As a small business, you need to use every little advantage that you can get. Sure, you may not be able to lower the prices compared to your competitors or offer more, but you could definitely hire better talent. How? By looking abroad. In the era of remote work, you can hire people from across the city, across the country, or across the world. Here are six organizational ideas to help you get the most from it.
- Hire Globally
People from different regions work for more competitive wages. This means that you get the top talent and get to save money while hiring them.
With the use of VPN, geo-restrictions are not a problem. You see, regional restrictions can sometimes block platforms that your employees would need for their work. Now, even if there is a regional flair on the platform that you want to hide from your partners, your staff members can just use a VPN and be done with it.
Just keep in mind, while doing it, that you insist that they use VPN on all of their devices. Sure, they need it on their Windows laptop, but they also have to install an Android VPN on their phone.
Hiring people from other time zones also means that you’ll have an easier job, achieving 24/7 availability. These are the people who don’t have to stay late in order to cover your graveyard shift. They can just work their regular hours, and because of the time zone difference, it will be late hours in your home region.
Lastly, a person from a different culture always has a fresh perspective to offer.
- Flexible Working Hours
Another thing you need to keep in mind is that allowing your employees to work flexible hours actually benefits you in so many different ways.
The biggest advantage of this is that you get to adapt to employees’ peak productivity times. Different people work best during different periods and at a different pace. With flexible working hours, they can do several two-hour shifts per day and be the most productive they can be.
Another thing you need to keep in mind is the importance of balanced work-life integration. A lot of people are looking for a job that they can mold to their own schedule. Sure, they’ll mold their schedule to the job when they have to, but this will never be their first choice. With flexible working hours, you’ll have a far greater appeal in the recruitment market.
Allowing people to work at their own pace will reduce burnout and improve job satisfaction. This will reduce your talent abandonment rate. They’ll also have an easier time managing work stress.
Lately, when you introduce flexible hours (or base their work on deadlines), you can cater to different time zones without actually having to adjust to each individual employee.
- Invest in Collaboration Tools
One of the first things you should invest in when planning to run an international enterprise is collaboration tools. These platforms provide visibility into tasks, deadlines, and progress. This makes project management more efficient and ensures that everyone is on the same page at all times.
Collaboration tools also act as real-time communication apps. On top of this, you can probably integrate them with instant messaging tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams. You can already use Google Meets or integrate your Google Calendar with your Zoom. In other words, you can make communication with a remote team easier with just a few simple clicks.
When it comes to file sharing and storage solutions, picking a cloud-based platform is a proper game-changer. Just think about it: this is the easiest way to ensure that the entire team works on the same file and that you can actually conduct an accurate version-tracking process.
There are so many tools for virtual brainstorming, but you don’t really have to use them. Any collaboration tool or instant messaging platform will work.
- Prioritize Cybersecurity
You’re working in a digital environment, and you just cannot allow your sensitive data to leak. Therefore, you need to prioritize your cybersecurity.
First, you should start by enforcing strong password policies. You want to encourage the use of complex passwords and regular updates in order to minimize the risk of unauthorized access and account takeover. This is a simple step, but it could change your broader cybersecurity strategy.
Next, you should implement a two-factor authentication (2FA). This adds an extra layer of security by requiring a second form of identification. When you try to log in, you’ll receive a text message code. Only after entering the code will you be able to log in.
You also want to update software and systems regularly. Every update fixes bugs and exploits, which means that it makes your overall system a lot safer.
Finally, you have to provide cybersecurity training for remote staff. At the very least, you need to craft a reliable BYOD policy, seeing as how your entire staff will work from home.
- Create a Remote Work Policy
Since your team won’t be in the office, you’ll have to introduce a strict remote work policy. There, you will define expectations and responsibilities that they’ll have to abide by.
First, you need to set guidelines for communication. Because you’ll have employees from all over the globe, you actually want to establish an official language and official channel of communication. Sure, you are a small business, but this doesn’t mean that you should conduct business via Facebook or Viber.
You also want to outline data protection measures. Initially, we talked about the importance of using a VPN. Here, you might want to stress out when they should use it, potentially even which VPN they should use.
Next, you want to establish procedures for performance tracking. If you are going to evaluate them, they deserve to know how.
- Offer Remote Work Stipends
A part of the appeal of hiring remote employees lies in the fact that you don’t really have to buy the equipment. At the very least, you’re paying for their software license, but even then, you likely have some sort of an enterprise-level license plan, which means that you’re saving money here as well.
The problem is that this means that a top talent that you’re potentially hiring might have sub-paar working conditions. By offering remote work stipends, you could boost their productivity quite significantly.
For instance, you could provide support for home office setup. This way, you can finance their new laptop and ergonomic workstation, which will have a direct positive impact.
You could also pay them for internet and utility subsidies. This way, they could install fiber internet (if it’s available), which could have a direct impact on their performance.
Lastly, you could also spend a bit of money on their professional development resources, as well as their wellness programs or equipment.
Remote teams are easier to handle, but they’re challenging to handle well
Handling remote teams is definitely not that big of a challenge if you know what you’re doing. Just keep in mind that because there are fewer rules and expenses, this doesn’t mean that there are no rules and no expenses. You still want to organize and arrange things for optimal productivity. With these six tips on your side, you can do it pretty easily.