Building remote teams in India

1. BuildingremoteteamsinIndia Playtogetagistoftheblog The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted a great many businesses worldwide. The pandemic tested the resilience of companies to doing business under uncertain conditions. There was confusion followed by chaos as California was the first state in the US to lockdown. Economic activity seemed to be coming to a grinding halt. Businesses had to rapidly learn new ways of conductingbusinessastheiremployeeswereforcedtostayhome. Physicalteamsstartedtransformingrapidlyintovirtualteams.Ittooka whilebutgraduallyremoteworkand workfromhomebecamemainstream. In this blog, we aim to address concerns about arriving at the know-how of hiring a remoteteam.HowanEmployerofRecordservices,i.eEOR services in India or an International PEO can contribute to finding the right fitwith relevant experiencesat competitive rates.

2. Our blog will educate you on exploring India as a prospective location for skilledresources,therisks,advantages,costs,andstrategies for hiring andretaining aremoteteaminIndia.AswellashowProfessional EmployerOrganizations,i.ePEOservicesin India can outrun and serve asthe bestalternative compared tothe other routesof remotehiring. Theremoteworkingtrendbecomesmainstream As it became evident to businesses that high-caliber workers were easily availableinothercountrieslikeIndiafor afractionofthecost,it kick-started aracetohireoverseasemployees.Thereemergedan opportunityforcertaintypesofbusinessesusingcloudandtelecom technologies to leverage remote workforce and gain a strategic advantage intheir marketplaces. The pandemic had indeed leveled the playing field for workers to provide their service to businesses out of their native country. The wave of remote working started by platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer, Brickworks, andthe likes got expeditedby the pandemic. Thepandemichasencouragedsuccessfulremoteteams’work culture Thepost-pandemicrevolutionizedtheconceptofworkandbusiness ecosystemaltogether. Interestingly,theNetherlandshasdecidedtoprioritizeitsemployees’ work-lifebalance.Theyarejust astepawayfrombecomingthefirst country to provide work-from-home legally if the law is approved by the Senate.Thepandemicwasinstrumentalinplaying ahugerolein implementingremote hiring andincreasing staffproductivity. Indiaasapreferreddestinationforskilledmanpower Indiaisperceivedas aland of opportunity for its cultural, well-educated, and diverse background. India has a talent pool of highly educated and skilledprofessionalswhoareadeptatproblem-solvingabilitiesandare

3. immensely creative. People from India hail from different regions and bring various cultures and thought processes to the table. As per Quora, 4.4 million employees from India were employed in the IT and ITES sectors as of2020. DivingintothespecificsofIndia,Indiaholdsthesecond-largest English-speaking manpower. It churns out a great tech talent of 1.5 million engineersyearlyfromvarioustier 1andtier 2engineeringpremier institutesliketheIndianInstitutesofTechnology(IIT)andNational InstitutesofInformationTechnology(NIT).Accordingtothereport published by the National Survey of India, the literacy rate of India as of 2022is 77.7 %. Indiaranks 159 amongst 197countries. The cost of living in India on average is 64.6% lower than that of the US. The country’saverage population is young. Moreover,it is quite easy to find staff who are eager to succeed and adapt to new business ethos. The salarypackagesare lower which means businesses in the west can have alarger workforce for thesame budget. India has over 75% of the World’s CMM-Level 5 companies and has the highestnumberofISO-9000certifiedcompanies.Whetheryouare offshoring to India or hiring Indian talents, high standards, professionalism, andreliabilityareagiven.TheIndianITsectortodayisestimatedtobe $235billion. Companiesemphasizingvirtualteambuilding The journey of global companies exploring remote hiring dates back to globalairlineslikeTexasInstrumentsand British Airways availing their back-end offices in India. IT/ITES companies followed the lead realizing Indiahasgreatcommunication,technologicalandhigh-endtelecom facilities. It has favorable business working environments as well. From 1945-1994,companieslikeInternationalBusinessMachines(IBM), AmericanExpress,andAmericanTelephoneandTelegraphCompany (AT&T)permittedtheiremployeestotelecommute.Consideringthe telecommutingstudyconductedbytheUnitedStatesFederalGovernment

