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Best Practices for Managing Remote Employees

Best Practices for Managing Remote Employees

Remote employees are increasingly common in today’s businesses. According to a New York Times article published last year, the number of remote workers—which includes full-time telecommuters, self-employed freelancers, and other professionals whose work is traditionally done outside an office—could presently be as high as 30 percent of the American workforce.

As an employer, offering work-from-home flexibility can increase your company’s appeal in the eyes of job candidates—giving you a competitive edge in the war for top talent. Additionally, outsourcing some projects to self-employed freelancers can help you reduce your operating costs, free the time of your on-site staff for more important tasks, and expand your resources. The key, however, is managing these remote employees successfully. Consider the following best practices.

Set Expectations

Just like on-site workers, remote employees need to understand what you expect from them. At minimum, take some time before every project to outline measurable goals and expected results. You don’t have to give your remote team step-by-step instructions for the job—though you may choose to do so in some cases. Often, it’s best to allow them to develop their own methods.

Communicate Regularly

It can be all too easy to neglect team members you don’t see or interact with every day. Make a point to touch base with your remote workers on a regular basis. Depending on your business, their role in it and the project at hand, this might mean twice-weekly emails to check on status, a weekly phone call to answer questions and discuss progress, or even video chats.

Don’t Rely on Email Alone

You’re busy, and so are your remote workers. If an email thread is expanding exponentially, save everyone some time and connect on the phone instead. An interactive verbal discussion is often a faster way to collaborate than back-and-forth email messages. You might even want to use an instant messaging platform for faster written discussions.

Find Ways to Interact Face-to-Face

While it’s not always possible—especially if your company’s remote workers are in other geographic areas—try to find ways to meet with them face-to-face. Invite those who live nearby to attend staff meetings, on-site trainings and teambuilding activities. If you travel to a city in which you have remote employees, set up a coffee or lunch date.

Be Considerate

One of the reasons many professionals value remote work opportunities is because they enhance work-life balance. Unfortunately, one of the quickest ways to destroy that balance is to disregard the difference in time between yourself and your remote workers in other states and/or countries. Pay attention to time zones and reach out to colleagues during their normal working hours whenever possible.

Make them Feel Valued

They may not work on-site, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t important. Keep your remote team informed about the latest company happenings. Let them know how their contributions are contributing to the organization’s success. Ask them for their opinions on decisions that may affect them. And always make sure they get credit for their work.

 

 

Management Style: Being a Leader Not Just a Boss

Management Style: Being a Leader Not Just a Boss

The difference between being a leader and a boss is more than simply the word someone uses to describe a supervisor. Employees perceive a leader and a boss in completely different ways, and leaders are far more effective than mere bosses, who often appear stuck in the 1950s, although they may view themselves as progressive. If you’re not sure about your management style, here are three quick questions to help determine how your employees see you — and what you can do keep from falling into the trap of ineffective management.

Do you do more talking or listening?

While no one expects you to be the guru on the mountaintop who gives succinct one word replies to problems, whether you spend more time telling others how to do their jobs or listening to their ideas makes a huge difference in how you are perceived by your employees.  Author and venture capitalist Allen Hall points out that those supervisors who presume to have all the answers are perceived as arrogant by employees. On the other hand, if you spend time listening to your employees, becoming familiar with their ideas and concerns, you will be respected and are likely to experience both personal and professional growth.

Do you tell people what to do or ask them what they can do?

If you have seen the now iconic film “Castaway,” you may remember Tom Hank’s character yelling at his employees to get the job done on a precise schedule. The employees, bored and rolling their eyes, lackadaisically follow suit.

If you’d rather be perceived as a leader than a boss, try letting your employees know what needs to be done and then asking them how they believe the task can best be accomplished. When you allow people to provide input into a process, they are more likely to be personally invested in the outcome. In addition to getting better employee performance, your workers will perceive you as thoughtful rather than dictatorial.

Do you criticize or coach?

