First, I am seriously frustrated that it took a pandemic before companies are starting to consider a remote first approach.
A pandemic, for Pete’s sake! (I don’t personally know Pete, but I’m sure he will be frustrated too).
I don’t have all the answers as to why companies never considered a remote first option, but I have my theories. In this article, I’ll talk about a few of those theories and share my thoughts on why businesses should take a serious look at transitioning, or at least, adopting a remote first approach — or face extinction.
“But Derek, that’s a bold claim. Why would companies who don’t go remote first perish”?
OK, maybe perish is too strong a word. But the companies who ignore remote first and hold on to their archaic requirement for employees to be in the office building will lose out of elevating their teams, services, products, and client results.
Big brands are working with smaller digital agencies to fill the gaps.
If that’s not obvious to you now, this article will hopefully give you more reason to consider it for your business or lobby for it within your teams and organization before it’s too late.
Big Companies Are Not Ready to be Fully Remote First
Let’s remember the year 2020 be the year that companies think they can pivot to a remote first organization on a dime.
Most fail miserably.
Not because employees don’t want it, or the technology doesn’t support it, but one of the reason big companies will falter is because their productivity and efficiencies are not centered around a remote first structure.
This is a mind-twister.
Large corporations that have all the resources, brain power, and wherewithal to think ahead but have been neglecting for decades.
In those high-powered-big-decisions-culture-building executive meetings, it feels scary to think that nobody is keeping their finger on the pulse of workforce trends, sentiments, and empowering their family (the employees).
Sure, I am confident that there are voices within the walls that hint to or speak up on occasion, but their voices are trumped by initiatives that impact the bottom (or top) line.
After all, large organizations are focused on one thing, or two, which are profits and stock prices. Prove me wrong. Time will tell, but time is a luxury that many organizations don’t have.
A Remote First Culture Is Not Built Overnight
Since the pandemic crippled economies, infrastructures, and businesses — seemingly overnight — a remote culture first company is not built overnight.
A culture is not something you can purchase. It has to be part of your organization’s core.
For Fullmoon Digital, that’s our foundation since day zero, not day one. I’ve envisioned a digital agency that functions at maximum efficiency before I even started the agency years ago.
It’s never too late for an organization to start pivoting to a remote first company. Behemoths like Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, Disney, Chase Bank, and other large institutions are already making this shift, albeit, gradually.
Other businesses like City Furniture, Publix, Sobeys, and other retail-dependent may move slower to make the pivot, but it will happen.
It is important for companies to prioritize which teams will thrive working remotely, while which ones need more time to adjust. Additionally, the wellbeing of employees must be seriously accounted for.
Among many errors, one grave mistake companies make when announcing a structural change for their employees to work remotely, is the lack of planning for the psychological and emotional impact.
The human cost of working remotely can results in loneliness, anxiety, and stress for many who are not prepared for the isolation working remotely bring.
My advice to companies that are looking to make this shift, do it methodically and calculated. Don’t rush to pivot just because you have to — yes, you MUST — but
Companies love to say things like “humans are resilient” and “our employees have resolve” — but let’s get real for a moment here. There must be a healthy support structure in order for humans to maximize these qualities. Otherwise, even the strongest person can crumble. Don’t get this twisted.
Hiring for a Remote First Company
This sounds easy right?
Post a job. Gather applicants. Qualify or disqualify. Set up interviews with the candidates who fit your requirement. And eventually hire the one who’s the best “fit.”
Sounds simple. It’s far from simple, especially when you are going to add people to your team to work remotely. Remote WFH teams are challenging to build, sustain, and grow — but it can be done.
As an entrepreneur who started building WFH teams across the country and now, going international, I can attest that it is one hell of an endeavor. But I wouldn’t change it for a thing. Hiring remotely forced me to think outside the box when it comes to what and who I was really looking for to join our team.
