Why you need a Head of Remote

A solid remote setup in a company can often feel like a difficult dream. It's not just something that can be done overnight. The transition requires every company to redefine the way they work, adopt new protocols and habits, and take long-term measures.

Setting up remote work effectively takes effort, know-how, and practice. But it is a journey with many steps and even pitfalls to overcome. Unfortunately, it's not just about replicating the office online. Nevertheless, this is the situation in which many companies already find themselves. Breaking away from this and learning to fully adapt to virtual and online work requires a suitable path and guidance.

However, we have found that all of this is typically handled by a person or department that has no direct experience with this transition. They then have to take on the task of organizing remote work within a company, often without the necessary experience. This is usually a part-time job for someone in the company.

In the long term, placing these tasks on HR or managers will not help achieve effective change. The result is policies that only exist on paper and teams that work completely unbalanced.

To implement and carry out an effective remote setup, you need someone who can dedicate themselves entirely to the topic. For this reason, more and more companies are hiring their own Head of Remote to tackle this task.

What exactly does a Head of Remote do?

A Head of Remote performs all tasks related to setting up remote workplaces that are currently managed by another department of the company. Protocols and standards around hiring, management and processes can then be created by someone with an eye on the entire remote picture.

Those: lattice.com

Essentially, they either take over the tasks that were previously carried out by managers, the HR department or the IT department. Or maybe from no one at all! Typically, a Head of Remote should take care of the following:

• Documentation
• Advice, implementation and evaluation of new instruments and strategies
• Train employees on remote access best practices
• Analyzing the overall impact of each remote change across the organization
• Act as a long-distance ambassador and role model
• Supporting employees with remote work issues

It's not just about the processes either. There are also legal requirements to consider, as well as a new aspect of company culture. This is just as important as the technical side of ensuring that the entire team is happy with the new place that remote work is taking in the company.

What are the signs that you need a Head of Remote?

The problem with any new role or position in a company is whether it is actually needed. If you've been getting by without a head of remote, why suddenly hire one? Unfortunately, this is an all too common pitfall.

The potential for remote work is truly huge, and without someone dedicated to the task, you're unlikely to get the most out of remote work. There are a number of signs to look out for if you're thinking about hiring someone to take care of all your remote needs.

• You cannot maintain your distant culture. You may already have a cultural base to build on, or you may not have one at all. It's difficult to motivate and rally all your employees around something that has always been very controversial. Often, your leadership team is also the one most reluctant to convert.
• Remote workers are exhausted and unmotivated. This may be harder to recognize when you are not physically with your team. But you can probably just take a look at your own situation. Remote work should (in theory!) help you plan your time better and give you the opportunity to better balance your work and personal life. If the opposite is true, you need help!
• There are no documentation protocols for remote work. This applies to your emails and meetings as well as the work you do. When we work remotely, we need to communicate and document our work in different ways. Ideally, this should all be clearly spelled out in a remote work policy. This also needs to be documented... which shows how important the process of documentation is!
• Employees are micromanaged. It is difficult for managers to build trust that employees are performing at the level expected of them. Team members may need to constantly report their status or attend regular meetings that disrupt their work flow. This ultimately leads to less productive and stressed remote employees.
• There is no clear strategy for the “remote transition.” Remote work doesn't just happen. It's not just about working from outside the office. It's about a whole set of processes, skills and even a culture... that need a strategy and a leader to execute. If you don't have such a strategy, that's a good sign that you should consider hiring a manager who can develop a remote work strategy.
• The transparency of work has decreased. When employees don't work together in one place, it can be difficult to see exactly who produced and contributed what. This, in turn, makes it difficult to accurately assess each individual's performance. This difficulty then needs to be overcome without micromanaging, which is a real quandary.
• You can't learn and develop remote work. It is a skill like any other that needs to be practiced and maintained. The best teacher is someone who is already familiar with how to work from home, but this can take valuable time away from other experienced employees. A Head of Remote can either train the workforce themselves or suggest training tools and platforms such as our own Remote How Academy.
• You have no one to represent your external employees. When problems arise at work, it is not uncommon to discuss them in a structured manner with your manager or human resources department. But who do you turn to when it comes to remote work issues? Whoever you choose will end up with additional responsibilities that they may not have time for. Remote workers need someone who will listen to their problems and represent them in a fair and structured way.
• Your tools stack is confusing! No one checks whether the tools you use support best remote practices. If your company has only transitioned to remote access since COVID-19, chances are your toolset hasn't changed at all. There needs to be a proper audit, but who should do it?
• They do not support employees in setting up home offices. This is one of the clearest signs that a company isn't taking telecommuting seriously. Just like a work laptop, which is now standard, your chair and desk at home are used to help you produce quality work for your job. We don't use our personal laptop for work, so why should we use our kitchen table and uncomfortable chair? Someone is needed to introduce the use of devices in the home office and take it seriously.

