Remote Work At iTutorGroup
86%
Remote
35,000+
Team Members
Shanghai, China
Headquarters
* As of August 2019
Team Photo
iTutorGroup Remote Company Q&A
Jacko Chang, Director of Recruiting - Interview with Remote.co
What does your remote-friendly company do?
We’re an online education platform.
Did you switch to remote or start out that way?
We started as a brick-and-mortar school, but our vision and mission led to the transformation of our entire business toward remote learning and remote work.
How important is remote work to your business model?
The only way to leverage the talent needed for our business is through remote work!
What do you consider the biggest benefits of a remote workforce?
Flexibility and freedom. This goes both ways: the teachers who work for us can set their own schedules and we can leverage a talent pool globally.
What were the main reasons to integrate remote work into your workforce?
We adhere to the belief that learning and teaching should be borderless and education is not one-size-fits-all. We are devoted to linking students and teachers globally.
How do you conduct interviews for remote jobs?
Our internal platform is a global hosted solution that not only handles scheduling, communication, and interviews, but also allows our remote workers to act as recruiting agents and conduct interviews themselves.
How do you convey your remote culture in the recruiting process?
Since our entire HR process is remote, candidates and our teachers can see and understand how everything works. Our entire platform is designed solely for remote work!
Do you use third party testing or evaluation services when hiring remote workers?
We screen every teacher with local agencies to ensure that only the most upstanding citizens are selected to join our team.
How do you conduct onboarding for remote workers?
Our recruiting platform is designed to allow anyone interested in working for us to self-promote and start the onboarding process on their own. There are multiple checkpoints of course, but ultimately our system is designed to streamline the hiring of passionate people.
Do you organize remote team retreats?
Our best teachers are invited to an all-expenses paid trip to Shanghai every year! This is the best way to allow the teachers to experience a piece of Chinese culture and meet the students they have helped!
Do your remote team members meet in person?
Every year, in multiple locations globally, we have official and casual meet-ups for teachers and staff. We also routinely invite teachers to visit China. The parties get bigger every year!
How do you measure the productivity of remote workers?
Our teachers interact deeply with customers. Thus, only our students have the final say on the quality of service they received. Our students can give teachers ratings, which are measured in aggregate.
What elements are key to successful working relationships with remote teams?
A caring and supportive staff. Control over our internal systems that allow us to improve based on the needs of workers. A shared goal of bringing the best of learning to remote corners of the world!
What is the hardest part about managing a remote workforce?
Ensuring that policies and advice given by the company conforms to the cultural and ethical norms of a global workforce. Empathy is required when working with a very large and diverse workforce.
How do you keep remote employees engaged and feeling part of the bigger picture?
Our platform allows continued learning via free seminars and a robust and supportive teacher community where teachers can hone their skills with like-minded individuals.
What is your BYOD policy for remote workers?
All our teachers use their own equipment to connect to our systems. We have dedicated support technicians to help our remote workers 24/7.
What is your time off policy for remote workers?
Take time off when you want to! Just remember to schedule it in advance!
How did you implement a remote work policy?
Our remote work policy was not implemented upon any existing system. It is the sole method by which our entire business is built upon.
Can a remote-friendly company have a healthy culture?
Our remote workforce is global. This means that we are able to take the best of all talent and culture and create a humanist company culture.
What advice would you give to a team considering to go remote?
Remote work needs to be ingrained into the business and cultural values of a company for it to be a success and bring value to customers.
What has changed about how your remote team operates?
As the Internet has changed, we have opened more and more channels for communication with our teachers and between teachers. As we expand globally, our teachers continue to guide us on how we operate.
How does your team address different time zone challenges?
We have a 24/7 support team to handle communications around the clock. We also have specialized remote workers available to answer questions in the most relevant and culturally correct context.
What are the biggest benefits of being a remote worker?
Never having to disconnect from family.
How do you personally manage work-life balance?
I find my work extremely meaningful and thus have never separated it from my personal life.
What tips do you have to disconnect when working remotely?
Work when you really feel like you want to. That way you can show the best of yourself.
Do you have a favorite quote or bit of business wisdom?
If your plans involve more than two “ifs,” it is not happening.