Success Strategies For Remote Employees

Tips on what you should do before and on the first day of your work from home job

1. Have a morning routine similar to the one you had at your office job. Give yourself time to wake up, get dressed, and eat breakfast. It is important that you do not just roll out of bed.

2. Do not wear the same clothes you wear to bed. We suggest that you wear clothes similar to what you would wear in the office. This will help with productivity and motivation.

3. Before your first day on the job, plug in all your equipment to make sure it works. Does everything connect perfectly with the WIFI?

4. Make sure you know the expectations of the role. If you have questions, ask the management team. It is better to ask now versus later on down the line.

5. Attend company gatherings, it is important that you develop rapport and relationships with your coworkers.

6. Learn the culture, so you know how to communicate with other members of the organization. Is it more laid back or professional?

Additional Resources

• Tips For Remote Employees Starting a New Job
• Pros and Cons of a Telecommuting Workforce
• How to Successfully Work Remotely
• How to Overcome Remote Work Challenges
• How to Travel and Work Remotely

Transcript

Ricky Baez 0:01
Hello, this is Ricky Baez, Director of People and Culture for 4 Corner Resources and you’re listening to the Hire Calling Podcast.

Pete Newsome 0:33
Welcome, everyone and thank you for listening to Episode two of season two of the Hire Calling Podcast. This is Pete Newsome and I’m back with Ricky Baez again, today. So Ricky, how are things?

Ricky Baez 0:45
Everything is great Pete it is August 2 already? In 2021. Can you believe it? It’s going fast. It’s going faster than what I thought it would considering everything happening in the world today. So yes, go fast. Hi. Have you been sir?

Pete Newsome 1:01
I’m doing well! A week in Key West. Just got back from that with the family. So, I’m tan I’m happy and relaxed. So all is well.

Ricky Baez 1:12
Awesome. Did you drive or fly to Key West?

Pete Newsome 1:15
We drove.

Ricky Baez 1:16
You drove?

Pete Newsome 1:17
Yes.

Ricky Baez 1:18
Yeah. So you know, what is like six, seven hours, something like that.

Pete Newsome 1:21
From Orlando, it’s somewhere in between. But it’s not bad. It’s a lot to look at as you get through the Keys. And it’s an interesting drive if you’ve never made it before. Have you done that before?

Ricky Baez 1:30
I’ve been there by boat. I went there on a Carnival Cruise ship a long time ago. And man, I gotta tell you, Pete, maybe your experience is different than mine. I learned really fast that their definition of customer service, it’s not the same as the definition of customer service in Orlando, Florida, I gotta tell you that.

Pete Newsome 1:49
It’s a little laid back. But it’s part of the deal. You’re if you’re in Key West, you have to know what you’re signing up for. And we took a family-friendly trip with the kids. But you know, there are definitely different ways to experience Key West. So I look forward to going back again, with my wife and seeing a different side of Key West I think.

Ricky Baez 2:13
I wonder Pete if you do the same thing I do whenever I go on vacation. Look, I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time clocking out. So whenever I go on vacation, I’m always looking at what businesses are doing what organizations are doing, what are they doing to attract more people? Do you see if they are if they have the same workforce shortage that we’re seeing here in Orlando?

Ricky Baez 2:37
Interestingly, I don’t think they do. You know, where we see that with restaurants you frequently hear that are understaffed, and so they can’t seat all their tables because they don’t have enough. You know, waitstaff and maybe even back in the kitchen, but everything was packed there. You know, we are Floridians so anyone outside of Florida listening may cringe a little bit, but not a lot of concern for COVID. Right, wrong or indifferent. We know that’s ramping back up. And so there’s definitely a reason to be cautious and careful. But I can say definitively that no one’s too concerned in Key West for better or worse.

Pete Newsome 3:23
Well, you know, what, it’s a regardless of where you live, whether it’s Florida, Texas, California, New York, you know, I’m sure people are getting a little bit worried with everything happening. And, you know, I’m sure people as far as the workforce is getting worried as well, especially with these organizations that are bringing people still back into the office with everything happening. And it’s an even bigger push for organizations. In my opinion. I don’t know you may disagree here, Pete. But in my opinion, it’s an even bigger push to give employees the flexibility to work from home. Right?

