4 Tips to Easily Manage Global Employees

For the longest time, the standard for most companies was having an in-house team of employees. But times are changing now and offices aren’t required anymore as more and more employers choose to hire remote workers.

As much as 85% of managers believe that teams composed of remote workers will become the new norm. There are many benefits to having a fully remote team, one of which is that you can create a team of employees from all over the world.

But managing a team of global employees takes a lot of work, so here are some remote work tips that will help you accomplish it easily.

Organize virtual parties

Some people don’t like virtual teams because they believe that for employees to form strong bonds and work on team building, they need to have a shared office space. But you can still work on team building and have amazing get-togethers with your global employees thanks to the internet.

Virtual parties are becoming very popular amongst remote teams and you can throw an amazing party all of your employees will remember for months. This will give you a chance to get to know the people you work with on a more personal level and connect with them.

You can organize virtual parties for practically any occasion, whether it’s to celebrate the company’s anniversary, an employee’s birthday, or a holiday. And if you don’t know what to do for your party, Hoppier has some great virtual holiday party ideas that everyone will enjoy, regardless of the occasion.

Show your employees they’re part of the team

When you have remote workers in different parts of the world, it’s easy for them to feel disconnected from their colleagues and as if they’re not a part of the team. Show your employees they’re all united by instilling a spirit of shared purpose in them.

A majority of purpose-oriented professionals are very satisfied in their jobs because they have something that drives them to work hard and collaborate. Make your employees feel valued and involved by showing them how their work connects to the company’s larger goals.

When you hold meetings, mention specific projects and contributions, explaining how and why they’re important to your company’s mission and why the employees who perform them are valuable.

When managers and team leaders do this, they show appreciation, making the employees feel valued and important. This not only shows their importance but also improves engagement.

Learn the local customs of your remote workers

Every country has its own culture regarding traditions, beliefs, values, and naturally, work. Just because you’re used to one type of work culture, that doesn’t mean that everyone who works for you will have the same work culture and habits, especially if you hire from all over the world.

If you want to be a good manager for everyone in your company, be prepared to learn more about their culture and different customs. When you do this, you can understand the people who work for you much better and be able to provide them with the working conditions they need and expect.

That will lead to:

• Onboarding processes that are geographically relevant and tailor-made so every employee can have an enhanced professional development.
• Improved regional and local understandings that will positively transform business protocols and practices.
• Tailored communication to make every employee feel valued in the right ways.
• More respect for everyone’s local and religious holidays that might require days off.

Provide scheduling autonomy to your employees

One of the downsides of having a team of global employees is that a lot of them will work across different time zones which makes it impossible to have set working hours. This can lead to communication difficulties and make it impossible to hold conference calls and schedule meetings.

When one employee’s morning is another one’s evening, it becomes impossible to complete collaborative tasks. But this doesn’t have to be a massive problem if you allow flexibility and fairness.

International workers should be allowed to work on their own clock and have scheduling autonomy. If they don’t, it will be hard to find people willing to work for you, especially since 40% of people feel the greatest benefit of remote work is the flexible schedule.

Global workers are most productive when they can decide their working hours. At the end of the day, all that matters is that a task is completed, not when. And as long as you know how to keep remote workers engaged, you won’t have to worry about whether or not the tasks will be completed.

If you need to have some collaborative tasks, make sure that only the people who are in the same or similar time zones work on them.

Final thoughts

Hiring a team of global employees allows you to find some exceptional and talented workers instead of limiting yourself by hiring people just because they live nearby. And while managing a team of global employees can sometimes be challenging, the benefits make it worthwhile.

 

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