There is no way to conclude, without a doubt, that the candidate you are hiring is someone who can thrive in a WFH environment. And the worse part, you can’t ask much detail about their personal lives…you know, HR laws and such prohibits it or else face discrimination lawsuits.
The larger the organization, the more challenging to ascertain the right WFH fit. And let’s not pretend the hiring manager or HR department knows everything about hiring for remote workers — they don’t. I don’t. You don’t.
Most of us, if we care to admit, make our best judgment and make the hire.
Empowering Employees Through Remote First Culture
Perhaps the most important element of increasing the odds of WFH success is through empowerment of employees.
All of Fullmoon Digital’s team members work from home — from California to Florida — coast to coast. If I were to micro-manage the team, everyone would hate their lives. So I don’t do that.
How do I enable myself to empower my team? Here are 6, albeit, controversial ways:
#1. I don’t hire fresh graduates
That’s 100% right. And I won’t back down. Hear me out.
Fullmoon Digital is a fully WFH digital agency. That means, we only communicate with video conferencing, phones, and slack. There’s no in-person meetings, at least not yet. One day I do plan to bring everyone together for an annual party!
Until then, we are staying with the current set up.
Fresh college graduates need a lot of attention, training, and mentoring. I don’t have the time to do that, nor does anyone else on the team.
So, it is unfair to the fresh graduate to have their first experience be one that is lack of proper structure that one would expect graduating from a structure-focused education institution.
#2. I give professional referrals a higher preference
Each time I post a job opening, I get a respectful number of applicants and sometimes more than I expect.
For example, last month, we had 67 applicants for a Client Success Manager role. I went through every single application, had a few phone calls, and almost hired one — but she decided to take another offer, which I would assume is a better fit.
However, my preference is to talk to applicants who is professionally referred to me by a client or industry peer.
Why?
The idea of pre-qualification is so important here. I get very excited, like me when I’m in a wine store, when a client refers someone for a role I am hiring for. It doesn’t work out every time but so far, the track record is much higher than external applicants.
Our clients know us well. They’ve worked with us for a long time. They understand the type of individual who could be a cultural fit for the way our team does things. This is why I love client referrals.
#3. I am willing to hire for character then train for skills
A few people on our team have little or no experience with digital marketing. And that’s OK, sometimes for the right role.
Need to learn excel? Want to learn the fundamentals on Google Analytics? What about Google Ads and Facebook Ads? All that can be covered! There’s an abundance of online resources like Udemy, Coursera, Google Digital Garage, and many more.
Accessing knowledge is not the problem here, and will never be the roadblock in the future as learning becomes more accessible and available.
But you can’t train human traits. You cannot alter believes. And last but not least, you certainly cannot alter emotions.
All those courses, conferences, webinars, and other paid coaching seminars promise to help change your mindset. Influencers preach, often from a pedestal, on mindset shifts. But how many people can actually change their mindset? Seriously. It’s not that simple.
How many people do you personally know, keyword “personally” know, who have been able to achieve monumental shift in their entire mindset, made a lot of money, or turn their lives around? A few sure. But most just spent hundreds or thousands of dollars making the “speakers,” “coaches,” and “influencers” richer.
So, as far as building Fullmoon Digital’s team of digital ninjas, I will hire for B-level skills, but I seek out A-level character. Those are the A-players I look to hire.
#4. I hire entrepreneurs who have failed
This is quite controversial, but it works for me. Entrepreneurs are a different breed. They have an inner desire to do something bigger, achieve something greater, and prove themselves.
There’s not much to say here. It’s straight forward. I enjoy working with like-minded individuals as we build our team.
#5. I expect people to leave our team some day
During my father’s era, long tenures at a company was desired.
I know, for a fact, that people will look for better opportunities, eventually. They will look for more money, a bigger title, etc. That doesn’t bother me. Why?
It’s a waste of time to worry about this. There’s a season for everything — and when that season comes, then it shall be.
