Self-learners > remote learning

A non-tribal take

You can’t have a conversation about remote vs in office without it spiraling into tribalism. Everyone’s got their opinion. No one is changing their mind.

Me? I’m a fan of nuanced conversations. (RIP)

Case in point: I’m a Team Remote homer. But even I recognize we’ve got a training problem.

Macro level: remote learning sucks. Ask any Covid-era parent. It doesn’t matter if it’s school or in the workplace, it ain’t good.

And that’s the biggest driver for the return-to-office crowd. (Besides “we’re paying for all this real estate” and “hot damn I love micromanaging.”) Training employees, especially junior ones, is easier in an onsite setting.

Learning through osmosis. Seeing and hearing how the experienced crowd does it.

Come to think of it, that’s not training either. But it is effective. +1 for the office crowd.

We’re bad at remote training because we’re not good at onsite training. Shadowing yes. Learning by doing yes. 

Remote companies have the hiring advantage. Onsite companies have the employee learning advantage.

👉But there’s another aspect everyone misses: self-learners are the absolute best.

Look around your org. I guarantee you the “top” people – the ones you look up to and try to emulate – are self taught.

They’re curious to learn new things. They took it upon themselves to develop more range than everyone else. No one’s corporate training made them what they are.

I say all this because the hiring world is obsessed with finding purple squirrels. Remote or onsite, doesn’t matter. Everyone wants that perfect fit.

The business world getting better at remote training isn’t a quick fix.

👉Perhaps identifying self-learners instead of check-every-box hiring is.

James Hornick

Partner at Hirewell. #3 Ranked Sarcastic Commenter on LinkedIn.