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Go Green - Find New Talent

Guest post by: G.J. Miller

Article Overview: Conservation…Being ‘green’ means many things to many businesses depending on the industry they are in and there are many large corporations, and some smaller, that are well on their way to green right now. But did you know there is a way to do this in order to find a whole new candidate pool?

Go Green - Find New Talent

Conservation…Being ‘green’ means many things to many businesses depending on the industry they are in and there are many large corporations, and some smaller, that are well on their way to green right now. But did you know there is a way to do this in order to find a whole new candidate pool?

Consider…that the cost of Energy is rising and includes gasoline and automobile insurance. Consider this as it relates to the drive to work. This cost is astronomical now and expected to continue to rise.

Now ask yourself…where can I find talented people that are not currently readily available to me OR how do I keep key talent that will find it more and more expensive to come and work with me – who will want to work ‘closer’ to home?

What do you get?

THE INTERNET and ‘work at home agents’. They were historically referred to as telecommuters. This talent pool, people who are available at home or already working from home, is a fountain of diversity in skills and cultures. It includes stay at home moms, people with disabilities and Gen Y workers (and beyond) who are interested in growing the pool. In addition, allowing existing staff to work from home may just turn into your only practical retention strategy.

The concept of ‘telecommuting’ has been around since the 80’s but it was not seriously embraced by the majority of companies whose management continued to believe people had to be present to be effective and productive. It is taking shifts in generational expectations, the need to have a green planet and the high cost of transportation and fuel to make this happen.

Alpine Access Inc. in the U.S. is considered the world’s leading outsourcer of call centre services using home based customer service agents. They utilize over 7500 home agents in five states. Their President is quoted as saying “[we] have experienced 60-70 percent growth since inception. We expect that trend to continue over the next three to five years, as broad adoption of the home-based model occurs in industries such as financial services, travel, retail and government.” This may sound radical to you but my internet research and instant polls at meetings, in social gatherings and at the dinner table would suggest otherwise.

The Way it Can Work

100 Milers and Distributed Teams

This category belongs to those you wish to retain or they are people that you continue to recruit by interviewing and orienting, directly or through an agency. Distributed teams are similar to remote offices without the bricks and mortar. They may be hired for a specific project and both of these types of WHA’s (Work at Home Agents) will be required to check in on a regular basis. They will check in via video conference. The 100 Milers will have a regular schedule for coming into the office for a full day a week or month for specific meetings. The Distributed Teams will use video conference and a corporate manager will parachute in on a regular basis to manage the project and the team.

Silo Workers

Are people who typically perform administrative, data entry or call centre tasks and often are contract or independent workers. They don’t necessarily need to interact across departments, though technology makes it possible. All they need is secure access to that part of the system they will use to provide their support services.

Whatever type of agent you choose to use be sure you set extremely clear goals and metrics in terms of quantity and quality. It will also be critical that the employment relationship, what ever that is, be clear and contractual.

Your company needs secure systems, state-of-the art software, policies (such as expenses), solid contracts and good training programs.

The value lies in access to talent. In the long run the money you save on square footage and turnover will outweigh any initial investment and upkeep costs – if you do it right.

Sure there are hurdles, but it’s time to take another look. This is the way of the future.

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Article Tags: candidate pool, distributed teams, telecommuting



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