Knowing this, there will be no surprises. I have this conversation early on so it empowers employees to do their best without any fear of repercussions if they chose to leave down the road.
All those nasty binding employee contracts (you know, those NDAs, blah blah blah) are threats. I get it, big corporations must protect themselves.
But it’s honestly demoralizing that employees are presented with tens of pages of legal paperwork before their first project is assigned.
My goal, from the first day, is to create a company that is focused on welcoming talent, rather than instilling fear.
#6. I challenge the team on seemingly impossible big goal
This is something new that I am testing with our team.
I am giving each person one seemingly impossible goal to achieve throughout the year.
This is in addition to their day to day responsibilities.
Why do I do this? Because I want to empower each one to path their own course, elevate their skills, and realize they have so much more potential they they realize. We all do!
For example, I have challenged one of our teammates to reach out to a large non-profit organizations here in central Florida.
Whether we end up working with the zoo is besides the point. It’s an exercise that hopefully empowers, builds confidence, and learn new skills.
Of course, if the zoo decides to partner with us, that’d be a plus 🙂 #justsaying.
4 Questions To Ask If Your Organization is Ready for Remote First
Question 1: How do we change the hiring process to integrate Remote First?
If your company doesn’t change the way you source, interview, and hire applicants for WFH teams, don’t expect your remote working strategy to work.
It is safe to say that companies will turn to hiring technology to assess aptitude, skills, etc. So, in those cases, nothing has change except a higher adoption of using the same HR screening software.
Companies must evaluate things that are blockers in building remote teams, then perhaps even creating an entirely new hiring process to adapt to the new normal.
Question 2: Are we prepared for a full transition to WFH?
The honest answer could be “No.” Just because your company is prepared to spend tens of millions of dollars to transition your teams to WFH, doesn’t mean you are prepared for a transition.
Having the money versus knowing how to are not mutually inclusive. Throwing money at a problem seldom solves the real problem. Managers and HR teams must dig deeper into WFH preparedness.
It’s not just telling your employees to starting working from him, give them a new laptop, give them $1,000 to buy new home office equipment, buy new productivity software and call it a day.
Think about how you roll out WFH carefully — a misstep could cause efficiency and results to drop like a rock.
Question 3: Are we ready to relinquish the traditional totalitarian control over employees?
Big question. The larger the company, the harder it is for this to be solved.
Traditional management style requires constant check-ins, and check-ins for the check-ins to make sure everything is checked-in.
Remote teams don’t function well if employees are not trusted and empowered to do the job they’re hired to do.
Your managers and their managers must be trained to stop micro-managing their teams. And if the manager cannot adapt, then perhaps a new breed of managers is required for your company to execute a successful and productive WFH structure. Food for thought.
Question 4: Do we have the right leaders in place to champion remote culture?
This piggybacks on #3. Not just managers, but all the way up the chain of command. Everyone must embrace a remote working culture, style, and mindset for this to work.
Does your company have leaders who feel threatened by WFH employees? I bet some do. Because without the control, there’s a perceivably lack of value. Manager who want to retain control may not be the right people in the position of power.
WFH shifts do bring out the true capabilities and nature of bosses and leaders. It reveals who can and cannot thrive in a shifting landscape and still be able to operate with efficiency.
Final Word
Today, many years after Fullmoon Digital first signed our first client, over 50+ clients have worked with Fullmoon Digital! And every week, we talk to prospects, brands, and businesses who are looking for a digital team that can create sustainable and scalable marketing strategies with them.
We’re so grateful that Fullmoon Digital has become a trusted digital advertising agency entirely through word-of-mouth. Our customers evangelize Fullmoon Digital simply because they love what we do, our team, and the results. We owe them everything.
Our outstanding team is always at your service. Everyone at Fullmoon Digital interacts with customers regularly. Our job is to help you do your job better.
We hope you’ll consider hiring Fullmoon Digital to grease the wheels of your projects. Everything runs smoother with Fullmoon Digital on your side!