Pete Newsome 3:57
Ricky? I think that’s quite the smooth segue into the topic of our podcast today.

Ricky Baez 4:02
I try, sir, I try.

Pete Newsome 4:04
Well done.

Pete Newsome 4:04
So on that point, we are going to talk about that. You’re right. Some companies are there or at least they were getting there with current conditions. And the numbers spiking up is that may be changed or put on pause for a while. And other companies are as being one of them have decided that the benefits of working at home even when health concerns aren’t a factor outweigh being in the office and yet for 4 Corner Resources, we’ve decided to give everyone the ability almost all of our positions anyway, the ability to work home for free, not for free.

Pete Newsome 4:50
I was gonna say by choice, but to work at home and indefinitely. Yeah, and most of our employees are taking advantage of that opportunity in you can live anywhere you can, you can work from Key West, you can work from Orlando, you can work from the mountains out west if you choose.

Pete Newsome 5:07
And that is going to be our going-forward strategy. Some of our clients are doing that as well. Others that look, let’s be real, some positions have to be on-site, not met all, and maybe not even most have that luxury. But it’s becoming a competitive tool to use in the marketplace as well for companies who may want to leverage that as a perk as is working for them. So there’s a lot of moving pieces and parts of that right now for sure.

Ricky Baez 5:40
Something interesting that you just said there that is becoming a perk is becoming actually not only a perk, I think is becoming into a token a something to negotiate with, right, this is something unheard of in the past 24 months. So it’s for those employees that are out there looking for work right now. Because you know, you’ve got people across this country that are still hurting, they’re still looking, whether it’s due to their doing of something else.

Ricky Baez 6:09
And the reason I say this, because we talked about this on the last show, in April, 4 million people decided to say I’m gone solely because the organization they’re currently working for are saying you have to come back into the office. So that’s what I’m saying. Maybe this is self-inflicted that then I have a job, those 4 million people or 4 million people. So it has you’ve always worked from home, or what was there a time where you was in the office all the time.

Pete Newsome 6:36
So far at 4 Corner in the 16 years to start the business, it was by default, we were in the office. And yeah, that’s very consistent with the staff, the culture in the staffing industry, it’s very collaborative. Yeah, there’s a lot of things you do in person that in the past really weren’t possible to do online. It wasn’t even a thought or consideration, more often than not, and technology has evolved a lot in those 16 years. And so we were already moving in that direction, but we were offering it as a perk in the past.

Pete Newsome 7:12
So if you achieved certain milestones, you could, you could have days, remote days. And so our employees look forward to that. And we’re taking advantage of that. So we already had the technology in place. I don’t think we’ve had phones on our desk for a couple of years now we were using softphones, through laptops, every employee had a laptop. So when COVID hit last really hard last March, I mean, they all decided to go home or needed to go home, it was very easy for us, we were already set up to do it. We didn’t lose productivity, the employees certainly seem to like it. And so went from being a reward to just being our normal state of things. And, you know, for a lot of reasons, we decided to make it permanent.

Ricky Baez 8:00
So when I worked back when COVID first started, actually, even before COVID first started, Pete, I was working for an organization where even half the time I was working from home. And I gotta tell you, from my perspective, for me, it was harder than what I thought it was going to be. And the reason I say that is because I’m an extrovert by nature. And I got to talk to people, I got to be in front of people and I found myself either on the phone or talking to my dog honeypot one of the two.

Ricky Baez 8:27
But you know what really, really was I had a difficult time with went to mentally shut down. When I worked from home, I had a difficult time mentally shut down. Let me tell you what that means. If I went into the office, I got into a car, drove for an hour, got into the office, say hello to my team, my business partners, logged in got some coffee. And then I would work to do my job. When it’s time to go home. I would close my laptop get in my car. That was a physical indicator for me that I’m going home. So my mind shifted. And it wasn’t until I started working from home Pete that I didn’t have that physical indicator.

Ricky Baez 9:07
So I will log in around 6:30-7 in the morning because it’s literally my home office. It’s about 10 feet from a master bedroom. I will do what I got to do when I wake up, go over, and just start working. And it didn’t hit me until about two years ago, Pete I’m in my home office, my son back then he was six years old. He comes upstairs and he’s like Daddy, Mommy wants to know when you’re gonna come down for dinner. And I’m like, please let her know. I’ll be done in 15 minutes. And I happen to look at the clock. It was 9 pm.

