According to The Wall Street Journal, 83% of the workforce sees the hybrid model as the best job option. And what is the hybrid model? A very popular thing of lately. During the harshest times of the COVID-19 pandemic many companies transferred fully or partially to remote work. And it turned out that almost everyone liked it.
This predicament gave birth to the hybrid workplace – a workplace, accommodating both on-site work and the remote one. Most companies, adopting this way of work require their employees to be physically present in the office for, let’s say a day or two per week. The rest can be done remotely. Siemens-Gamesa in Denmark, for example, required their employees to spend at least four days in the office prior to the pandemic. Nowadays, they require only one.
However, there are some, who try to ride this wave of hybridity and lure talents with promises of flexibility. Flexible working hours, work-life balance etc., but without in fact doing it right. Here, we’ll give several examples of questions to ask during the interview, which will reveal the red flags, if any.
How digitalized is your communication?
If you hear general mumbo jumbo, instead of magical words, like Slack, intranet, and cloud solution, for example, you might be in for an unpleasant surprise once you start working for the given company. This will mean that the communication will be very hard or even non-existent. You know how you can just see a coworker during the lunch break and ask several minor questions about work? Yes, it will happen during the time you spend in the brick-and-mortar office. But what happens then when you work remotely for the rest of the week? If you don’t have the means to convey or receive information in a timely fashion? Regardless if it’s from home or from the co-working space downtown. This will sometimes mean that you won’t even be able to do your job properly. However, if during the job interview you receive coherent information about the company’s means for remote communication, then it is a sign that these people know what they are doing.
What are the career opportunities here?
What career opportunities – you work remotely half the time. If this is the answer you get to your question, think about this job listing twice. Most people, perhaps even you, want to improve their skills, to grow and to become better at what they do. If the management has no plan about how to empower its employees while they work at a hybrid work place it’s doubtful that they have a plan to fully transition to the new paradigm. Do you want to be a part of an aimless company? We’d rather not. However, we live in a remote-ready world, no matter what some think. The tools for digital and other communication allow us to work from almost any part of the globe. Then, why not be able to grow with your company? If you see that the hybrid work place you want to be a part of doesn’t have a structured policies for empowering its taskforce, then maybe look for a job opportunities elsewhere.
What part of the company works remotely?
A company, which truly wants to be remote or at least hybrid will have senior management involved in that endeavor too. We are talking about leaders here, who are inspiring subordinates by giving personal example. If this kind of people are nonexistent, it might mean several things. Firstly, the management may only want to reduce the costs of employing you, while you work remotely half of the time. Secondly, it may also mean, that the career paths are reserved for on-site personnel only or that if you get promoted, you’ll have to say farewell to the flexible hybrid working hours. However, if the whole company is benefiting from hybrid work, including the management, then this might truly be the hybrid job that you are looking for.
In case you want to go fully remote, you can always register with us. Or if hybrid doesn’t work particularly for your company, you can browse our marketplace with almost 6000 prescreened and approved remote developers’ profiles. The future is remote – be a part of it!