While there is always a place for constructive criticism, telling an employee “You spend too much time talking and not enough time researching leads” is not as helpful as working with the person on time-management skills and goal-setting. Criticism sends the message that you are displeased with a person’s work, whereas coaching lets her know that you value her contribution and want to help her to be even more effective.

Reducing Employee Fraud

Reducing Employee Fraud

Most business managers and owners are well aware of the threat of loss from outsiders, and use a variety of methods to reduce this risk.  From locks on the doors, to security guards and dogs, to complex electronic burglar alarm systems, many preventative steps are taken.

However, it is often the case that less attention is dedicated to reducing the risk of theft by an insider. No one wants to believe that an employee will purposely defraud the company of money. Most people want to trust their employees, and rightly so.  But it only takes one bad apple to do significant damage.  Depending on the person’s position within the company, and the length of time the theft continues, substantial losses can result.  Business owners often have a tendency to believe “it can’t happen here.” Unfortunately, employee fraud is quite common.  Furthermore, no risk reduction measures can be guaranteed to keep it from ever happening or detect every instance.

Having said that, loss control experts recommend two general approaches to reducing vulnerability to theft by insiders:  measures to decrease the probability that employees will commit the crime, and measures to increase the perceived probability of discovery and punishment.

Below are seven tips to help with both approaches:

  • Institute an anti-fraud policy.  Many employers wrongly assume they don’t need to discuss insider theft, since their employees know it is wrong.  But experts say a strong, written anti-fraud policy, published in the employee handbook and/or posted on employee bulletin boards, helps prevent insider theft.  The written policy reinforces the employer’s intent to maintain an honest, ethical environment, as opposed to one where it is regarded as common practice to steal from the employer.
  • Ask employees to report suspected fraud, and provide guidelines for reporting fraud.  Employees need to understand how to report any suspicion of fraud or theft.  Honest employees will usually report fraud when there is a good policy for doing so.  They are more likely to say nothing, if they are not sure how to report the suspicious behavior of a co-worker.
  • Maintain a business climate of loyalty and trust.  Expectations influence behavior.  When you expect employees to steal, some are more likely to do so, reasoning that there is no point in behaving honestly if you are already suspected of being dishonest.  Maintaining an atmosphere in which employees feel trusted and valued and are rewarded for loyalty helps prevent insider theft.
  • Encourage ethical business practices.  The typical employee thief is often a first-time offender who rationalizes his or her behavior to avoid having to face up to their criminality.  Employees who have a weak moral character are more likely to act on it in an environment where they see the business engaging in unethical practices.  When the company promotes and rewards ethical business practices, the risk of insider theft goes down.
  • Compartmentalize job functions.  When the same person both approves and pays invoices, it is especially easy for a dishonest employee to submit bogus invoices and then pay them.  Compartmentalizing duties helps to prevent this type of scheme.
  • Ask your accountants to look for red flags that could indicate fraud.  Among the methods accountants often recommend are accounting controls, built-in detection mechanisms, and reconciliation of records.  Businesses increase the probability of discovery with frequent audits that include steps to uncover fraud. Make sure that accountants understand that you view the discovery of insider theft as an aspect of their duties and services.  Utilize your accountants to survey either all employees or randomly chosen employees from time to time, asking whether they are aware of any misappropriation of company money, property, or resources.
  • Look into any tips about employee fraud.  Many dishonest employees are first brought to their employer’s attention as a result of a tip from an unhappy spouse or significant other.  These tips should be investigated objectively.  Sometimes employers ignore such tips, because they trust the employee in question, only to find out later that the tip was accurate.  In such cases, the amount of the theft could have been lessened by taking the initial tip seriously.

In summary, to reduce the risk of insider theft, the employer’s position should be one of trusting employees in general not to steal, while at the same time being proactive about measures to help keep workers honest.  Most employees will never engage in schemes to defraud, but unfortunately, there are always some who will.  The dishonest employees are often the very people the employer would be least likely to suspect.