Ricky Baez 9:41
It was 9 pm and I’m like, oh my god. Not only do I have to have dinner, but he’s also got to be in bed. So I got to give him a bath. So I went downstairs to find Timothy. What that taught me is that if I’m at home, I’m in a completely different space in my mind. Then I’m at work. How do you know how to get people to change that how to change that mentality?

Pete Newsome 10:03
So you know, everyone’s different, everyone’s situation is different. And you know, you’re home with a family, I’m home with the wife and kids. And right now all four of mine are home with my older two who were in college being home for the summer. And it creates challenges and opportunities, right? The challenge is that separation, the challenge can sometimes be distractions, I have a new appreciation for how much activity takes place at my house during the day, and my office is right by the front door.

Pete Newsome 10:33
So I see and hear all of it. And it can be a lot. But also it does create those opportunities to see your family at times you otherwise wouldn’t. It creates an opportunity to not feel guilty when you have a lot of work to do, where you can check out for a few minutes.

Pete Newsome 10:50
And so for me, I did work at home for a couple of years prior to 4 Corner, and I developed what I thought was a pretty good habit which I’ve now started again, I can, I can check out for a little while I can go outside, play basketball in the driveway, I can go watch practice, I can go coach. If I’m doing that during one of the kids seasons, eat dinner with the family, and then come back and still be in work mode where when I had that separation, as I did for most of the past 16 years of going from the office to home, I had trouble getting in work mode once I was home, because that’s not where I worked.

Pete Newsome 11:28
And so there are pros and cons, I think, right? And so for, you know, in a perfect world, you know, everyone would do what I what we’re doing, I think it’s perfect for us, which is we offer that option. So of their days, you want to go into the office, you can but if you choose to work at home, and indefinitely, that’s okay, too. And so it’s such an individual thing. I don’t think it’s a one-size-fits-all, that’s for sure.

Ricky Baez 11:55
So, excellent point right there Pete, because you know, it’s when I had clients and I was consulting and when they would ask me, Ricky, what was the best way for us to approach this dilemma that we have, whether they should work from home, or work from the office. And to be honest, when I told them, Pete, obviously, these are organizations that have the capabilities to work from home, but they thought it was one or the other.

Ricky Baez 12:21
And I told them, you know what, give them the option. If you give because everybody’s different cuz for you, it was different than it was for me. And I love the option that we have here at 4 Corner Resources because we have an office in downtown Orlando, and our employees can either come to the office or work from home, it’s entirely up to them. So they can kind of mold what their week looks like. And obviously, they have to perform as any organization would.

Ricky Baez 12:45
But it’s we provide, that unique ability for an employee to have that much more control over his or her day. As a matter of fact, Pete, I was messing around on the 4 Corner Resources website. Did you know we have one of those? I’m sure you did. Yeah, we had a 4 Corner Resources website. And I saw an article actually that was published today, tips for remote employees starting a new job, which is very topical right now here, especially right now with everything that’s happening, people are getting a little bit antsy with what’s going on across the nation with COVID.

Ricky Baez 13:19
But it’s unlike some of these tips here. And the first one here that I want to throw at you is to set up your space. And when it talks about is don’t just come off the bed and just brush your teeth, do one wave of a comb through your hair, and then start working. What I like what this article said is to give you step by step on what you should do, you should create a replica of what you had at the office at home that way you get in that space. Is that what you did?

Pete Newsome 13:49
It is what I did ultimately, in the office that I’m in now was used for the previous 10 years as a video gaming room for my three boys. So once we decided that we weren’t going to go back to the office, I booted them out and took it over as it was intended to be used. But you know, not everyone has that space. And so that’s a consideration, too. And so I’ve noticed recently there are some new technologies coming out some new industries even being born, who are catering towards employees who are going to work at home and but do have limited space.

