Qualities to Look for and Avoid in Remote Employees

By Kailey Walters on September 3, 2020

With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to impact our society and the way we work, there may need to be some adjustments made to what you look for in your employees. The process of hiring remote employees can be a little different from hiring in-person employees, which may lead you to consider what specific qualities you either want to avoid or seek out in prospective employees.

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Qualities to Look for:

Optimism and self-motivation

Two qualities that often go hand-in-hand are optimism and self-motivation. When employees are working from home, they need motivation and a can-do attitude that will help them roll out of bed into their home offices every morning. They have a reason to go to work every day, and a huge factor in what propels them is their optimism for the day ahead. They need to have a positive belief that the workday and work week are going to be productive and great overall, which allows them to have enthusiasm and energy toward their work even while they’re working from their own home.

Integrity

Another important quality to consider is integrity. When employees are working from home, you need to be able to trust them even when you can’t keep an eye on them throughout the workday. As a result, you need to search for candidates who give off a strong sense of integrity and honesty in everything they do. After all, you want to have confidence in them that they can get their work done efficiently.

Self-discipline

Along with honesty and integrity, remote employees need to exhibit self-discipline. While working from home, it can be very easy for some employees to allow themselves to relax too much while on the job, resulting in them not taking the job as seriously as they should. You want to search for candidates who have a strong sense of self-discipline, meaning that they can monitor themselves, stick to deadlines, get their work done efficiently, and stay motivated without needing a boss or manager to constantly hover over their shoulders. Self-discipline is a great quality to look for also because it shows that the employee has a sense of initiative and drive, which can point to potential leadership qualities for the future.

Flexibility

When your employees work from home, they definitely should be flexible and adaptable. After all, a remote, at-home work environment is very different from an in-office environment. Employees need to stay open to changes in their daily schedules to accommodate for the responsibilities of the job, such as by updating their work calendar regularly so coworkers know when they are available, making time for impromptu conference calls, and shifting different tasks and projects around to prioritize what is most important. This also involves a great deal of time management skills, as remote employees need to be able to juggle their many professional and personal responsibilities at the same time and make sure they are able to accomplish everything they need to.

By the same token, it is also important for you as an employer to be flexible by exhibiting compassion and understanding toward your remote employees in various situations

lazy, laptop, work from home

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Qualities to Avoid

People-pleasing

When hiring remote employees, you want to avoid those who are people pleasers. This is not a good quality in general, but especially in a remote work situation, it will be difficult to tell what the employee really thinks or feels about something. For example, if the employee is confused about a particular project or task and requires further clarification, but doesn’t voice how they are really feeling because they simply want to please their manager, that’s not a good sign. Ultimately, this lack of communication can just lead to more problems later on and hinders the employee from growing and learning in their position.

Laziness

It basically goes without saying that you should avoid hiring a lazy employee, but sometimes, laziness can be difficult to spot amongst the hiring candidates. Laziness can be especially dangerous among remote workers because there is no one to directly or physically supervise them throughout the work day, so their lack of productivity could potentially go unnoticed for some time. While it may be hard to catch exactly how lazy a prospective employee is, you can ask behavioral interview questions during the interview process to gauge how they might have handled previous projects and tasks in other positions they’ve held.

Hiring remote employees may not differ drastically from your standard hiring process, but it is still important to be aware of the specific qualities to look for and avoid in remote employees. That way, you’ll be able to build up a successful and efficient team that is self-motivated and self-disciplined even while working from home.

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