4. reduced the employees’ commuting expenses and increased their productivity. TodayalotofglobalsoftwaregiantslikeOracle,Microsoft,SAP,etc outsourcetoIndiabyacknowledgingitspotential.Indiahas a strong industrialbase,growinginfrastructure,anddigitization.Aswellasan enthusiastic start-up population, encouraging growth, and partnering vision from the Government. In fact, 8% of India’s total Gross Domestic Product (GDP)isaccountedforintheIT/ITESindustryin2020.Thesoftware industry of India has given out an output of $16 billion. The leading IT companies of India are well equipped with attractively designed buildings andposh campuses in primelocations. Theinfluxofglobalcompaniesduringthepandemic There was a surge of companies coming to India. India benefited hugely fromthepandemic.It’soneofthebiggestcountriesintheworldwitha

5. fast-growingeconomy,soitwasn’t asurprisewhyitbecamethetop destinationfor hiring a remoteteam. Togetsomecontext,theIndianMinistryofCorporateAffairs (MCA) registered more than 124,000 companies in 2019-20, 155,000 in 2020-21 (25%growth),and167,000(8%growth)companiesregisteredinthe financialyear 2021-22. DuringFY2021-22,thestatesthatregisteredthelargestnumberof companies were Maharashtra with 31,107 companies, followed by Uttar Pradeshat16,969,Delhiat16,323,Karnatakaat13,403,andTamilNadu at11,020 companies. Advantages of hiring a remote team and leading remotely Broadensbrand reachin two countries BynarrowingdownonIndiaas a prospectivelocationforyourglobal business expansion plans, you will have an opportunity to augment your brandvisibility and culture indual countries. Remotehiringallowsyoutotapintoapoolofdiverseandadept population India is a place of robust diversity. Skilled professionals stem from different regions,haveaningrainedabilitytoadjust,andareadeptat problem-solving skills. The authors of ‘Jugaad Innovation’ advise the West toconsiderIndiansasanemergingmarketofferingcreativesolutionsin thebusiness world.

6. Availskilledresourcesatreducedcosts When you hire a remote team, it works out great from a cost perspective pointofview.ThewageratesandcompensationpoliciesinIndiaare different, tobeprecisetheyarecomparatively low. There is scope for negotiation in India. Also, the costs of recruiting are affordable. You can resource remote employees in India at an affordable budget in comparison toyour on-location or in-houseemployees. Leveragethevariationofjobvacancies inIndiaandtimezones The number of engineers graduating every year is way more than the job vacanciesavailableinIndiancompanies.Youcanleveragethedifference in this situation. You can profit from the difference in the time zones. You can make use of your remote team after the closure of business hours (COB)in your country. With this, you will be able to avail of the clock customerservice and enhance businessproductivity. Disadvantagesofremotehiring Easydistractionandexperiencingisolation When employees work from home, they can get easily distracted. Their attention span may be compromised. In extreme cases, some employees mayevenfeelisolatedandcansinkintodepressionasconstant monitoringby superiors can bedisturbing. Asynchronouscommunicationcanbeinconvenientsometimes

7. The difference in time zones and geographical barriers can prove as a hindrance in managing a remote team. The scheduling of meetings and follow-upsmaybeinconvenientkeepinginmindtheavailabilityof employees,managers,HRs,andemployers. Youwill lose direct control andwillhavetocoordinatewithyouremployeesvirtually.Meetingswill haveto be scheduledconsidering the availabilityfactors. DecodingtheemployeemindsetofIndia While hiring resources from India, it is imperative to understand their work culture. The employees in India like to have 10-15% hikes on an annual basis. They prefer favorable taxations, travel allowances, health insurance coverages,incentives,etc.Theyprefer adecentnumberofpublic holidays.They likeworking inmodern offices andfuturistic office spaces. Stayingdigitallyconnectedcomeswithanexpense Ensuring team coordination and collaboration may be worrisome. You may face security issues and also incur technological costs to ensure a smooth virtualbusiness operation. Putinextraefforts This means ensuring your employees feel welcomed into your company irrespectiveofthe geographical barriers and differences in time zones. Mostimportantly,youwillhavetoputinefforts tounderstandtheir behavioralapproaches and adjustto their cultureaccordingly. To gather a better understanding of hiring employees in India and how we, at Remunance, ease your journey, visit hiring employees in India: a guide forforeign companies. Howcanyoufindnewemployeesremotely? There are different methods of hiring employees remotely. You can source theright talent throughonline job portalslike Naukri andIndeed.