Pete Newsome 14:30
And so I think creativity is necessary. I’ve seen some interesting things on zoom over the past. Over the past year and a half. I’ve seen folks working in closets. I’ve seen them working in bathrooms. And so bathrooms. Yeah, I mean, there was a guy that we interviewed and I didn’t call him out for this but I’m quite certain he’s he was sitting at a tub and you know, you got to do, what you got to do. We know that. But you do have to be conscious of your surroundings, you have to be conscious of how you’re going to be perceived by others and make sure that you can be productive and efficient and your workspace.

Pete Newsome 15:12
So you know that of course is a tip that everyone needs to take to heart, set up your space. And what I think’s kind of neat though this is everyone. You know, I hate to use a phrase, we’re in it together, because, you know, our struggles are so individual and personal. It does become overused. But as it relates to that consideration, yeah, we all get it right. And like no one asked for this, no one wanted this. Perhaps there’s some good that will come out of it, like being able to work at home. But we all have to be accommodating and understanding of each other’s situations. And so, you know, the guy needs to work out of the bathtub. That’s what he’s got to do.

Ricky Baez 15:55
Or maybe that makes them comfortable. I don’t know.

Pete Newsome 15:58
Maybe I didn’t, I didn’t consider that aspect of it. But maybe.

Ricky Baez 16:02
Can you imagine how that would go? If you’re like, hey, just one last question. How comfortable are you right now, because from what I’m looking at, you don’t like you’re 1,000% comfortable? I’m wondering how you feel in that bathtub?

Pete Newsome 16:13
Well, to that point, right. If even if you have to work in the bathtub, you don’t have to dress like your working in the bathtub, actually, I’m going to go so far to say you better not dress like you’re working in the bathtub. And so, you know, what are your thoughts on that? So I’ll ask you, you know, how you dress, you know that that’s changed a little bit, but what recommendations would you have for folks who may have, you know, a casual, a too casual attitude, how they’re dressed in the morning?

Ricky Baez 16:47
You know, there, there’s, it’s, and this is with anybody, Pete, right? It’s what you wear, makes you change how you feel, it changes the energy, it changes your mindset. If you put on a suit, a three-piece suit, and you look in the mirror, you’re like, dang, I look really good, it changes your mood for the entire day. The same thing goes with working from home. And this works for me, if I worked now, I’m a creature of habit, and I’m a creature of comfort. If I’m comfortable in it, and I don’t have anything distracting me, then I can be as creative as I can.

Ricky Baez 17:25
As you know, I’m a little bit of an extrovert. And I’m a free-spirited kind of a guy. So I gotta be comfortable for those creative juices to flow. But at the same time, what makes me comfortable is to know that, okay, I’m not in my pajamas, I’m not in my workout shorts, I got what I would wear at work because it puts me in that mindset. Now, I know everybody’s different. Right?

Ricky Baez 17:47
So if you are somebody that you are really comfortable and comfortable closing, do you got to be careful, because even if you get the video on, and working from home and zoom, the kind of dress code for work still kind of applies when you’re working from home because we get to see you, right? So what I would suggest is to find something that’s comfortable, but dress what you would wear at work because at least for me, it definitely helps me stay focus. And it definitely helps me to keep that work mentality on which again, and attire can really help you out with that. So that’s what I would suggest.

Ricky Baez 18:26
And at that point, new employees because that is the topic of, of the blog article that we published today, it’s giving tips to new employees, you know, ask your supervisor, ask your manager what’s appropriate in that environment, because it does differ greatly. And in look at it, and that’s an area where we’ve changed to for years, you know, we were business dress. And then we went to you know, casual Fridays, which used to be such a common thing. And then we got to the point where we decided we could even be more relaxed in the office.

Pete Newsome 18:59
And I enjoyed I wore a tie every day for 10 years. And I’ll tell you a quick funny story that it’s always stayed with me, I worked for Tech Data Corporation and in the 90s. And at the end of every quarter, the CEO, or every quarter, the sales team at the inside sales team, which there were a few 100 they were allowed to dress down, they could wear jeans and back then that was a big deal because we wore ties every day. And I remember the CEO making a comment once that he thought that’s the opposite of what you should do.

