How To Spot Flight Risk Employees In Remote Workers

The economic landscape has shifted significantly since the pandemic, impacting talent acquisition and retention strategies. While remote work has offered flexibility and benefits, it also presents unique challenges, including identifying and mitigating employee flight risk.

The pandemic undeniably disrupted the traditional workforce. While the initial shockwaves subsided, the long-term effects on employee behavior and expectations are still unfolding. The rise of remote work has blurred the lines between work and personal life, and many employees are now more discerning in their job choices, prioritizing factors like work-life balance, company culture, and opportunities for growth.

This evolving environment demands a proactive approach to employee retention. Identifying and addressing potential flight risks early on is crucial for businesses to maintain a stable and high-performing workforce. Neglecting this issue now could lead to increased turnover and significant costs in the long run.

How to Spot Potential Flight Risk Employees Within a Normal Working Environment

When employees feel down, regardless of whether or not the fault lies at work, they are more likely to leave their jobs. So being able to spot the telltale signs that people are unhappy at work is key to keeping turnover to a minimum. Here are just a few traits that might indicate that a disgruntled employee is a flight risk:

• Change in work habits
• Unusually negative attitude
• Less productive
• Withdrawn from the team
• Unwilling to commit to long term projects
• Lack of motivation
• Punctuality becomes an issue

Spotting these changes in behaviour in remote employees is much more difficult for managers. In a typical office environment, things like lateness or a shift in attitude are more apparent. Management also tends to get wind of hot watercooler chat topics so can usually foresee issues before they become problems. 

However, when working from home, spotting issues becomes much more complicated. Punctuality, for example, is much easier for remote employees to hide. Negativity or lack of motivation, may not be as noticeable in remote workers. That is unless managers are spending lots of time in zoom meetings.

There are also far fewer opportunities for general chit chat between managers and staff. So long periods may pass without a supervisor being aware of a major life change in a team member’s life. While not work-related, significant life events are often the reason why both male and female employees leave their jobs.

Monitoring Remote Employees

Many companies routinely check what their employees post on social media. While this seems creepy, it is usually the best way to find out about important life events.

It is also possible to monitor the activity of any employees doing remote work. Many software applications are available now, enabling managers to track home workers’ actions. In fact, there has been a significant increase in demand for employee surveillance apps since the start of the pandemic.

For example, managers might want to know what time staff login and log out of systems and monitor their email activity. However, it’s worth noting that nobody likes the feeling that ‘big brother’ is watching them. There is a debate around whether employee surveillance is ethical or if it should even be legal. Regardless, the introduction of surveillance software could be a key driver in employees wanting to leave their jobs.

A less invasive alternative is to set clear KPIs and trust employees to hit their targets. This approach empowers employees by giving them more autonomy over their workload and sends the message that managers trust them.

Interview Questions to Identify Future Flight Risks in Potential Hires

Unfortunately, the pandemic left many people at risk of redundancy. Rather than be out of work, many of those individuals opt for lower-paid jobs that they would not otherwise consider. As a consequence, there was a concern that, while bosses viewed their employment as permanent, candidates only saw their position as a temporary fix. Once the employment market stabilised, many of these individuals were at flight risk. While this happened a few years ago already, these questions are still relevant, no matter when you read this article.

Below are a few key questions managers can ask at an interview to assess future flight risk in potential hires and what to look for in threir response:

Question: Why do you want to work for this company?

The emphasis in the response should focus on your company in particular. A generic response may indicate that the candidate would be happy to work anywhere rather than specifically for you.

Question: What are your salary expectations?

Candidates who believe they are well paid in relation to market value are more likely to remain in employment. The job search process always gives candidates a good idea of what their skills are worth in the current marketplace. So, if your job is paying less than a candidate’s skills are worth, it’s worth exploring why. It could be that they have a perfectly reasonable explanation for taking a salary reduction, such as their search for more flexibility than other better-paid jobs can offer them.

Question: What are your future career aspirations?

Hiring managers should consider whether there is scope within the company for the interviewee to achieve their career goals. If they have bigger ambitions than your business can accommodate, you may see them job-hopping soon.

Hiring managers could find that they rule out the majority of candidates by asking the above questions. It may be that the attempt to reduce employee turnover results in eliminating all potential hires. If this is the case, it’s worth weighing up the value of the skills a candidate may bring to your workplace in the short term vs the cost of hiring and training a new employee. Or better still, what your company can do to meet the needs of top talent.

How to Minimise Flight Risks Among Remote Workers

Employee engagement is always lower in remote employees than in office-based staff. This sense of detachment makes them more of a flight risk. However, managers can do things to make sure these employees experience the same positive company culture and make them feel part of the team, such as:

Make New Starters Feel Welcome

When onboarding remote employees, it’s hard to give them a sense of your office vibe. Without this, they may as well be working for any employer. Therefore, it is paramount that onboarding is as efficient as it can be. Onboarding should also be about making new employees feel welcome rather than a box-ticking exercise for HR. Including some goodies in their new starter pack and holding an online team event can welcome them aboard.

Performance Reviews

Where employees feel they are being paid less than the market average or see a lack of progression within their current employment, they are more likely to be a flight risk. Regular performance reviews allow managers to check in with individuals and monitor how they feel on these subjects. Don’t wait until the Exit interview to find out.

Performance reviews are often viewed as a chore to keep HR Management happy. However, when done correctly, they can help both staff and businesses achieve their goals. As a result, regular reviews improve employee engagement and reduce staff turnover.

Social Events

If your company culture usually involves regular social events, it’s important not to let that slide. Holding regular online events involving quizzes and games can be a welcome distraction from lockdown and make employees feel a sense of belonging. If, under normal circumstances, you would typically go for Friday beers after work, try and continue the tradition remotely.

Spotting Flight Risks in Remote Workers is More Important than Ever

Spotting flight risks in remote workers is more important now than ever after the increase in companies employing remote and home-working employees. While companies can never eliminate all flight risk, you can proactively reduce the risks by making your employees feel valued.

We hope the above has given you a few ideas of how you can spot flight risk in remote employees and keep turnover to a minimum. Remember that working with a reputable Recruitment Consultancy like Adria Solutions can help your business spot flight risk employees.

We have access to a database of CVs which covers every single job board which enables us to easily spot patterns of unrest within a business. While we would never disclose the identity of an individual, we can bring to your attention any areas of concern. Furthermore, our team would be happy to explain how we have helped previous clients spot flight risks within their team if you are interested. Fill out the form below to get a call back from our team of experts.