Navigate risk of hiring first remote employee

It’s difficult to hire your first employee. You’ll be putting important business decisions into someone else’s hands, so you have to develop an extraordinary level of trust.

When you hire the first remote employee, you may experience a whole new level of anxiety.

Usually it starts with simply outsourcing some tasks. You decide that your website needs an upgrade beyond your own capabilities, so you hire a contractor to complete the job. You’re anxious, because you’re spending a lot of money. You’re fully aware of all the stories of failed website investments.

Ultimately, you can make this decision by checking their credentials, references and past work, and having enough one-to-one meetings that you feel you can trust them. Then you carefully track progress, and pay based on clearly achieved milestones.

In some ways, hiring a remote employee is similar. But first, you have to establish that this is the best decision for your business needs. Here’s some typical scenarios:

One of your current employees now has a need to work from home. Maybe she’s a new parent, or he’s moved to a distant location. You just can’t find the kind of talent you want locally, and would like to tap resources around the country or even the globe. You don’t have the space to add another person, but you need to grow the organization.

You need an employee to work physically close to one of your key partners at a distant location.

Often, your first remote employee actually starts out at your location, then ends up moving offsite.  This is a great way to start, because it gives you the opportunity to develop a deep level of trust and understanding before taking this critical step.

Some businesses use this as their normal model. They require an employee to work onsite for six or 12 months, before entertaining the possibility of operating more independently. It’s not possible in all scenarios, of course. Sometimes you have to start out with working from a distance.

In this case, it’s best to go through an unusually extensive evaluation, especially if you’re hiring an employee rather than a contractor. Fly the candidate in for extensive conversations with your entire team. Have hours, even days, of face-to-face contact in both formal and informal discussions.

Why bother investing in conversations that aren’t related to the job?  Because your ability to work together and understand each other directly relates to how well you know each other as actual people.

When you have employees in the office, relationship development happens constantly. You see the family photos on the desk, and discover that the spouse is down with the flu. You end up finding out about hobbies and other outside interests.

When you have someone who you rarely see informally, this depth is hard to maintain. I find it best to ensure that regular phone calls include five minutes of “shooting the breeze” – sharing personal viewpoints, events and situations. It’s not unproductive time! This is building the relationship so you will better be able to understand each other and solve problems.

Don’t forget that while you need to relate to your employee, the reverse is also true. You need to be more open about what’s going on in the office and maybe even your personal life.

Develop the relationships between the remote employee and his peers. Usually this is even more critical, because this affects the day-to-day productivity of the entire group.

Invest in some technology to facilitate quality communication. Set employees up with video Skype or Google Hangouts, and use it. In discussions, 7 percent of a message is communicated verbally, 38 percent through certain vocal elements, and 55 percent nonverbally. When people are able to see each other, the level of understanding and empathy skyrockets.

Email, while useful, only conveys about 7 percent of the entire message. Misunderstandings are rampant.

To keep your team working effectively, occasionally bring your remote employee in for face-to-face contact. Use this when you have emotional messages – celebrations or reorganizations – or when you’re trying to make team decisions.

You may be able to tap some of the best talent in the country!

Carl Dierschow is a Small Fish Business Coach based in Fort Collins. His website is www.smallfish.us.

on Facebook on LinkedIn