Pete Newsome 19:33
He thought everyone should show up at a tux on the last day of the quarter because that’s when you should be the most serious about getting things done. Not be in that relaxed state. And that’s always stayed with me is just because I thought it was funny, but I enjoy being comfortable. I never liked wearing a tie. I don’t wear a tie today. I can avoid it. And so I think I’m probably more productive when I’m comfortable and I think most people are too so I’m going to chalk that up as one of the perks of working at home in, employees get to save money along the way to write on a lot of business clothes, shoes are expensive. And if you have to really just focus on what you’re wearing from the waist up, then if I cut some corners there too.

Ricky Baez 20:19
Oh, man and gas, how much money you save on gas. I got a friend of mine who’s in San Diego right now. And he sent me a picture of him filling up his rental car with I don’t know how he found one with the shortage of rental cars we have in the US today. And it was hovering is $6 a gallon. So no kidding in San Diego, actually in less than 10. Yeah, in California. So it was hovering that high. So yeah, employees do get to save quite a bit of money.

Ricky Baez 20:48
Employers too, right, because the fewer employees go into the office, the fewer resources you have to use from the office. But then again, it gets more expensive for me because let me tell you, Pete, my AC bill skyrocketed since I’ve been at home. Now I’m a guy who keeps really cold, right? If my wife only was here, he asked to keep it hot, but I keep it pretty cold. So it has gone up about 45% since I started working from home quite a bit. But you know what Pete for newer employees, it’s good to start in a new organization and knew what to do before your boss before HR even steps in to say,

Ricky Baez 21:26
Hey, here’s what you need. Here’s what I’m talking about. Because when I used to work in an office, and I still come into the office today over at the downtown headquarters over at 4 corners, if I go in and plug in my laptop, everything that I have, and if I have an issue, I call my IT guy. And we all know who the IT guy is over at the office, right? We’ll call the IT guy, aka Peter, we all know who he is. But if I’m at home, I mean, I have an IT guy to call on right even before I start.

Ricky Baez 21:59
So another tip that I saw on this, on this blog post that I think is really, really good for new employees to know when they come into the office, and we’re coming into a job, when they work from home is once you get your laptop, once you get all your equipment plugin, don’t wait for the first day for you to start work for you to plug in your equipment. And to see if it plays nice with whatever Wi-Fi router you have at home, you should really take the time the night before or even the business night before to really make sure everything is working the way it’s supposed to. Right?

Pete Newsome 22:34
Absolutely, yeah. And then that’s, you know, accountability that needs to be in place for any employee, but there are different considerations for sure. And that’s one of them. And, you know, don’t you don’t want to be a burden on your employer, if you don’t have to. And in a company like ours, our IT guy is that is a part-time, we actually outsource our it. But with 30 employees, which is what we have internally, right now, someone’s going to get that call.

Pete Newsome 23:06
And that that happens to be you know, Peter, who wears a lot of hats for us. And that is, you know, one that, you know, many times now that we’re home, the employees need to take responsibility for themselves and figure out how to fix things show initiative. And so that’s a great tip. Because if you’re not used to doing that, a little preparation, you know, goes a long way. For sure. So yeah, that’s a good one. What else see what else you recommend?

Ricky Baez 23:40
Here’s what I recommend, especially you know, it’s, especially with working from home and people who haven’t done that in the past. If you’ve come over to our organization from an organization that required you to come into the office, there are some things that we don’t think about that we miss, when we start working from home. So it’s really good for you to take that extra step as a new employee to make sure that you touch on this, and that is to gather intel on what you’re supposed to do what are your expectations because if I’m in the office, and Pete and I worked for you, which I knew, I go to your office, Hey, man, how are you doing?

Ricky Baez 24:15
How was the weekend, everything’s great, blah, blah, blah, we’ll have some coffee, and we can talk about some of the clients that we’ve worked within the past, but that’s in passing, that’s not scheduled time versus working from home. We don’t have that interaction. We don’t have that passing time. So the other piece that I really like is to gather intel on expectations and take the initiative to make connections because as a boss, you’ve got a leader who’s like you said there were a lot of hats so they have other things that they need to do. Not to say connecting with your employees is not important, especially in the first week is crucially important.

