Due to changing business circumstances, the hiring of remote workers or freelancers is growing by the day. Talent management of such remote workers requires a separate skill. Certain steps have been identified for a start which must be adopted. First of all, a smooth onboarding process must be created specifically for freelancers. This is often ignored as most onboarding and management training programmes tend to be exclusively for fulltime staff. Freelancers can occasionally be erratic, so the company must remain proactive in order to help them establish routines. The company must also reman adequately sensitive to time-zone differentials. Before any such recruitment, due diligence must be paid on tax laws of each country and subsequent compliance. Unlike with full-time staff, constant monitoring on minute issues is never possible. Thus, the focus must be on the bigger goals and targets, while micromanaging needs to be avoided at all cost. However, track must be maintained on authenticity of work as on occasion, freelancers have been known to outsource without informing. Remote workers must also feel part of the bigger picture, so they must be included in daily conversations. While emails will remain the backbone of any communication between the parties, over-reliance must be avoided and replaced by the frequent calls, especially those over video.A weekly meeting must be held on virtual space. Another aspect the management needs to take care of is the diversity of cultures, which must be celebrated and in order to foster cross-cultural collaboration. A proper career path must be put in place for freelancers to grow with the company. Care must be taken to ensure that the relationship remains formal, and does not get too casual. Ultimately, due care needs to be taken to understand that the system won’t work with so the hybrid model involving a mix between permanent staff and gig workers is ideal.

Source:https://thenextweb.com/contributors/2017/10/20/15-mistakes-avoid-when-managing-remote-team/

Uploaded Date:15 November 2017