What should you include in a job advertisement for a Head of Remote?

If you have found that many of the above apply to you, then it is time to think about having your own Head of Remote. What you include in the job description must take into account your current needs and your company's experience with remote work.

Those: himalayas.app

The points mentioned at the beginning provide you with a good framework for deciding what exactly you need help with. It's also entirely possible that you need help with almost everything. It is important that you consider how extensive your job is and whether it is a full-time position, a part-time position or even a temporary position.

Nothing is set in stone here. If you find that you are not getting the applicants you want, you can revise the advertisement at any time. The description you provide in the job posting can be expanded and adjusted over time as you learn more about your needs.

Depending on your specific needs, you may want to examine some of the vertical areas of the job. If you're particularly struggling with building your remote work culture, consider specifically hiring a remote work culture leader. Sometimes it's your HR department that needs the most support, so a Head of Remote People Ops is the perfect choice for you.

Which companies already have a Head of Remote?

While the Head of Remote role is relatively new for most companies, there are some big names that were already experimenting with the role before COVID-19. GitLab, which has operated remotely since its founding in 2014, hired its own head of remote last year. Darren Murph has 15 years of remote work experience and is now responsible for GitLab's remote policies and practices. In his own words, Darren describes the importance of change in telecommuting:

"The head of remote work is the most cross-functional role in the company, ensuring that key restructuring decisions are not made in a vacuum. He is the visionary who drives change, improves inclusion and efficiency, and promotes cultural cohesion."

Darren recognized an important reason why GitLab needs a Head of Remote for its 1200 remote employees. Remote work impacts every area of ​​a business, from hiring to budgets. Every single change in a team has a butterfly effect on all other departments. The only way to see this from a bird's eye view and keep an eye on it is to have someone managing the entire process.

Those: affiliated.io

AngelList, a community for startups, investors and job seekers, also hired its first Head of Remote, Andreas Klinger, last year. During his time in this role, Andreas has covered most of what we have already discussed when it comes to processes,

"He helped establish meeting rituals that are useful to callers, develop practices that work across time zones, etc."

Importantly, these two companies have something in common: an already established focus on remote work. GitLab already has a fully remote workforce, and AngelList runs its own remote work job board. It's a good sign that those who are most familiar with flexible working conditions already have a Head of Remote in the company. For everyone who needs to catch up now, this is a good example to follow.

Facebook also recently hired its own remote work director, Annie Dean. In August this year, the company announced that it would allow its employees to work remotely until August 2021. Facebook also sees remote work as a permanent option for the future. Annie Dean has extensive experience promoting work flexibility for women at her previous company, Werk, making her a top choice to lead this digital transformation.

While Facebook didn't have an obvious focus on remote work before COVID-19, they have now realized that a Head of Remote is definitely necessary if the issue is to be taken seriously. This is the path most companies have already taken, so discontinuing this new feature is only a matter of time when the need becomes greater.

It's only a matter of time

Whether or not you need a remote work leader depends on how seriously your company takes remote work. Not every company plans to maintain flexible working conditions after the pandemic. But these are in the minority now that everyone has learned the benefits of working outside the office.
The future of work will inevitably be telecommuting. So it's the perfect time to take advantage of this unexpected change and strike the iron while it's still hot. We all learn a lot in a short period of time. We all have a unique opportunity to get off to a good start with teleworking in our companies.

However, at some point in this journey, external support is required to get a handle on a solid remote work setup. The more signs that you probably need a Head of Remote increase, the greater the need becomes. You only have to look at the recent hype surrounding this role to know that it has become much more in demand. Take stock, assess your remote work situation, and create your own Head of Remote role tailored to your company's needs.