How to build a remote HR career

Many HR professionals now see the advantages of working remotely and wish to keep doing so after experiencing what it’s like to work from home during the COVID-19 epidemic. The commercial climate of today makes this possible. So, how can you develop a career in remote human resources? Let’s get started.

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Is it possible for HR to work remotely?

There is a widespread misconception that HR can only succeed if they are on-site. Perceptions shifted when the epidemic pushed employees in HR and other office jobs to work from home. HR specialists demonstrated their ability to set more effective goals and provide effective support to their organizations and workers in a remote work environment.

Indeed, according to 85% of HR professionals, they think they can function well from a distance. Additionally, Flexjobs discovered that the fastest-growing employment field with entirely remote positions is HR & Recruiting.

We think that all HR jobs can be done remotely provided they are set up and enabled properly, even though some HR jobs are better suited for working remotely.

There are several widespread misunderstandings about why HR shouldn’t work from home that stem from antiquated ideas. Let’s dissect them:

1. Having to be present and accessible to staff members in person

Does HR really need to be physically present at all times for workers to perform their jobs well?

In actuality, HR was able to assist staff members from a different place even prior to COVID and the growth of remote work. One HR Business Partner, for instance, might have served as the HR liaison for five different workplaces, making sporadic visits.

Nowadays, managing accessibility and daily interactions is feasible thanks to modern HR technology, particularly digital service delivery. Employees can interact with the HR department at any time and from any location thanks to a variety of service channels. Human resources professionals may work from anywhere with self-service tools, chatbots, phone assistance, video conversations, and collaboration platforms like Teams, Zoom, and Slack.

Additionally, managers and staff who can see the HR office can develop the habit of visiting whenever an issue arises. It’s possible for HR professionals to constantly stop what they’re doing and assist whoever comes to their desk. Additionally, they may find themselves drawn into circumstances that are not relevant to their work. Setting priorities and emphasizing strategic tasks becomes more difficult as a result.

2. Capacity to collaborate with the leadership of the organization

Executives used to frequently view human resources as merely an administrative task. They might not have considered involving HR in the decision-making process. In order to have a voice, HR leaders needed to make an effort, and being visible was helpful. Thankfully,this has changed for most organizations.

It is widely acknowledged in the present business environment that a successful HR strategy is essential. Today, HR plays a critical role in establishing and accomplishing corporate objectives. You don’t have to be on site all the time when you take a strategic approach and collaborate with leadership. Leaders will unavoidably ensure that HR is included in meetings and decisions as they begin to operate more flexibly.

3. Crisis management accessibility

HR undoubtedly plays a significant role in times of crisis. This has usually required physical presence, so management would ask, “What if something goes wrong and I need HR to be onsite to help?”

Simply said, working remotely requires you to be more aware of and ready for these kinds of situations. You can effectively handle unanticipated events without being present if you have the proper procedures and routines in place. To handle the 5% of unanticipated events, you don’t have to be in the office all the time.

4. Ignoring interactions with coworkers

There is no doubt that when people come together in one place, camaraderie and productive brainstorming occur. It simply takes a little more work to occasionally engineer connections when working remotely. To discuss priorities and progress in person, you can schedule quarterly offsite team meetings.

Some businesses have completely shifted to remote work and are able to interact in innovative ways. They have a budget to bring teams from all around the world together more often rather than spending it on premises or rent.

How to begin a career in remote human resources

The myths surrounding remote HR jobs are slowly being dispelled. What therefore must you do in order to begin developing your profession in remote human resources?

For those who truly enjoy their work and are intrinsically motivated to perform to the best of their abilities, even in the absence of supervision, remote work is ideal. There are ways to get ready and locate the ideal HR role if working remotely is important to you and a good fit for you.

Start by deciding what you want to do with your career next. Examine several HR positions that match your goals, abilities, and skills by using our HR Career Path tool.

Let’s now examine several strategies for obtaining a remote HR position:

Looking for a HR Management Course? Click here to enroll for Entri’s HR Management Course!

