So, with the World Cup upon us, employers are once again getting twitchy about the high levels of absenteeism - or 'throwing sickies' - which may well arise over the next few weeks.  No surprise there of course, based on the evidence of previous tournaments when big matches are scheduled, especially those involving the British teams.
 
Yet as an employer, the solution is firmly in your own hands.  Your HR departments will already be under varying legal, social and environmental pressures to introduce more flexible working practices.  And the good news is that, whatever cultural or organisational issues your organisation may have to address,   technology no longer presents a costly barrier. 
 
Easy-to-use voice and data collaboration tools providing secure remote access to your network, web conferencing, training and diagnostics are now within financial reach of even the smallest business.  As a result, staff can remain fully operational and stay in touch with colleagues and customers, wherever they are.
 
By doing this, employers can help their staff achieve a better work/life balance.  And, as recent surveys have shown, such moves are likely to have a really positive effect on staff satisfaction and retention levels - without damaging productivity.   Sounds like a winning goal to me.

What do you think?


Photo Credit: Phalinn
 

It's always cool to get questions from readers.  This one asks about jobs that allow workshifting:

"I would like some information on how to begin searching for occupations which allow workshifting.  Is there a well-maintained website listing potential companies/occupations in which workshifting is allowed/encouraged?"

I wish there was a one-stop shop of companies that offer workshifting.  And, if there is...I'm not aware of it.  My initial thought is each organization has their own unique corporate culture.  And jobs, while they may share the same title or some of the same responsibilities, aren't identical.  So even within the workshifting environment, not every workshifting situation would be exactly alike.  

One of the first things to consider when it comes to positions that include workshifting, are the actual responsibilities of the job itself.  Ask yourself are the tasks associated with the position ones you can do from anywhere at any time.  

Also consider what you would need in terms of equipment, workspace, etc.  I've seen people say, "All I need is a laptop."  And when they actually started doing the work, the list got much longer.  Understanding what is required to truly get the job done will make any conversation about workshifting go smoother.

After you know the details of the position, there are several places online where you can begin to look for openings.  Although none of these come with guarantees about workshifting, they are a great start:

Use lists to research organizations that might offer workshifting.  Examples are Fortune's 100 Best Companies, the Great Place to Work Institute and the Society for Human Resource Management's Best Small and Medium Companies to Work for in America, Working Mother 100 Best Companies and Brazen Careerist's Top 50 Gen Y Companies.   Most of the companies made their way on these lists because of their progressive thinking and creative human resources policies.

Find Twitter hashtags that can narrow your search.  Career Rocketeer published a post titled "Top 100+ Job Search Hashtags on Twitter".  Hashtags included on the list are #freelance, #home-employment, and #work-life.  All good places to monitor for potential openings that might be conducive to workshifting.

If you have a specific company, do a direct search of their company profile on LinkedIn to see if they mention anything about encouraging virtual teams, telecommuting, teleworking, etc.
Lastly, keep in mind that a position not workshifting today could be workshifting tomorrow.  Organizations change all the time and if you find a job that you really like, maybe the best approach is to do a great job and figure out a way to sell the company on allowing you to try workshifting.  Write a business case and ask for a trial period to show how it could work. 

If you or your organization are exploring adding workshifting jobs, The Office of Personnel Management and the General Services Administration have established a website, Telework.gov, to provide access to information about telework in the Federal Government.  Even if you weren't looking for a government job, there are resources available for individuals and employers about teleworking.  I found the self-assessment to be particularly interesting.

The most important factor in finding a workshifting occupation is understanding - yourself, the job, the company, the culture and how it can help the business be successful.


Photo Credit: Daniela Vladimirova

Today Zack Grossbart stops by again to provide some tips for effectively hiring workshifters.  Zack is the author of the upcoming book The One Minute Commute and writes over on his blog.  Zack focuses much of his writing on exploring how to build distributed teams using best practices from the high-tech industry.

Hiring a workshifter is one of the most nerve wracking experiences a manager can have. Even thinking about hiring a workshifter seems fraught with risk. You don't know if they'll work out. If they aren't working out how will you know? How will they fit in with the team? What if you can't contact them? The potential problems are seem so insurmountable that many managers decide to never even  open that can of worms.

You can take a lot of risk out of hiring workshifters by knowing what to look for. Potential workshifters should have all the attributes of any good employee, but there are specific talents that every workshifter must possess to succeed. Hiring managers who know what to look for can judge these skills with a simple set of tests during the  interview process.

Talent 1: Clear Writing Skills

Writing well is the single most important skill for a workshifter. You don't need to hire Hemingway, but if the candidate can't clearly communicate their thoughts in documents and emails you'll both be in big trouble.

Start by looking at their resume. Is it well written? Did they make it easy to read and understand their qualifications? A resume acts like a magnifying glass for writing ability. If your teleworker candidate's resume isn't well written they won't write well once you hire them. But don't stop there; after all it's possible that they had help writing their resume.

Do a Google search and find any blogs, Facebook pages, and other social media pages. These pages don't always have to discuss professional topics, but the author should write clearly. Can you follow what they have to say? When you are finished can you summarize the content easily?

