Hiring Employees whose Boss is Out-of-Sight

This article is written by Alison Eyring

During the recession, hiring in many global corporations was put on hold. Since January this year, hiring across Asia has come back with a vengeance. In our own Asia Pacific HR Roundtable, many member companies even find themselves rehiring employees who left or were laid off during the recession.

 

The professionals and leaders being hired today into global MNCs often come into an even more complex organizational structure than before the recession. Cost-cutting efforts have led many companies to centralize reporting for many support functions and to re-draw organizational structures. The result is more and more employees reporting to a boss who sits in another country – possibly even another region – and is clearly out-of-sight. How do you ensure the people you hire for these remote reporting roles will succeed?

 

The first rule for hiring a remote employee is to begin with the same discipline and effective hiring practices that research over the past few decades has shown are the best predictors of performance. For example, we know that reliable and valid cognitive ability tests combined with measures of integrity or conscientiousness are strong predictors of performance (1). While this is increasingly understood in the US, it is still relatively unknown in Asia. In Singapore, for example, a shocking number of companies still use popular teambuilding and self-awareness tools such as the DISC and MBTI in selection although they were never intended to be used in this way nor do they predict performance on the job.

 

Hiring managers are best served by using structured, behavioural-based interviews.  In additional to the technical and leadership capabilities required for the role, managers of remote employees should also look for the following:

• Communication flexibility. In a distributed environment, communication occurs over a broad range of modalities. Face-to-face communication is mostly replaced by a combination of emails, phone calls, teleconferences, SMS, etc. The remote employee must be able to use these tools effectively -- and feel comfortable with them. Look for openness to learning new technologies. Has the candidate demonstrated that he/she knows what can be handled via email and what cannot? Has he/she demonstrated an ability to leverage remote communications to gather, receive and make sense of feedback?

• Self-management. Long distance employees (LDEs) must be able to manage their own performance and development. In the hiring process, look for evidence that the candidate does not look solely to their boss for all the answers. This is particularly important when considering candidates from cultures that tend to look up the hierarchy for solutions and conflict resolution. Has the candidate shown evidence that he/she can motivate him/herself? Seek out information? Guide his/her own activities over time and under changing circumstances?

• Balance of Independence AND Interdependence. Hire those who can work together AND work apart. LDEs must be able to work independently -- often without contact from others. At the same time, they must value working as part of a team and be willing to give and receive help from others. This is a difficult blend. The ability to behave in a way that builds trust is crucial for both. Has the candidate demonstrated the ability to seek help from peers -- even those with whom he/she doesn't have a long-term relationship? Has he/she proven the ability to do this in cross-border or cross-cultural situations?

 

Consider the following tips for Hiring in a Distributed Environment
• Spend more time in up front preparation. Ensure distributed interview panels or assessment teams share common definitions of what is being assessed. Involve your local networks to assess functional capabilities especially if you are not an expert in this area. Treat local networks as part of the selection team.

• Use a range of communication tools during the selection process. If your team interacts primarily via teleconferences, for example, conduct 1 or more interviews over the phone. Such realistic job previews encourage candidates to self-select out if they don't enjoy or feel comfortable with these forms of communication.

• Consider building small scenarios capturing common conflicting demands. These should highlight the demands on LDEs in your organisation (e.g., 2 people requesting work at the same time) and ask candidates to describe how they'd manage this. Even better, ask them to describe how they've managed similar conflicts in the past. Look for evidence that they are sensitive to how people in different cultures feel about and manage conflict.

• Engage stakeholders to build commitment to candidate success. Long distance employees must interface with a range of stakeholders (e.g., customers, partners, team members) who are not in the same location. Involving these stakeholders in the selection process increases their commitment to the success of the candidate once in position. One way to do this would be to create interview panels with stakeholders and conduct the interview via teleconference. If you have sufficient bandwidth, use videoconference.

 

Conclusion
A growing number of people who join multinational corporations are likely to report to someone who lives in another country, time zone or even region of the world. Hiring people who will thrive in this kind of environment helps to build a stronger pipeline of future leaders who are prepared to manage this diverse and distributed workforce.

(c) 2010 Organisation Solutions Pte Ltd. This article was previously published in Organisation Solutions' eBrief.

About the Authors: Alison Eyring is the founder and president of Organisation Solutions, a global consultancy specialising in organisational design, development and change solutions worldwide. Alison has more than 20 years of experience in the field of Organisational Development and her areas of expertise lie in large-scale organisation design and change, leadership development, and the design and management of distributed organisations.