Training Remote Employees: A Look at the Apple At-Home Advisors Program

Hiring a remote workforce offers many benefits for both the company and the employees--reduced overhead costs and more schedule flexibility for employees are key examples. However, without the benefit of regular face-to-face interaction with other employees or a supervisor, training and retaining remote workers can be a challenge.

Recently Ashley Verrill, Managing Editor for the Customer Service Investigator Blog and a CRM Analyst for Software Advice, wrote an article for TechCrunch about how Apple has sought to overcome this challenge with their At-Home Apple Advisor’s Program.

The Apple Advisor’s Program trains and connects Apple’s remote call center employees in hub cities across the U.S. Some of the strategies to promote engagement and reduce turnover include:

• Tracking mouse movements and issuing prompts to monitor engagement
• Using video calling to create deeper connections with remote workers
• Tying performance conversations to company missions to create a sense of purpose
• Mimicking a classroom environment, with “homework” and lectures, to increase comprehension of training material
• Adapting curriculum to different learning styles by mixing traditional classroom-style instruction with role-playing and other kinesthetic methods

We interviewed Verrill, via Skype, to hear more about the stories she heard from Apple remote employees and the key takeaways from her conversations with training experts.

For more tips on hiring and managing remote workers, check out these OpenSesame courses:

• Managing Offsite Employees: Staying Connected with a Dispersed Workforce (45 min; $10/user)
• Basic Strategies for Effective Remote Managing (15 min; $5/user)
• Leading Remote Employees (32 min: $36/user)