Statistics tell us that around one in ten people work from home. With more and more people ceasing to have face to face contact with their employers and joining the Generation-Y movement, it is becoming imperative to adjust our management style to best reflect our changing workforce.
As an online recruitment agency, we understand that working from home is an up and coming idea and recognise that all employers need to look at the way they manage staff. We’ve taken research from Recruiter and applied the lessons in it to the online environment and in particular, recruitment agencies.
Lesson 1: Check in with Candidates
One of the main issues staff that work from home face is a lack of meaningful communication with their employers which can leave them feeling disconnected from their boss and their company.
The post in Recruiter says “Regularly communicate with [your staff] to provide the right level of support. This will make them feel connected and included as well as motivated and engaged”.
Online recruitment agencies can have the same issues with their candidates and clients – a lack of communication through being mobile-based. Therefore, it might well be worth an additional email or two to keep candidates abreast of what’s happening and keep your clients in the loop.
Lesson 2: Read Between the Lines
The article also states that “Great remote managers have the ability to “read between the lines” better than in face to face interactions. Being able to read situations remotely is vital, especially when remote workers are more susceptible to feeling isolated”.
How easy is it to upload a resume on your site? Did your client’s placement get filled quickly? What response did the client get to their job advert? Online recruitment agencies have less face-to-face contact with employers, so reading between the lines when dealing with responses from clients and candidates as to how they’re feeling and finding the experience of working with you is a great way to apply this lesson of mobile management.
Lesson 3: Allow Staff to Switch Off
“It’s important to regularly coach remote team members to ensure they remain self disciplined with good time and self stress management skills in place”.
This mobile management technique can apply to any online business with multiple members of staff. Whether employees complete online surveys about their mood, have regular face-to-face meetings, review sessions or professional coaching – managing discipline and stress is vital.
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Jamie Mistlin, RecruitmentRevolution.com – find me on Google+.
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