By Kellie Lail
Remote work – it’s all the rage these days, but what if you’re okay with your employees working from home every now and then, but aren’t ready to let them work fully remote? Since the beginning of the pandemic, work from home options have become increasingly popular. Currently, 85% of job seekers prefer positions that offer remote options or flexibility. Previously, you had the option to tag your job ad to be listed as Work from Home Flexibility, giving you the option to label your ad from the jump for job board filter while offering partial work from home options.
I’m sure you have noticed that this option is no longer available when building your job ad. It was recently removed along with the remote option. Now, you are only able to choose between the options of No or Fully Remote. So what does this mean when you’re advertising for a hybrid position? Let’s first get a refresher on what each remote option means.
- No simply means the job you are hiring for does not have remote work options and the candidate must work from the office. This option can also be used if you offer Work from Home Flexibility or Hybrid schedules in which you are flexible with letting employees work from home for periods of time, but there is still an office setting to report to and that they may be asked to come in now and then.
- Fully Remote means the job you are hiring for is fully remote and will not ever require the candidate to come into the office. We will automatically insert “This is a remote position” at the end of your job description if you choose this option.
There is one question you need to consider when selecting an option from the Remote dropdown: Will the candidate ever be expected to come work in the office? If the answer is more than one or two days a year, you want to select No. Now, just because it isn’t Fully Remote, doesn’t mean that you won’t let them work from home on Fridays or if something comes up and they can’t make it to the office one day. Or, you might even offer lots of flexibility, only expecting your employees to work in the office two or three days out of each week. There are truly endless possibilities when it comes to offering a hybrid schedule.
The best way to let people know that you offer a hybrid schedule is to advertise that in the Benefits section of your job ad. First, to make sure you’re hitting those commonly searched keywords, you want to make sure that you have “Work From Home Flexibility” listed as a bullet point in the benefits section. From here, you can get more specific and creative.
One of the biggest things candidates are looking for is transparency. Whether that is in terms of the position offered, the salary, or the benefits. You want to make sure that a candidate can look at your job and know exactly what they are getting into, and what they are getting out of it. This means that following your “Work From Home Flexibility” bullet point, you should be explaining what that looks like. Here are some examples to consider:
- Work From Home Flexibility after Probationary Period
- Work From Home Flexibility on Fridays
- Work From Home Flexibility 2-3 Days per Week
- Work From Home Flexibility One Week per Month
- 7 Work From Home Flexible Days per Month
- Work From Home Flexibility 15 Days Per Quarter
- 25 Work From Home Flexibility Days Per Year
There are endless possibilities for the way hybrid schedules can be handled. Make sure to keep in mind other things like Flexible Hours, Equipment Provided, or even Free Parking or Commuting Assistance that can be additional benefits for employees with options for working from home.
Remember, flexibility and hybrid schedules can always be determined on a case-by-case basis, depending on both your candidate’s needs and your needs as a business owner. Flexibility is all about that, being flexible! You can always keep a hybrid schedule up for discussion with each of your employees to make sure you find the system that works best for your team.