Ricky Baez 24:55
But if that employee was to say, hey boss, if you got to quit five minutes, what exactly are you expecting of me and week one, week two, week three, and Pete this is something we did, we just recently did a training program to where we lay that out. So if your new employee coming into 4 Corner Resources, you don’t have to ask that right, because we have it laid out for you. But for if for any other organization that a new employee comes in, it’s really good to initiate that connection with that leader and ask what exactly are the deliverables, the deliverables that are expected from you, week to week to week, would you not agree?

Pete Newsome 25:33
That so of course, I would absolutely agree. And that’s tried and true advice, regardless of where you’re working, you know, so if you happen to be listening, and you’re in the office, as a new employee do that, in a way don’t, you know, but it’s, but it’s heightened when you’re remote, because the conversations that would just flow naturally or happen naturally, in the course of the day, in the office, you and I would walk by each other, you know, 10 times a day, if not 50 times a day. And when you see someone, you know, you acknowledge them, you talk to them, you get to know them in a different way, where now it has to be all say forced, it sounds negative to put it that way.

Pete Newsome 26:17
But that’s exactly what it is, you have to make a point of developing those relationships, that would just naturally happen. And so I want to separate those things a little bit on the expectation front, yes, every employee early on should have asked for a very clear understanding of what’s expected of them and their role in order to perform at a high level, and then do your best to outperform whatever, you know, whatever you were told, right, and that’s just 101, you know, advice, but it’s not going to happen as naturally as it otherwise would if you’re remote. So you do need to think about that. And then and then also make connections with your peers, your co-workers. If your company has gatherings make sure you attend them.

Pete Newsome 27:12
That’s, that’s a key component to and we’re having to be conscious of that right that needs to get together. You know, especially for new employees who I may not interact with, through the normal course of the business day-to-day, because in to do so means we have to schedule a zoom, we have to schedule a call, I don’t get to see them just walking in the morning and being in the office like I used to. And so we have to make sure we’re doing those steps. Right. And, and both from the organization standpoint, but as an employee, don’t sit back and wait.

Pete Newsome 27:49
And that’s the advice that I would give find reasons to connect with people find reasons to build rapport, and develop relationships, it’s really important. And yeah, something I’ve thought about a lot since we decided to allow everyone to work virtually because again, most people are taking advantage of that. And not surprisingly, I think it affects young professionals more than the older ones. Because, you know, we already I already have a lot of relationships, you already have a lot, a lot of relationships in your industry, you know, in your profession, right, in HR, for example, for you, you know, lots of people in HR, you’re very involved in the HR community.

Pete Newsome 28:30
You know, I’ve been, you know, out of school, you know, working professionally for. Well, a few years now, over 25 years crazy to say out loud, and so you know, I have a lot of contacts, but you’re just coming into the workforce, then you don’t, you may not have that can and feel isolating and that can feel lonely. So for young professionals that that is a concern that I have not only for, you know, our own team at 4 Corner, because I want them to feel connected, I want them to build rapport and relationships, I want to know them, it’s crazy the thought of, we have probably 10 employees that work for us right now, in our internal staff who I’ve never met in person.

Pete Newsome 29:09
And that’s a very strange feeling to me. And because they’re part of our family at 4 Corner. So we’re planning a happy hour on Thursday night. So hopefully, I’ll get to see all of them then. But yeah, as the employee, make sure you take advantage of any and every opportunity to engage your peers and your coworkers.

Ricky Baez 29:31
You bring up a very good point that I honestly did not think about and it’s how this affects, I mean, we’re all experiencing what’s happening in the world today. And we’ll have to deal with it through our own specific lens. But I never thought about how that would affect a younger professional differently than a professional, a seasoned veteran who’s been around for some time, because you’re right, that seasoned veteran already has those relationships built whereas a young professional needs to start building that it’s harder for them.

Ricky Baez 29:59
Pete, it just hit me right now, it really is hard to for them so that’s more the reason why, you know, on this blog post-print, you’re talking about those pointers on what you should do when you first started with an organization and you choose to work from home, one of them that I want to point out is to be a friendly face, let me tell you what that means. What that means is, especially when you start with a brand new organization, let’s forget COVID for a second, you start with a brand new organization, you walk into the new office, you see new employee orientation, you see a bunch of new faces, and it’s a new thing.

