Digital Transformation Updates Your Business Needs To Attract and Retain Remote Employees

By | Charlie Fletcher

As a business owner, you’ve undoubtedly seen the shift in technology over the last few years. In many ways, it’s been beneficial to businesses. It’s what kept so many owners from closing their doors during the pandemic. There was perhaps no greater shift, however, than the rise in remote work.

Even before the pandemic, remote work was on the rise. Now, over 26% of U.S. employees work from home. There are benefits to remote work for both business owners and employees. It allows for greater flexibility and can help to prevent burnout while boosting productivity. It can also foster a positive company culture and allow you to attract top talent from across the globe for your business.

But, you’ll only do that if you explore the right digital advancements. Because so many businesses are allowing, and encouraging, remote work nowadays, standing out requires utilizing new tech to inspire company culture. When you use technology to make your business attractive to new hires, it will be easier to recruit new remote employees while avoiding turnover rates.

Let’s take a look at some of the tech advancements you should be implementing to improve recruitment and bring in the best remote employees for your business.

Using Tech To Improve Company Culture

Because remote work has become so popular, many employees judge a company’s culture and environment by the type of remote availability they offer. Not only is a positive culture attractive to prospective employees, but it’s a great way to retain your existing team, as well. Technology can benefit your team in a variety of ways. It boosts communication efforts, improves collaboration, and reinforces your principles to allow your company to feel more like a community.

Utilizing technology will also help with training purposes both in-house and remotely. When your employees know they have room to grow and there are new opportunities for them, they’re more likely to remain loyal to your company. Not only that, but they’re likely to be more productive as they work their way up the company ladder.

By using the right tech tools, it will also be easier to recognize employees for a job well done. Technology makes it easy to track data and progress in real-time. When everyone is collaborating and can see those achievements, they can encourage and congratulate their co-workers. That kind of positive culture boosts morale and can motivate all of your employees to be more productive.

Understanding What Remote Recruits Want

While keeping your existing team on staff is essential, one of the great things about offering remote opportunities is being able to hire people from around the world. That opens up your ability to pull in the best recruits for each role, no matter where they’re from.

To do that, however, you have to develop an understanding of what remote workers are really looking for. One of the biggest concerns work-from-home employees have is feeling like they’re not a part of the everyday collaborative workflow. You can assure them that won’t happen within your company culture by:

• Scheduling regular video calls with co-workers and leadership;
• Offering skill development;
• Offering opportunities for feedback;
• Creating work routines;
• Hosting team meetings for everyone to get to know each other.

You can also benefit your business and your remote employees by considering cluster hiring. That’s the practice of hiring several remote workers from the same area. It could be a location close to your workspace or in a completely different part of the country as long as your recruits are all within a reasonable distance from each other.

Why bother with cluster hiring? It allows those new employees to connect in person. They might want to get together at a co-working space or get to know each other outside of work. It can help them feel like they have some sense of community and a closer connection to the workplace.

Improving Your Remote Collaboration

If you’re going to attract and retain remote employees, you’ll need to improve your collaboration efforts with the latest tech tools and programs. If you want your company to remain successful, you can’t leave the digital employee behind. Some of the best collaboration tools that can connect your remote and hybrid teams include:

• Asana;
• Lucidspark;
• Slack;
• Zoom;
• Chanty;

All of these tools serve different purposes, so don’t be afraid to experiment with what your business and your team might need. Asana is great for managing projects and tasks, while Slack is a fantastic way to send quick messages and check in with team members throughout the day. From project management to face-to-face communication, these platforms make it easier for everyone to remain on the same page and see real-time changes in projects.

Technology continues to advance every day, making it easier for remote employees to stay productive and be vital assets to businesses across the globe. Make sure your brand is keeping up by undergoing necessary digital transformations. Doing so will help you retain existing remote employees while attracting new ones that won’t be able to ignore the draw of your company culture.