{"id":15891,"date":"2018-10-08T09:27:16","date_gmt":"2018-10-08T16:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/?p=15891"},"modified":"2018-10-08T09:27:16","modified_gmt":"2018-10-08T16:27:16","slug":"remote-first-culture-as-a-competitive-advantage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/remote-first-culture-as-a-competitive-advantage\/","title":{"rendered":"Remote-First Culture as a Competitive Advantage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christina Sass is a mentor and speaker within our global ecosystem of founders.<\/a>\u00a0To receive peer mentorship from Christina and over 600 fellow Tech Founders, please\u00a0request an invite<\/a> and join our global network.<\/em><\/p>\n

Right now in the United States, there are between 1.6-1.8 million open jobs for software developers. People desperately need tech talent. And the best tech talent is extremely hard to vet, and <\/span>then<\/span><\/i> retain. <\/span><\/p>\n

While finding technical talent is hard for everyone; finding good <\/strong><\/span>local<\/i><\/strong> technical talent is nearly impossible for early stage startups<\/strong>, most of which can simply offer equity, a small salary, and of course, the ability to build something great.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, <\/span>53% of software engineers<\/span><\/a> rank remote work as their top priority in their job search. This, in addition to startups increasingly closing their physical offices and growing remote trends in general, is causing a shift in the nature of work. <\/span><\/p>\n

Enter Christina Sass, Co-founder of Andela<\/a>,<\/strong> who to-date has raised over $80M from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Spark Capital, and others to help companies build distributed engineering teams with Africa\u2019s most talented software developers. Andela<\/a>\u2019s secret to placing and helping companies retain remote tech talent? <\/span>Building an empathetic digital culture.<\/b><\/p>\n

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Today, 53% of software engineers<\/a> rank remote work as their top priority in their job search. This, in addition to startups increasingly closing their physical offices and growing remote trends in general, is causing a shift in the nature of work. @sasschristina<\/b><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Remote First = A Larger Pool of Diverse, Talented Developers<\/b><\/h2>\n

There is a logical fallacy that exists in current tech startups, and that fallacy is that you can have it all\u2014 \u201cI can have a very diverse team, all local, all senior. I can easily find and vet all of that senior talent and they will move where I want them to.\u201d <\/span>That simply doesn\u2019t exist.<\/span><\/i> It\u2019s impossible to work in the same ways we always have <\/span>and<\/span><\/i> attract the best diverse talent. However, with a distributed team, you can tap into all kinds of unbelievable, diverse talent.<\/span><\/p>\n

We already know <\/span>developers are in short supply<\/span><\/a> (5 open jobs for every 1 developer in the US) and that they prefer to work in a distributed manner. And in the past 20 years, the number of employees doing remote work has risen from <\/span>9% to 30%, to 60%<\/span><\/a> of engineers working distributed. <\/span><\/p>\n

Keeping your team local means limiting your talent pool <\/span>and<\/span><\/i> your customer pool. The fastest way to ensure that only one slice of the population uses your app, is to have only one segment of the population build it. If you want your tech to appeal to a <\/span>global<\/span><\/i> audience, you have to have a diverse team contributing to those ideas. <\/span><\/p>\n

An abundance of studies show that diverse teams build better, more innovative products and that they build them more efficiently. <\/span><\/p>\n

The truth is the U.S. has almost a 0% unemployment rate for software developers, but the rest of the world has<\/span> 20 million software developers<\/span><\/a>. To get the best developers, you have to tap into those 20 million. Founders who commit to doing distributed well are going to see that pay off in the long run as they gain access to all the talent in that pool of 20 Million.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

If you want your tech to appeal to a <\/span>global<\/span><\/i> audience, you have to have a diverse team contributing to those ideas.\u00a0@sasschristina<\/b><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

How to Build a Remote First Culture<\/b><\/h2>\n

Screen Your Remote Developers for High Social and Emotional Intelligence <\/b><\/h3>\n

We developed several hypotheses around what makes a great remote employee, and then tested the employees on their empathy and problem solving abilities. We tracked that over years and when our developers were placed, we looked at the feedback our partners gave us, and <\/span>quickly realized that people with high social-emotional intelligence were succeeding more at remote work<\/b>. Now, we screen all our people in search of very high social and emotional intelligence. <\/span><\/p>\n

This is contrary to what most people think of as a good developer. We politely disagree. I think a good developer will watch your facial expressions and ask \u201cwhat did you not like about that feature?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

So, when hiring a remote developer, look for social and emotional intelligence\u2014 it will create a better product which is better suited for your ideal customer and a better work environment for your tech team.<\/span><\/p>\n

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When hiring a remote developer, look for social and emotional intelligence\u2014 it will create a better product which is better suited for your ideal customer.\u00a0@sasschristina<\/b><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Build A Culture of Trust <\/b><\/h3>\n

A culture built on trust is vital to any work environment, but especially for remote work, when nuance can be lost in translation. There are a lot of easy and authentic ways to create trust whether in person or distributed. <\/span><\/p>\n

It comes down to connecting on a human level and feeling like you have the trust to call out when something seems off. We talk to our developers about building that trust with our partners in these 4 ways:<\/span><\/p>\n

Communicate over video whenever possible<\/b><\/h4>\n

At Andela, we host our All Hands via Zoom\u2014 even if we are in the same office. Video provides a human element to a meeting, while holding the attendee accountable\u2014 you can see if someone is doing other work, or checking their phone, because the screen is positioned on their face. When our developers are orienting to a new team, we ask \u201cwhen is your first meeting with that team? Who will be on a call? Can it be a video call? When you have that call, can you turn off other notifications? Make sure you not backlit. Have you practiced what you\u2019re going to say?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Make time for informal conversation<\/b><\/h4>\n

When you have the opportunity, to take a moment to tell each other about what you were doing today, or to find shared interests. Send them an article about something they like. If they aren’t feeling well take the chance to ask if there\u2019s anything you can do to help. Make the extra effort whether you are in the same setting or not. This goes for both employer and employee.<\/span><\/p>\n

Know the difference between a good developer and a great developer<\/b><\/h4>\n

In every new partner engagement, we are building a reputation up with them at Andela<\/a>. The reason a company brings us on board is because they believe we can deliver great technologists. The large majority of the effort is on being ultra prepared and delivering on what\u2019s expected. What differentiates a good developer from a great one is the extra care on their social and emotional intelligence. Say someone meets a deadline\u2014 you are satisfied. However, that is not the same thing as the developer saying \u201chey I\u2019m halfway through this and I really want to make sure we\u2019re aligned. Can you give me some critical feedback, what parts of this can be improved?\u201d that\u2019s the difference between a good and a great developer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Foster open and honest communication<\/b><\/h4>\n

Being able to take and give critical feedback and not take it personally is also key to successful remote work.<\/span> That\u2019s why we harp so much on soft skills. For example, we have general rules of thumb\u2014 when an email chain hits 4-5 back and forths, we encourage our developers to get on the phone. In remote work, people can\u2019t get up and walk across the office. The virtual version of that is getting on a call. Be authentic, because the tone of slack and email can be misconstrued. Make sure they are delighted by that exchange. And wherever possible, connect as humans. The first 2-3 minutes of every call should be personal conversation. That\u2019s where the magic happens.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

A culture built on trust is vital to any work environment, but especially for remote work, when nuance can be lost in translation.\u00a0@sasschristina<\/b><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christina Sass is a mentor and speaker within our global ecosystem of founders.\u00a0To receive peer mentorship from Christina and over 600 fellow Tech Founders, please\u00a0request an invite and join our … <\/p>\n

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