1. Examine your motivations for wanting to work remotely.

HR can work remotely, but there are some restrictions to take into account, and some aspects of the job may be more difficult. Since each person is different, different personalities will respond differently to working remotely. Make sure you have considered the factors behind your desire to work remotely.

Perhaps it might be useful to question yourself:

• What are the overall advantages of working remotely for me personally?
• What role does this play in my larger life circumstances?
• What restrictions and difficulties could I have to deal with, and how will I handle them?

2. Make your resume better

You should think about making some changes to your resume for your remote job search, even if you currently have a fantastic one. Make sure it highlights your capacity for success when working remotely.

The following are some abilities you should emphasize:

• prior telecommuting experience and accomplishments.
• There have been occasions when you worked alone and as a self-starter.
• technical expertise in particular fields and the capacity to comprehend and adjust to new digital tools.

Proficiency in writing and effective text-based communication techniques for engaging with coworkers and employees.

3. Recognize where to find remote HR job openings

You just need to concentrate on where to look for telecommuting HR positions. You can do some research and target potential employers that are already operating in a fully remote capacity. They’re sure to allow their HR team to work from home.

Additionally, there are employment forums specifically for remote positions, like:

• AngelList links remote job seekers with hiring entrepreneurs. With a single application, you can apply for several jobs and fill out a profile.
• Alight maintains a job board with a range of positions, including HR, and offers a number of business services.
• Remote.co displays job vacancies for remote roles and offers services to businesses who wish to offer remote work.
• A job board called Virtual Vocations is solely focused on remote positions across all industries. You can see all of their postings and keep track of the jobs you’ve applied for by paying a membership fee.
• FlexJobs offers thousands of remote HR positions and specializes in remote, work-from-home, and flexible employment possibilities.

For job searchers looking for remote positions, there are additional HR-specific websites like HR Jobs Remote and PeopleOpsJobs.

You may configure email notifications for particular keywords on a lot of job boards. In this manner, pertinent job openings get straight in your mailbox.

4. During interviews, highlight your most important abilities.

Many of the abilities required to succeed in remote work are already possessed by successful HR professionals, therefore you should seek to enhance them. When interviewing for remote HR positions, you may definitely take use of these.

Prepare to demonstrate the following skills:

• Provide specific instances of your successful remote work.
• Communication abilities that help you manage your stakeholder relationships effectively.
• flexibility in dealing with change and coming up with different answers.
• being well-organized and self-driven to finish excellent work on schedule.
• the capacity to work both individually and together in order to forge connections and look for fresh concepts.
• Intercultural communication abilities for a multicultural or international workforce.
• a critical thinking, solution-focused approach for resolving issues and advancing.

5. Improve your digital dexterity

Working remotely entails utilizing a range of digital technologies to complete tasks, cooperate with coworkers, and improve the digital employee experience at your company. You must therefore become an advocate for digital change at work and understand how to use technology to create value.

Here are a few strategies to increase your digital agility:

• learning how to utilize every kind of technology that is available at your current job, even if you are not obliged to use it.
• Trying out new digital tools that you could require for a new distant job or for an interview.
  obtaining a Digital HR certification.

6. Build your remote network

While traditional HR networking groups are excellent, you should also look for ways to consciously establish connections with other HR professionals who work remotely. You’ll find possibilities you wouldn’t have otherwise found and acquire a lot of inspiration. When addressing problems from a distance, this is also a great method to draw on collective knowledge and experience.

Here are some suggestions for creating your remote human resources network:

• Locate a public Slack group or channel and begin collaborating and communicating in real time with other HR remote workers.
• Become a member of our AIHR learning community.
• Use your social media accounts to locate remote HR groups, provide comments on pertinent topics, and publish original content that encourages engagement.
• Participate in in-person or virtual conferences that draw professionals who work remotely.

Once you’ve landed a remote HR position, you can strengthen the potential for its longevity by standing out as a strong performer.

Developing your abilities in the following ways can help you flourish:

7. Be clear on the scope of your role, priorities, and workflows

You must have a firm grasp of your primary duties in order to work remotely effectively. Talk to your management about your job and duties and how they fit with the needs of the company. The tasks and initiatives that have the biggest effects on the performance of the organization can then be prioritized.