Another overlooked tool for evaluating writing skills is email. Always start an email conversation with candidates. Ask leading questions and see if they respond well. Make your questions open ended and give them a chance to impress you. If you get answers that are terse or unintelligible move on to the next person.

Talent 2: Accepting Criticism

Workshifters are inherently a little disconnected from the team. Being out of the office can bring with it the advantage of being more productive, but it also means that interpersonal issues are more difficult to resolve. Workshifters have learn to accept criticism well and not take it personally. If your new teleworker doesn't take criticism well they'll never survive outside of the office.

Ask them directly how they handle criticism. Ask them to discuss how they've handled difficult situations in the past and how they responded to criticism. You can learn a lot by their answers.

Blogs and Facebook pages can also come in handy here. If they have an existing social media presence they have probably received negative comments. How did they handle them? Were they dismissive or did they take the comments to heart and really try to understand them?

Talent 3: Quickly Learning Conventions

When a workshifter starts in a new job they will probably attend orientation lectures and learn the basics of how work gets done in your organization. This will cover the big issues, but what about the dozens of other smaller details that go into working in your office and working with your specific team. Important details how to format a presentation, the best way to file expense reports, are a critical part of any job? Workshifters are at a disadvantage here because they can't just stick their head over the cubicle wall and ask. They must learn conventions quickly.

Always ask to see some work from a previous jobs. Does it look like the same every time or did they adapt to the specific requirements of each new workspace?

Ask them how they would go about learning the ins and outs of your organization, and look for specific, detailed answers.

Talent 4: Self-sufficiency

Workshifting gives you freedom and along with that comes responsibility. Good workshifters manage their own time and their own needs. They can't just call the IT department every time they have a problem.

Workshifters should have a plan ahead of time for the following issues:

• A home office - Do they have one set up? What is it like? Were they planning to work out of Starbucks? Successful workshifters have made a serious commitment to their office environment.
  
  
• Telephone and Internet connections - Do they have a good land line and a fast Internet connection? Are they expecting you to pay some of those costs?
  
  
• Tools - Do they need you to buy them a computer? A printer? A desk or a chair?
  
  
• Computer support - How much do they need and how will they get it?
  
  
• Backups - Will they take part in your backup systems or do they have their own?
  
  
• Data security - What steps will they take to make sure your data is secure when it leaves the office? This might include encryption or a virtual private network solution.
  

A good workshifter candidate will have detailed, specific  answers to all of these questions during the interview.

Talent 5: Staying Motivated

Sometimes an office is a distraction, but it also offers a certain camaraderie. Going to a shared work place surrounded by other working people is a great way to stay motivated. Workshifters, on the other end of the spectrum, must stay motivated on their own.

This is one of the most difficult skills to judge since most candidates will lie to you. They aren't doing it maliciously, but unless they have a lot of experience with workshifting they may underestimate the importance and difficulty of staying motivated when they work from home.

One of your first clues to self-motivating candidates  is excitement. Everyone should show some excitement during an interview. If they can't do it then they won't do it from home.

Hobbies are another good indicator of the self-motivated. What does the candidate do outside of work? Do they have long term hobbies or just fleeting interests?

Can the candidate tell you specifically how they were proactive in their previous jobs? Did they wait for someone else to show them the path or did they lead the way? Can they talk about how they got their work done in other positions?

Talent 6: Showing Their Work

In the office you can see someone arrive early and stay late. At home you can't just trust that a workshifter is doing their job. They have to show their work.

Let them describe what previous projects. How did they communicate about their work? Were there status meetings? Did they send emails or documents? Ask to see examples of these documents whenever possible.

Every workshifter is a little different, but they all need a way to proactive show you they're getting their work done.

Talent 7: Being Consistent

Imagine this: at 10:00 AM you send Bob, a member of your team, an email with a question you need answered quickly. At 10:30 you see he isn't on IM yet. He isn't there at 11:00 either. You check your calendar and your deleted email folder, but Bob didn't send you a note about taking the day off.

By noon you are a little annoyed. It has been two hours without seeing him online. You ask other team members but they don't know either. By 2:00 PM you are thoroughly frustrated. You haven't seen Bob, you don't have the answer to your question, and you have no idea when you will get it.

In the office you might walk over to Bob's office, but when Bob is a workshifter you have no idea where he is. Is he taking a vacation day without telling you? Did his computer crash? Is he just ignoring you? This might not be a big problem if it only happens occasionally, but a member of your team that is consistently inconsistent will drive you nuts.

Ask them about their plan and what they expect. Are they willing to commit to a specific work schedule? Also ask them for references. References are very helpful in providing real feedback on a candidates consistency.

Recognizing Workshifter Talents

Workshifting is a skill and you have to judge that skill. The ultimate indication of workshifting ability is previous experience. Have they workshifted before? Did it go well for them? Can they supply references?

Focus on these workshifting talents and you can hire teleworkers with confidence.

Photo by: AJ Leon

Today Anne Stephanie Cruz stops by to clear the air on employee background checks.  Anne is a 25 year old writer from Cleveland, Ohio and has been an employee of crimcheck.com for 5 years. Crimcheck.com was founded in 1991 by security expert Ted L. Moss, and has received the Weatherhead 100 award for the past 4 years for outstanding service and growth.

