A remote workforce is coming to an office near you. In 2019, 66% of our workforce is now working remote at least part of the week. It’s a model that’s very humane; workers save significant money and time on their commute, employers keep on building overhead costs, and a Stanford study says remote workers are more productive and happier. From sales teams to programmers, the modern workforce is adapting to the work-from-home revolution. But is it time for staffing agencies to loosen the reins and allow their recruiters to do the same thing? 

Remote Workers are More Productive, Not Less 

In recruiting, we live and die by the numbers. The more candidates we reach out to, the closer we get to finding one that is the right fit. The problem with working remote, many staffing managers say, is that it’s harder to keep their recruiters motivated to continue their numbers game. Ironically, a two-year Stanford study says that remote workers are more motivated than in-office workers—so much so that it’s as if these employees product one additional day’s worth of work every week they work remote. The same research also indicated:  

  • Employers can retain workers longer when they’re allowed to work remotely.  
  • Employees take fewer sick days, which increases corporate productivity and decreases healthcare costs. 

Another study found, in 2018, employers saved $5 billion on real estate and operating expenses when their employees worked off-site.  

While it’s clear there are significant benefits for working remotely, staffing teams are a tight-knit group. The work is hard; recruiters frequently receive “no’s” from candidates because there is so much competition in the marketplace, especially for highly skilled workers like computer programmers, accountants, or healthcare workers. The worry from managers is that without constant supervision, recruiters will become discouraged and be less likely to do the work. 

Supervisors still viewing remote work with skepticism probably ask themselves: 

  • How can recruiting firms continue to motivate their employees if they’re not even in the room?  
  • How can companies train workers when they are remote?  
  • And won’t communication suffer if my workers aren’t in the office? 

While there are always exceptions to the rules, for the most part, these issues are moot; the studies show working from home motivates employees to do more, long.   

Today’s remote workers benefit from video conferencing, instant messaging, email, texting, and so many other tools that keep them connected to other workers and supervisors for immediate feedback. Sophisticated applicant tracking systems like Exelare’s software product are cloud-based, so anyone with an Internet signal can access candidate data.  

Remote work models are performing so well, that Business Insider reported even non-traditional jobs are now going remote, including law firms, science, engineering, marketing, real estate, accounting, and insurance.   

Today, recruiting teams, like everyone else in the work world, can highly benefit from remote models. A survey of employers and remote workers reports, “Remote work is not a trend—it’s here to stay.”  

Exelare can help you effectively move your recruiters into a remote option, which will motivate them to be more productive. Our software can help you track recruiter activity in real-time to ensure their efforts don’t falter in the home setting. For a test drive of our product, give us a call.