Establishing quantifiable objectives and KPIs will enable you to monitor your progress and performance. It will be simpler for you to present your work to your management and team, as well as to identify areas for development.

In order to comprehend how your job affects others and how theirs affects yours, you should also familiarize yourself with the organization, its teams, and its procedures. Make sure you understand your role in processes and the dependencies between them. This not only facilitates efficient processes but also helps avoid misunderstandings.

8. Effectively manage your stakeholders and cultivate relationships and trust

Identifying your stakeholders is the first step towards good stakeholder management. Naturally, the employees are your stakeholders in an HR function, but so are your manager and team, the managers you’re assisting in improving people management, and senior executives, whose support and buy-in you’ll frequently need to succeed with your HR projects.

You need to decide who you should interact with and how and in what format. An organizational chart is a helpful tool for gaining a general understanding of the structure of your company.

Your stakeholders will vary depending on the project you are working on. For example, you can make a basic stakeholder map to gain a sense of who is impacted by or has an influence on your project if it involves planning a series of virtual team-building exercises to engage your distant colleagues.

Make sure you and your stakeholders have a mutual understanding about how you will interact, communicate, and collaborate. This is particularly crucial if some of them don’t work remotely exclusively. Relationships won’t develop naturally, therefore you need to be intentional about it. Throughout the day, you won’t run into coworkers or overhear conversations at the water cooler.

Set up one-on-one meetings to get to know the leadership and staff. You can address those needs, establish credibility, and establish yourself in the organization as you gain knowledge about what the people and the organization need.

Be bold and explicit about the value that your Human Resources position brings. There will be occasions when you will need to explain to stakeholders what you are contributing and how your capacity to deliver is unaffected by your distant presence.

Download our Stakeholder Management Playbook for Effective HR Leaders to discover how to handle stakeholders and improve the likelihood that your project will succeed.

Looking for a HR Management Course? Click here to enroll for Entri’s HR Management Course!

9. Assure effective communication

Being able to interact asynchronously, recording everything, and overcommunicating are all necessary for effective communication in a remote work environment. Both inside and outside of your team are affected by this. It also entails using a range of technologies that are necessary for efficient project management and transparent work.

Working remotely will force you to be more deliberate about the opportunities and engagement routines you set up with your stakeholders, as we’ve already discussed. Making a customized communication plan according to your key stakeholders’ chosen communication style is a terrific method to engage them. It might appear like this to an HR manager:

If you are in charge of an HR team, the other members must understand when and how you must participate in talks. The frequency of team meetings should be established, and all important participants should understand the expectations for making the most of the time spent together. You shouldn’t be excluded from decisions or circumstances just because you aren’t physically present.

10. Define your work area and set some limits.

The boundaries between business and personal life are often blurred by remote workers. You should create a philosophy about how you will handle working remotely for your own health. The next step is to design a physical area and surroundings that will make you feel at ease and productive.

To be clear and explicit about how, where, and when you work, you might want to implement the following strategies and guidelines:

• Set off specific areas of your house for “work” and “no work.”
• Establish a consistent work schedule that outlines the precise times you are available. Then follow through on it.
• Establish a daily schedule, similar to how you would on your way to work.
• Control your family’s or your roommates’ expectations by letting them know that you’re not always available just because you’re at home.

11. Put an emphasis on lifelong learning

To succeed in the ever-evolving workplace, you must embrace a learning attitude. Here are some actions you can take:

• Show interest.
• Keep up with the latest advancements and trends in HR and the workplace.
• Participate in HR certification courses.
• Take part in HR events both in person and virtually.

Naturally, this applies to both remote and non-remote positions.

Looking for a HR Management Course? Click here to enroll for Entri’s HR Management Course!

Conclusion

These days, there are more remote HR career options than ever before. This could be the ideal time to pursue your ambition of working in this manner.

It can be difficult to find and begin a remote HR job, but with the correct strategy, you should be successful very quickly. Leveraging your soft skills and digital dexterity will help make the transition to a remote HR job and thriving in the role easier. I wish you luck!