosarladileep

Sigmund Freud, through his famous Iceberg Analogy, illustrated that the unconscious, what’s not apparent at first, plays a huge role in behavior and decision-making. Simply put, the brain uses mental shortcuts based on past experiences to arrive at decisions. Think of it as the hunter-gatherer in you using a quick pathway to process tons of information. It’s a great route for survival, but is it a recipe for success—and that too in the modern hybrid workplace?

For instance, anchoring bias affects our judgment to the extent that we favor the initial experience or first bit of available information. One may make adjustments, but these are “typically insufficient” suggest Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, psychologists of Nobel Prize fame.

Think of the trajectory of remote work:

Month	% of employed persons who tele-worked or worked at home for pay at any time in the last 4 weeks due to COVID-19
May 2020	35.4
August 2020	24.3
November 2020	21.8
February 2021	22.7
May 2021	16.6
August 2021	13.4

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Is remote work shrinking because of the benefits of on-site work? Or because decision-makers have their views on remote work anchored in a negative experience? Such questioning becomes pertinent when you consider that a McKinsey study posited that 29-39% of the U.S. population could spend more time working remotely without loss of productivity.

The truth is that it is wholly possible for unconscious biases to creep into professional decision-making, especially as we move into the remote and hybrid working models. In such a case, conscious action needs to be taken. To get on the right track, consider these common avenues of bias and learn how to counteract and build a diverse, inclusive, and effective workforce.

Equitable hiring demands objective criteria

A study by MIT and UChicago found that when resumes containing African-American- or White-sounding names were analyzed, those with white names earned 50% more call-backs.

Another study, by researchers at UPF’s Department of Political and Social Sciences, found that on average, women are 30% less likely to secure a job interview than men with the same characteristics.

A third study, analyzing data from Paris found that applicants of North African origin and those linked to Islam faced hiring discrimination, regardless of their religion and national origin respectively.

Why does this happen?

One reason is affinity or implicit bias: This is when recruiters favor applicants who are similar to them or share experiences with them. Age, gender, race, and more often play a role here, becoming attributes that bring up unconscious bias. In a word, the similarity makes recruiters feel safer, but the trade-off is diversity and inclusion in the workforce.

Another reason could be the attribution bias: This is when you make a judgment about someone without sizing them up objectively. Here, persons from certain ethnic groups could easily be looked on as less effective. A Yale study showed that such class bias arises in hiring processes within a few seconds of the applicant speaking.

How to combat it?

The first step is being aware, and the second step is to be objective. A case in point is a study that illustrated how blind orchestra auditions were better for women musicians!

Here are some actionable ways to steer clear of sexism, racism, and ageism:

Have a diverse hiring team
Ask the same questions to all applicants
Give a second look to those applicants that you think aren’t up to the mark
Try ‘name-blind’ resumes
Consider using a voice-changing software
Set targets for diversity and inclusion

Remote work demands a level playing field

The year 2020 was the turning point for remote work, and yet, such may not truly be the case to the extent imagined.

~70% of employees desire remote work options, says a Microsoft survey.
40% of U.S. employees would take a salary cut to retain flexible work, with 47% ready to call it quits if hybrid work wasn’t an option, as per an Envoy survey.
77% of those who worked remotely at least a few times a month, agreed that working off-site makes for increased productivity, as per a study by ConnectSolutions.

Yet, an SHRM research shows that:

42% of supervisors confess to sometimes forgetting remote workers when assigning tasks.
29-34% of remote workers feel that working remotely will dampen their career prospects.

Further, U.S. labor statistics show that:

Remote work is on the decline, from 35.4% in May 2020 to 13.4% in August 2021. (See introduction)

Harvard Business Review also notes that:

When the right to work remotely is scrapped, it’s the lower-level employees who suffer.

Why does this happen?

Earlier, the anchoring effect was considered, where an initial perception greatly determines the final outcome. The danger is that if one’s initial experience is negative, then you end up with confirmation bias, the tendency to search for reasons to support your beliefs. So, if you’ve had a bad experience with Anthony, who slacked off while working remotely, you think that Anna’s delayed submissions are due to lack of effort or because remote work is just a bad concept to start with.

In addition to this halo versus horns contrast that may be unconsciously applied to on-site versus off-site employees, there’s also the issue that statistics point out that, ‘out of sight is out of mind’. It’s natural to feel comfortable about handing over the next big project to the employee who’s at the office day in and day out rather than to someone who works remotely. But as a McKinsey report displays, if you favor fully on-site work talent is at risk. Bias, even unconscious, affects your bottom line.

How to combat it?

Many industry leaders now suggest that if you’re convinced about hybrid work, the tone at the top needs to be clear. In other words, senior management needs to work from home. It sends out a clear signal: “We’re offering flexible work options — and it’s okay to do it!”

A good list of actionable steps include:

Having the executive team work remotely
Using data to track productivity
Avoiding micromanaging remote workers
Cross-checking that you’ve considered remote workers for the next assignment
Planning virtual and in-person meets with remote teams
Providing remote-work perks in lieu of those others get at the office

Unconscious biases can kill talent. It is most commonly seen when emotion and gut override objectivity to the detriment of remote workers and persons of a particular gender, race, age group, or religion. Now that you are conscious of the problem, it’s time to take concrete steps to see diversity and inclusion flourish in your workforce.