Managers' Interviews
Through numerous interviews with remote employees we were able to express and test different hypotheses.
Assumptions
H1: “Companies can imagine offering their employees the possibility of working as digital nomads.”
H2: “Companies will continue with remote work even after COVID.”
H3: “Companies would pay money for Junto.”
Test Design
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Personal Interviews
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5 Interviews of HR Manager
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2 Interviews with the CEO of a Start-Up
Key Findings
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COVID changed the way companies think about remote work dramatically. Especially in the more traditional companies it was not very common and sometimes even seen skeptical. After one year of remote work the companies learned that the remote work works well in reality. They do not face any communication- or trust issues
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All the companies will continue with the remote work after COVID. Most of them will offer their employees the possibility to work in hybrid models
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The companies already use many tools to assure a good communication with the employees (Microsoft Teams, Zoom etc.) and a good work efficiency (Gittlab, Discourt etc.)
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The question if the implementation of a digital nomad management system is realistic depends on
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The company’s culture: For more traditional companies it will be more difficult than for young, modern tech companies or start-ups.
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The product of the company: Companies that work with physical products usually need their employees to be physically present more often than companies that offer software or services.
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Digital Nomad Management is an upcoming trend, some companies saw an increase in the sabbaticals in recent years
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There are fundamental changes in the working structure going on: Some companies see that with the switch to remote work it will not be necessary anymore that the employees live close to the office
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It might be a good idea to offer a test package so that companies can try Junto first and see how it works in their company (especially if the digital nomadism can be integrated in the company’s culture)
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It is very important that Junto integrates legal issues in the software, too: The HR Managers are not sure how it would work with the legal issues such as insurance and taxes when an employee is working as a digital nomad
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Some companies would prefer digital nomad destinations in Europe so that the time difference to their employees will not be too big
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Most companies support their employees with things like laptops and chairs in the home office
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A sort of seminar to sensibilize employee on how to behave on virtual meeting could avoid some conflicts
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Maybe a web-based solution would be better than a software solution that has to be integrated in the company’s system environment
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A customer service would be important, so that the companies would have a personal assistance they can call when there are some questions. Especially important since the personalization is a USP of Junto.
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It is important to convince the department/team managers of the concept because they have to agree whether an employee can work as a digital nomad
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It is very important to highlight the high level of personalization that Junto offers. Some companies already work together with for example travel agencies that have to be included on the platform
Validation
H1 Validated: All the companies interviewed will continue with a remote work system, at least in a hybrid model. Especially the more traditional companies were skeptical at the beginning but learned during the process that the remote work works well in practice.
H2 Validated: In theory Junto can be an interesting product for every company that has employees working remotely. In practice the suitability depends on the following factors:
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The product of the company:
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Companies with physical products might be more reserved towards Junto because they require that the employees see/interact with the product physically.
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Tech companies or service companies are in general more open towards Junto because they do not require a physical interaction between the employees and the product.
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The company’s overall culture:
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More traditional companies tend to have more difficulties to imagine working with a digital nomad management system. They just started to implement the remote work system – forced by COVID
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Younger, more innovative companies (generally speaking more the Tech companies) are naturally more open towards Junto
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Companies – even more traditional ones – that have locations in other countries already have experience with employees working as Expads switching between the locations. Therefore, they already have a “travel/international” culture.
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The single manager of each business department:
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In the end it depends on the single manager of a department: He/She has to agree that his/her employees work from other countries. This depends on the personal mindset of the single manager and the trust that he/she places in its employees
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H3 Disapproved: Companies understand the trend of digital nomadism. They are curious about Junto. Yet they are not sure if they would pay for the service because it is not clear enough.
We have to further shape our USP. It has to be 100% clear why companies should implement the digital nomad management software and what are the services they will get.
Scripts
Here you can access the scripts of our main interviewed employees.
Justin, CEO
We as CEOs try to incorporate social events. The events are completely remote. For example, we frequently do team cooking events online.
Jana, HR Manager
Perhaps sending entire teams and not just one single person to work within a digital nomad project would also be an interesting option.
Geoffroy, CEO
It is absolutely necessary to maintain this feeling of belonging to the company.