8. You can also use LinkedIn as a social media platform to find activities as wellaspassivetalent.Linkedinhas62millionusersfromIndiamakingit the second-largest market for networking platforms. According to Linkedin data,employeesinIndiaresearchmechanicalandsoftwareengineering job roles the most on social media networking sites. University campus placements or approaching recruitment agencies is also a great way of resourcingtalent. However,theapproachanInternationalPEOorEmployerofRecord serviceswill offer will take offall the stress from yourplate. HowdoyouensureremoteteambuildinginIndia? Everyjobseeker desires for Google-style work environment where the tech giant ensures employee happiness as a top priority. While you may practicallynotbeabletocreateanadultplaygroundkindofwork environmentforyouremployeesbutyoucansurelyimbibetheir organizationalvalues for leading remotely. Implementing employee-centric best HR practices and a good HR strategy play a majorroleinmeetingbusinessproductivityand execution. The sooneryoudawnontherealizationthatemployeesarethebiggestasset ofyour company, the faster you will beable to climb the ladder of success. Keepinganopen-doorpolicy Emphasizing creating a happy workplace culture Encouraginginnovationandnew ideas Toknowmore about Best HR practices, visit our blog Best HR practices forbusiness growth. Whatarethecostsofhiringaremoteteam? Dependingonthewayyoudecidetohireorthebusiness model you choose to adopt, you will have different costs associated with hiring remote workers.E.g. if youare going toset up yourlegal entity orhire a contractor

9. directly by using a professional recruitment consultant to find employees then their fees can range from 10% to 18% of the employee’s gross salary. There may be additional costs like conducting a background check etc. If you have hired contractors directly then you will need to pay them salaries directly into their bank accounts. Banks will charge you a fixed transaction feeper transfer. If you use Remunance then we will charge you a fixed monthly fee per employee.Youmakeonesinglepaymentandwewilldisbursethesalary toeachemployee.Youwillreceiveabill for their bank accounts. Each bank account will have a SWIFT code with a clearly stated purpose for the remittance. This will make it very easy to track and audit the payments madetoeachremoteemployee.Remunancedoesn’tchargeyouany finder’sfee. Hiddencostsofremoteteams Remoteworkersposeagreatersecuritythreat The solution is not to avoid the risk, but to mitigate it. It is very necessary that you invest in VPNs. Your corporate network should be protected and private.Remoteteammembersshould be able to log in remotely and accessthe requiredtools withoutputting thebusiness networkat risk. Remoteworkersaremoresusceptibletophishingandmorelikelyto useinsecure devices Ifremoteteammembersuseunsecureddevicesthentheymakethe businessnetworkvulnerable. If they’re using the same device for their personaluseandcompanyusethentheyareputtingyourcompany network at risk. It is best practice to use devices exclusively for work while usingseparate andunconnected devices forpersonal use. It is equally important to train and retrain your employees on security best practices. DifferentmodelstohiretalentinIndia

10. Remote teams can be formed through routes like outsourcing, freelancing, contracting,andsubsidiaryformation.Youcanchooseyourroute dependingonyourneeds,thetimeyoudesiretocontinuebusiness operationsin India, and thecontrol you would liketo have. Ifyouarelookingfor along-termrelationshipwithtalentedremote resources, then an International PEO or EOR may just be the ideal option for you. An International PEO will offer their expertise in handling the HR department. This includes loading off administrative responsibilities like HR management,payroll,andtax filing onto them. EOR services will step in as the legal employer for your employees. The ideal takeaway for your smallandmidsizedbusiness(SMB)employeesis that a PEO will offer themthe same benefitsa larger company woulddo. Thesearethe different routes ofremotehiring inIndia: PartneringwithanInternationalPEO/EORservices