When potential employees find out that the condition of their employment may be dependent upon a background check or vetting process they may become nervous at the thought of an invasion of their privacy. Even the squeakiest clean of us don't like people poking around in our personal business and it can be quite off-putting to many people. I would like to address this situation and maybe give some techniques you can use to set your employees mind at ease.

1) Unless you work for a government entity background checks are not a mandate by the Federal government and it is not the result of the Patriot Act. Background checks have been a part of many companies hiring process for decades and they are used to find the best candidates for jobs.

2) There is nothing personal about background checks.  They are not only used to protect the company from liability but they are used to protect employees as well. Providing a safe work environment for employees is the responsibility of every employer.

3) Each type of check you are running on an employee should be made clear to the candidate. Some people have no problem with you conducting a criminal record check but may balk at having a credit report run on them. Whatever your company's reasons are for running each check these should be explained to the employee or potential candidate.

4) Referring back to number one if your company does work for or is a contractor for the federal, state or local government you may be required to conduct background investigations due to certain mandates. If this is the case you should also explain this to a potential employee. If a certain job position requires a security clearance these investigations may probe deeper than a normal background check, this should be explained in writing to your employees as well.

5) Make sure that your organization has policies in place about what information is available to whom and under what circumstances. Are upper level managers going to be able to see the results on an employees background check or will HR be the only ones allowed to view this information? Can third party entities request copies or access an employees results and under what conditions? Employees should be made aware these polices as well.

6) Above all, be up front and honest about your employment screening policies, explain the employee's rights and the processes that are involved. Even if you are a small company your policy should be written down and followed to the letter of the law. Within that policy decide what will be disqualifying factors and let your candidates know this ahead of time.

If done correctly and explained properly background checks do not have to be a point of contention between employers and employees. Some employees have the idea that background checks are used to discriminate against them specifically or that they are an invasion of their privacy. We, as HR professionals, need to dispel these myths and assure potential candidates and employees that their private information is just that, private and that all candidates will be treated fairly and in accordance with Federal (FCRA) state and local employment laws.

Photo by: bionicteaching

There comes a time in every workshifter's life when the idea of hiring staff evolves from a fairy tale to a necessity.  For the solopreneur breed of workshifter, this issue precipitates two contradictory realities.  On the one hand, you cannot afford to hire a high paying salaried position.  But on the other hand, you cannot afford to hire some schmuck at 5 bucks an hour either.  In other words, hiring a low wage laborer typically constitutes someone who is going to engender a "clock in, clock out" mentality which obviously isn't congruent in a workshifting paradigm.

In Greek mythology, Procrustes was the badass spawn of Poseidon.  Procrustes had a lock on the only pathway through Mount Korydallos to Athens.  As travelers would roll through on their merry little way to Athens, he would invite the weary adventurers to stay in his guest room.  In a bizarre turn of events, he would ask them to lie in his bed.  It appears as if Procrustes was both a psychopath and an incredibly anal dude.  Because if their legs were too long and swung off the bottom of the bed, well, he would just chop them off.  And if the traveler's head hung off the top of the bed, he would lop that sucker off as well.

I know what you are thinking, and no, I am not suggesting you invite potential staff candidates to an interview, and if they don't fit your criteria, to subsequently amputate their body parts.  
What I am saying is this.  As workshifters trying to grow our team, we are in a Procrustean Bed.  It doesn't all fit.  We need good...no, great people working with us in order to achieve our hopes and objectives, but at the same time we are most likely cash strapped and cannot afford a "quality" hire.

So, what do we do?

For the most part, we have two options to procure new team members.  We can either find people (typically friends or associates) that possess at least a drop of the entrepreneurial penchant, and develop a non or low salaried partnership with them in exchange for equity in our company.  Or we seek to hire potential staff abroad in economies in which we can afford to pay good salaries leveraging communities such as oDesk or Guru.  I'm sure there are many derivative possibilities from these two choices, but the point is that in order to crawl out of our uncomfortable Procrustean Bed we have to get creative about how we find new team members or staff.

Over the past year, my company has grown from me all by my lonely workshifting self, to adding three additional staff. After trying everything to bring on new people and screwing up more times than I can remember, I saw an interview with my buddy Ryan Carson, Founder of Carsonified, where he was asked "What do you look for when you're hiring staff?" His answer completely realigned my perspective in hiring new staff.

Whether you go local, create a partnership, or outsource to find your new staff, these three qualities are absolutely essential to the architecture of an indelible employee.

They must be...

Curious

A curious person will not only do what is asked of them, but will have an internal desire to learn the what, how, and why of everything they do...and probably what everyone else does too!

Helpful

A helpful person doesn't just settle with what they are asked to do, they actively seek to help and empower everyone around them to be better at their jobs.

Proactive

A proactive person doesn't just check tasks off a list, they anticipate and create solutions before problems even occur.

In your experience, what are the qualities that make or have made for outstanding staff?

Do you have any examples?

Photo by: The Eggplant