The world of work is becoming more diverse with remote working becoming the norm. They can be truly transformative for your business.
The world of work is changing rapidly. Covid-19 accelerated the transition to remote working to the extent that most businesses today operate with at least some of their workforce working remotely. This has opened up many opportunities. Not only does it give employees a better work/life balance but it can also open up a whole world of opportunities to you and your business. No longer do you need to be confined to your local talent pool. Now you can work quickly and efficiently with anyone you like.
The rise of remote work
The arrival of the lockdown prompted a major shift in working patterns. Remote work quickly became the norm with businesses transforming their operations to ensure continuity. Technology enabled a relatively seamless move with on-site and remote workers collaborating easily.
As restrictions were eased, enthusiasm for remote working remained. More than half of UK businesses offer it as an option. According to recent figures, 13% of all employees work exclusively remotely, and a further 28% mix the office with working from home. The boundaries between home and work became blurred.
In addition to that businesses are working with more and more freelancers across a range of business functions. It enables them to become more flexible and to scale services up and down as required.
What’s more, those freelancers are not necessarily located solely in the UK. Digital technology is enabling businesses to maintain seamless communication between multi-disciplinary teams in several different countries at the same time.
Third-party providers can also provide remote functions including call center work, technical support, and financial or HR services. These companies enable companies to offload certain specialist tasks to enable them to focus on their core operations and to benefit from the latest technologies and specialist expertise.
Hiring remote workers
Businesses, therefore, can hire all sorts of remote workers of all kinds through several mechanisms including direct employment, working with contractors, and hiring an offshore outsourcing company. Whichever of those options you choose it’s important to approach it in the right way.
The first step is to ensure a secure infrastructure. Remote working opens up multiple endpoints in your central IT systems. The old-fashioned approach in which everything was held onsite is being replaced by something much more agile in which people can connect via many different devices and engage with multiple cloud services.
Maintaining a secure, encrypted pipeline for all this work is critical, but the more remote workers you use, the more difficult it can be.
Third-party due diligence is critical. If you work with contractors or outsourcing companies you need to understand their security operations. Any weaknesses in their systems could create vulnerabilities for you.
If you’re passing data to a third party you will lose control over how it is secured. However, from a regulatory point of view, you could still be held liable if that data is breached. Not auditing third parties, therefore, is like building the best home security system only to leave the backdoor open.
Working with a reputable outsourcing company with a strong commitment to best practices and robust security infrastructure will help to avoid any unpleasant surprises.
Hiring remote workers overseas
For many businesses, remote workers may be based in other countries. It’s not uncommon for even small enterprises to be working with professionals from around the world. Doing this has several benefits including:
• Broadening the talent pool: A traditional onsite business model is restricted by the talent available in its local surroundings. Opening the door to remote workers widens the talent pool to potentially include the entire world. Instant messaging and video calls make it possible to collaborate instantly with people in any location.
• Reducing operating costs: Outsourcing operations remotely can often help you save money. For example, offloading your account functions saves you from having to employ accountants. Many companies are extending their gaze further and outsourcing to companies overseas. By taking advantage of lower labor costs all sorts of operations can be delivered more cost-effectively.
• Accessing specialist infrastructure and expertise: Outsourcing companies that specialize in a certain role can add immense value to your business. For example, outsourcing an accounts function will give you the benefit of skilled professionals with in-depth expertise whose sole focus is accounting. As well as employing top-notch accounting professionals the focus of a specialist outsourcing company will enable it to harness the latest financial software solutions.
Each of these options will involve slightly different types of employees and a slightly different approach.
Working with contractors or freelancers can often be done directly. Freelancers are responsible for their tax details and so can be hired and paid directly. Common methods to do this would be through a bank transfer, or by payment through an online money transfer platform.
If you work with contractors regularly, you may want to consider working with an organization such as an Agent of Record. The more regular the working relationship becomes the more you risk classification problems. If someone starts to work on-site, and exclusively with you the authorities may consider them to be employees and, as such, liable to employer tax obligations.
Fines for practices deemed to be disguised employment can be high and if you’re thought to have broken the rules deliberately you may be in line for criminal prosecution. It pays, therefore, to avoid any unintentional non-compliance. An Agent of Record can handle the onboarding and classification of all contractors and ensure you stay on good terms with the regulators.
Setting yourself up to succeed
Hiring remote workers – either full-time or on a contract basis, can therefore be a great way to transform your business operations and open up a host of new opportunities. In a more connected and agile world, a more diverse talent pool can put you in the best possible position to achieve your goals.
However, as with everything else, you must get the details right and find the right people to help take your business forward. For more information on your options when hiring remote workers, download our useful guide today.
