by Steven Lindner | Jun 7, 2023 | Candidate Assessment and Selection, Remote Workforce, Talent Acquisition |
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Ninety-five percent (95%) of employers offer work-from-home or hybrid work arrangements for jobs that can be performed from home. During the pandemic, work-from-home was a matter of public safety. Now it’s about productivity. Selecting who should work from home goes beyond having a quiet home office and a fast internet connection. There’s science behind the psychology of remote work. While teachable and trainable, only job candidates and employees who demonstrate a Readiness to Work from Home are likely to do so effectively. What are those psychological characteristics and work skills? A variety of factors are involved.
Are employees working at home productive?
Most employees in jobs that can be done from home work from home. According to SHRM.org, employers expect hybrid work arrangements and work-from-home to remain unchanged in 2023.
But productivity is the greatest concern employers have of their employees working from home. A 2022 survey by Microsoft of 20,000 people in 11 countries found that “85% of leaders say that the shift to hybrid work [and by association work-from-home] has made it challenging to have confidence that employees are being productive.” Marc Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, announced on March 15, 2023, “An internal analysis of employee performance data suggests that engineers who work in person get more done” (Capot, 2023). A 2023 article by Kathryn Mayer, Amazon Nixes Employees’ Petition Against Return to Office, serves as another example, among many, of employers reinforcing their return-to-office policies in spite of employee protests. Return-to-office policies, requiring employees to work from corporate offices on most days of the week, don’t fully solve productivity concerns. Employees still need to have Readiness to Work from Home.
Job design and workflow matter, but it’s not that simple!
Some jobs are better suited to be performed in-office than at home. For example, managing a manufacturing production line from home is not practical. But procuring raw materials from home is highly doable. To perform a job equivalently at home or in the office, the job design and workflow must enable both settings. For example, employees need to have the same exact software, hardware and work tools whether in a corporate office or a home office.
But homes are filled with distractions, and monitoring what employees do throughout the day is challenging. Just because a job can be performed effectively from home doesn’t mean everyone can perform effectively from home.
So, what should employers do?
Select job candidates and employees who have demonstrated a Readiness to Work from Home.
Readiness to Work from Home is a psychological construct involving a variety of characteristics and work skills. All of which are teachable and trainable. Job candidates and employees with a Readiness to Work from Home are able to work effectively and productively in both remote and hybrid jobs.
Five essential characteristics and work skills to look for in job candidates and employees with a Readiness to Work from Home are:
Communication Skills: Effective communication is essential for remote work. The ability to communicate clearly, ask questions, and provide feedback can help employees stay on track and feel connected to their team.
- Self-Motivation: Remote work requires self-discipline and self-motivation. Employees who are self-starters and able to manage their time effectively are more likely to be successful in a remote work environment.
- Technical Competence: Remote work relies heavily on technology, so employees must be comfortable with the tools and software used in their role. Additionally, they should have a good internet connection and reliable hardware to work efficiently.
- Adaptability: Flexibility and adaptability are crucial when working remotely. Employees must be able to adapt to changing circumstances, such as working across different time zones or dealing with technology issues.
- Integrity and Trustworthiness: Remote work requires a high degree of integrity and trust between employees and managers. Employers should look for employees who have a proven track record of reliability, responsibility, and trustworthiness. In other words, people who do the right thing even when no one is watching.
Need help hiring, training and selecting employees who are ready to work successfully from home? Want to learn how to do this better? We here at The WorkPlace Group are ready to help. For more information, please click here to contact us today.
by Steven Lindner | Jan 26, 2023 | Candidate Assessment and Selection |
We all love hiring people we know. Candidates referred by existing employees account for up to a third of most companies’ new hires. Employee referral programs are a common recruitment strategy for incentivizing and rewarding employees for attracting quality candidates to fill job vacancies.
Are All Referrals Created Equal?
Hiring managers often extend job offers to employee referrals without interviewing other candidates. When other candidates are interviewed, the employee referral is still most likely to receive the job offer. This outcome should not come as a surprise. Logically, there should be less risk in hiring someone who comes recommended. And, it isn’t necessarily a bad practice. The more you know about a candidate beyond their resume and interview, the better the odds of correctly inferring that they will do a great job for you.
But not all referrals are equal. Nor does every referral turn out to perform well. So how do you know if the employee referral is the best candidate to hire, and what can you do to figure it out?
1. Don’t Provide Special Treatment
To start, treat all employee referrals as you would any other external candidate. They should go through the same hiring steps as everyone else.
Evaluate all employee referrals using the same hiring criteria. Put them through the same interviews and assessments as others. This allows apple-to-apple comparisons to be made with other external candidates being considered.
2. Fact-Check
Second, fact-check your views and knowledge of the employee referral.
- How much do you really know about them over and above any other candidate in the process?
- Is this a person you have first-hand job-related observations and experiences with because you previously worked with them or managed them? If yes, use that job-relevant knowledge as input into your hiring decision.
First-hand knowledge and observations of how someone performed during critical decision-making or make-or-break moments of getting work done are worth their weight in gold. Observations of actual work performance are strong predictors of how well they will do in your job. There is a lot of truth in psychology that past behavior is predictive of future behavior. Chances are, if they’ve done it well before, they’ll do it well again.
However, most employee referrals are simply someone an employee casually met and shared the job with. They could be a neighbor, a person introduced to them, or someone they sat next to on a train or plane. These candidates are not well known by the employee referring them and have little to no insight into their work capabilities. Hiring managers would be well advised to blind-review these candidates, meaning they are better off “not knowing” they were referred. This avoids making errors in judgment related to the expectancy bias that a referred candidate is recommended and better.
3. Consider Work Culture
Finally, take work culture into consideration. Cultural changes have big effects on employee performance and behaviors. Not everyone thrives in all cultures. For example, some leadership and management styles don’t translate well in collaborative, shared decision-making organizations. If your knowledge of an employee referral is based on a company culture very different from the current one, don’t assume past successes will necessarily translate to future successes.
It’s smart to ask employees for referrals to people who may be interested and qualified to fill your job vacancies. Employee referrals are a vital source of talent and should be evaluated in the same way you would any other external candidate. Consider also a “blind review” of referrals who do not share a work history with the employee referring them. Remember, just because an employee referred them and knows them doesn’t necessarily mean they are your best choice.
Need help to make correct hires happen in your organization? Want to learn how to do this better? We here at The WorkPlace Group are ready to help. For more information, please click here to contact us today.
by Steven Lindner | Sep 9, 2021 | Candidate Assessment and Selection, Older workers |
Job interviews can be tough. Feelings of nervousness and excitement can blur when you’re eager to take the next step in your career. As with any time in your career, you’ll want to take care to play up your strengths while interviewing in your 50s.
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by Steven Lindner | Apr 19, 2021 | Research Publication |
Researchers from Occidental College, California State University, and The WorkPlace Group find loneliness at work affects men more than women when it comes to performance and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors. Men, in particular, reported high levels of counter-productive work behaviors. Employers should focus on creating positive, collaborative work environments while considering the varying needs of both men and women.
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by Steven Lindner | Oct 9, 2019 | Research Publication |
Four résumé factors predict who hiring managers choose to interview. Dr. Lindner’s newest study, published in the International Journal of Leadership, found that candidates with relevant, current, and continual work experience; a college degree or enrollment in college; and achievements listed on their résumés were more likely to be selected by hiring managers for employment interviews. Research is based on 1,000 actual applicants…
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