11. An International PEO works out great when you are on the lookout for a better remote team selection, work allocation, deliverables, and cost. An International PEO will ensure a business continuity plan, a dedicated team in a full-time role, negligible upfront investments, and the opportunity to have an entity at an opportune time. A PEO model will assure complete protectionofyourprojects,byadheringtoallyourcompany’s confidentiality clauses and in a leak-proof secured infrastructure. A PEO International charges either straight costs or percentage costs. They will chargeyouperemployeepermonthortake apercentageofthe employee’s gross salary costs. Click here if you would like to explore the benefits of using Remunance as yourIndia EOR. Outsourcingmodel Outsourcing has forever been a favorite and popular buzzword for global companies seeking international talent, especially in the IT industry. Once youhavedefinedtheproject’s scope,youneednotmonitortheir deliverablesas longas theyare inline withyour businessexpectations. However,inanoutsourcingrouteforhiring aremoteteam, you do not have direct control over your resources. This will be the lookout for their parentorganization.Itisdifficult tofindtherightresourceswithin a stipulatedtime.Youmayloseyourpeaceofmindwhenitcomesto confidentialityinanoutsourcingsetup.Yourresources willwork foryou for a finite period of time and on a particular project. You may have to shell out moremoneyfromyourpocketsifyouwouldliketoretainthemfor a full-time dedicated project. You may have to pay additionally for the added effort they put in other than their designated tasks. Such situations will be outof your control. Hiringandengagingcontractorsdirectly Inacontractingmodelofremoteworking,theresourceswillworkforyou inashort-term orlong-termproject.Thebiggestdrawbackwithcontracting

12. is you will have little control in maximizing throughput in human resources. Contractorscanlegallyworkforotherclientsormultiplecompanies simultaneously.In such a scenario, their attention span and deliverables will perhaps be compromised. They may work for your rival companies as well. Froma cost perspective in a long run, maintaining a team of contractors will turn out to be an expensive affair. They will charge on an hourly basis, and if there’s additional scope of work loaded onto them, they will incur additionalcosts for the same too. This is relatively easy for the business when the number of international contractorsorremoteworkersissmall,lessthan10. It gets complex, cumbersome,andexpensivequitequickly the moment you have more than10remote(international)contractors.Itisnoteasyforremote (international) contractors who have to face multiple challenges like local techsupport, andfiling complexend-of-year tax andGSTreturns. The working culture and mindset of contractors are like near-autonomy. They like working independently and won’t go the extra mile to meet your businessexpectations. 4.PEOversussubsidiaryformation Setting up your entity in India is the most traditional and the most obvious method known to most business professionals. It gives you full control and autonomy to (say) run the payroll, pay taxes and stay compliant with the locallaws.However,thispathwayisverytime-consumingandalso expensive. It needs a fair amount of country expertise in the local legal, corporate, and payroll regulations. This method is usually used by larger businesses that have the resources to manage the extra workload. We do notrecommendthistoSMEsandsmallbusinessesthathavegotno immediateplans to hirea large number ofemployees. To understand why to choose an International PEO before you form a legal entityin India, read our blogPEO vs legal entity.

13. And to gather an even more comprehensive understanding of the process ofsubsidiary formation, simply readthis blog. BuildremoteteamstheRemunanceway… At Remunance, we understand a remote team acts as the backbone in managing your global business. We also comprehend the importance of building and retaining skilled resources. By becoming your ally, we provide completeHRadminandofficeinfrastructuresupport.Weaimtoinculcate a winning team culture through our ideal selection process conducted by our efficientteam of HR professionals. Weunderstand the Indian pulse, are aware of the changing trends in the market and HR policies, and share youremployee responsibilities byfinding the rightfit accordingly. Our EOR/International PEO services will handle your employee taxation, salaryprocessing,andemployeebenefits.Wehave awell-equipped self-servicingemployeeportal.OurFounder,Mr.RajendraVaidyahas devised an innovative PEO model to offer you the best of both worlds. Remunance has successfully served 70 plus clients from 16 countries to date. To know more about our International PEO and EOR services, get in touch withus hereto nurture acollaborative business relationship.