Ricky Baez 30:35
It’s a new chapter in your work life. But if you’re always on Zoom, you’re always on team meetings, right? It looks exactly how your last job looked like. Right? So you may think it’s the same thing. So what new employees should do when working in a company remotely, the very first thing you should the point you make believe you’re still in the interview, put your best foot forward, put a friendly smile on their face, put a picture on there. And be I’m not saying you’re going to be unprofessional, when I’m saying that you know how some people get comfortable at work, like sometimes too comfortable, you got to bring it back down a little bit.

Ricky Baez 31:14
So before you start getting quote-unquote, comfortable, because you don’t know the culture of the organization. So trying to feel out what their culture is, stay in that interview honeymoon phase, as far as how you communicate with you figure out exactly how people talk? Do they use emojis? Do they not use emojis, who you can use emojis with who you can use him. Because the worst thing you want to do is to start off on the wrong foot a relationship with somebody at work, and it starts off bad, right? I mean, that’s, that’s the way I’m looking at it. And these blog posts hit the nail right on the head when it comes to that and how to err on the side of caution, and be the friendly face online.

Pete Newsome 31:53
It’s a great tip. And you have to, you know, when we look at our when I look at our clients, you know, culture is such a huge consideration for our recruiting process, we go way beyond having to just consider the skills, the background, the experience of a candidate, you know, the things that you would see on their resume, that’s a huge component of recruiting, but it’s just a component of it, the equally large component, and sometimes even greater component is considering the culture of the organization and who’s going to be a good fit.

Pete Newsome 32:28
You know, there are companies who were if you weren’t willing to use emojis, he may not fit in very well, right? There are companies who, you know, would frown on the use of emojis in any situation, you know, professionally. And so if you’re using them, that’s not going to go very well. And that’s sort of a silly example. But you extrapolate that into just the bigger picture of you figure out what the tone is in that organization, figure out what their culture is, you know, who’s successful there, who you should be looking to emulate, ask other people, right? I mean, when you’re in doubt, ask if people like to give advice, people like to be helpful, but they’re not going to necessarily do so, you know, in an unsolicited fashion. So those are all part of the things that have to be conscious.

Pete Newsome 33:27
And I want to say forced again, right, but I need a better word than that. But they need to be practiced, and acted upon when you’re new to an organization, because how else are you going to feel that out? Right? How are you going to know? Unless you ask and so it’s, you know, even talking through this, it’s making me think even more about our training program, which we’ve had this shift and evolve a lot with the new normal in mind, and making sure we impart these things on to our employees. But that’s one too, right? We need to make make sure right from the start. We give them the guidance, to allow them, to know who to ask and where to find out these things, right. We can’t cover everything.

Pete Newsome 34:16
And I often say if we ask, you know, 100 questions, we’re going to wish we’d asked 101, right, because there’s going to be something we didn’t cover. And so when I apply that to our own training, I think, you know, we’re never gonna cover every question that a person asks, you have to give them an outlet to do it. So if your company’s not doing that, you ask your supervisor, ask your peers, ask those other people who appear friendly and open and put in and you know, be willing to be vulnerable with that.

Pete Newsome 34:46
Right. I mean, that’s, that’s when one thing that I think resonates universally well, which is people who are willing to not come in as a know at all and the expert. Don’t if you don’t portray yourself that way. But instead, you ask for help in a professional friendly way, the help will come, it will be given and openly and without hesitancy probably.

Ricky Baez 35:11
And you use a word that I use quite a bit. And I call it the V word that a lot of people have trouble with Pete and is being vulnerable. There’s nothing wrong with that you’re a human being folks, hey, we’re all human beings. I know there are some people in your life that maybe have done you wrong that you think otherwise about the but in general, people are human beings. So they make mistakes, and they may, you know, just handle situations differently.

Ricky Baez 35:35
But the reason I’m bringing that up, is because I like what you said there, as far as ask, bring up the question, ask a question, bring it up. But here’s what I like about what we do here. We have a culture where it’s not looked down upon with somebody asked a question because we see that as an opportunity to see what the other person is thinking. And to kind of calibrate to see if this is how we want to do that. And then a good negative a judgmental way. But in a way of, you’ve got a skill set. And we’re going to make sure that you use that skill set to the best of your abilities to further, so it can help you in your career. And obviously, it can help us here over a 4 Corners.

Ricky Baez 36:13
So we’re gonna create this culture of trust, to where if you ask no question is a dumb question. As a matter of fact, I’ll say this, the only dumb question out there is that question that people are afraid to ask. Just ask it. Right? Just ask it that way. And I tell this to my students all the time, Pete, this training right here, this is where you should ask all the questions that you think you’re going to get in trouble with. Ask him right here, ask him right now. Why? Because we could talk about what the outcome should be, what the outcome would be.

Ricky Baez 36:43
And we can calibrate, and we can get to kind of learn from it. The time to ask the time not to ask is when you’re about to do it. So I love that we do that here. And folks, for everybody listening out there, let me tell you if you are if you’re talented, and I mean talented, at recruiting people if you’re talented and matching people’s interest, so we fulfilling career. And if you’re tired of coming into the office, and you just want a little bit of flexibility in your life, we got it.

Ricky Baez 37:17
We have an office in downtown Orlando, and we got the technology to really help you move the needle from A to B and Pete. I’m not just saying like as I work here, because if I didn’t believe it, I just won’t mention it. But we do have that flexibility. And I believe and I think you believe too. I believe this is going to be the future of work. When people start having conversations with potential employers talking about what their offer what their total compensation package is going to look like.

Ricky Baez 37:47
In about 10 years, I see this conversation and where the people can work from home or not, is going to be as common as benefits is right now. Right? It’s because right now people talk about benefits and when it comes time to their offer letter, but I’m telling you this right here, what we’re talking about right now, it’s going to be just as common later on. And I’m just glad that you and I here at 4 Corner Resources were at the forefront of that.

Pete Newsome 38:13
Yeah, it’s a work in progress. Right? And we’re learning as we go, how to do things. And the only way you’re going to do that, or the best way to do that is to ask questions. Yep. Right? And, you know, there may not be dumb questions. But when you ask a question, make sure you write down the answer. Right? Remember, and don’t ask it again. Because those are the dumb questions. I will say there are dumb questions that have to be asked more than wrong and over and over again. Right?

Pete Newsome 38:46
And so it’s you know, in many ways, it’s a scary time. It’s a, it’s an uncertain time. It goes without saying probably. But it’s also an exciting time because it’s a time of change and opportunity. And to your point, we’re trying to do our best to take advantage of that, and learn and improve through these experiences. But there’s no roadmap for right, we’re learning as we go.

Pete Newsome 39:17
So we’re in the unique, and I think really attractive position of being a staffing company to get to see how so many other companies are doing it and having an insider view. And while it’s not our place to give them advice, necessarily. Sometimes we do where it’s appropriate, where we do see some decisions that you know, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention if they were, you know, things that we were thought were really poor decisions being made. We have great clients, that doesn’t really happen with us.

Pete Newsome 39:49
But we get to see what works and what doesn’t. And, you know, so we try to leverage that wherever we can and we and that’s the information we use internally it’s the information we do share with our clients and prospects for everyone’s benefit so hopefully, this helps some employees who are new to this, to take advantage of it. If you have questions on what we’ve talked about today, or you see topics that we didn’t haven’t yet addressed, that you’d like covered or just clarification on anything, email us, please. Hirecalling@4cornerresources.com we would love to get feedback on this podcast is a work in progress as well. And the more feedback we get, the better we can make it. And you know, we really appreciate everyone listening today.

Ricky Baez 40:38
Roger that. And Pete, thank you for having me on. I really appreciate it. Any other parting words you have before I close out and get ready for next week?

Pete Newsome 40:46
Just Goodbye.

Pete Newsome 40:47
Goodbye.

Ricky Baez 40:48
All right, ladies and gentlemen, you heard it. So remember these tips for remote employees starting a new job, go to 4 Corner Resources, the number 4cornerresources.com, you’re going to find that blog and a bunch of other blogs out there that are really going to help. Look we will love for you to come work for us. We would love for you to be a client of ours. But what we want to do we want to get this knowledge out there. So use it for whatever it’s worth. But hey, as Pete said, let us know how we’re doing on this podcast because this podcast is also being tweaked as we go and we’d like to hear what you have to say with that said folks, have a good one drive safe. Good night.

Pete Newsome 41:23
Thanks for listening.