‘Employees who must be micromanaged in an office, aren’t the right members of staff’

CEO and Co-Founder Carl DeGiorgio started the week by reflecting on KYZEN’s - the company he co-founded - shift towards offering remote working to all employees.

According to Mr DeGiorgio, this decision is now bearing the fruit while also stating that if there are people who need to be micromanaged in an office to work, “then those are not the right members of staff in the first place”.

KYZEN is a company that offers B2B services to iGaming operators in the area of customer service, risk, payments, fraud and payments solutions.

Since the transition, Mr DeGiorgio noted a number of benefits that have also affected the company, not only the workers.

He stated that through remote working, the company got access to numerous professionals across the globe to occupy roles who would have been a “struggle to hire [someone to fill in] locally.”

Additionally, he stated that recruiting the right people has been easier, since the company managed to attract the adequate professionals who know their worth, capabilities and work ethic. “They do not need to be constantly surveilled to carry out a great job.”

He expressed his belief that remote working will increase staff retention, however noting that time will prove whether this ideology is right or wrong.

Mr DeGiorgio also explained that healthier work-life balance has made the staff happier, which subsequently “made their customers happier, which in return made our customers happier. Win, win, win”.

Evidently, remote working across the board equates for a significant reduction in operational costs such as lease, utilities, and recruitment costs among others. “In return, this makes us more competitive and enables us to re-invest more funds into the business and its valued members of staff.”

Additional listed perks are genuine interactions between members of staff who are professional like-minded individuals as well as increased sense of responsibility and less sense of entitlement.

In a bid to debunk remote working myths, Mr DeGiorgio states that visibility has not decreased and communication has not struggled.

“Productivity has not suffered. Quite contrary, it has certainly increased. People spend less time getting ready for work, [such as to] commute. Which usually consumes a big chunk of their brain capacity right before they hit the office,” commented Mr DeGiorgio.

His personal philosophy has always been that sitting in an office “creates the false premise” of making people look like they are working harder. On the other hand, he stated that if managers need their subordinates to work under constant surveillance to grasp whether they are indeed carrying out their job, then the right managerial experience “are not in place”.

Despite the positive outlook, he does not deny possible and occasional abuse. Despite so, he remarked that it is the same amount of abuse which might take place at an office. “But it is up to our leadership not to let an apple rot a tree, and to safeguard our culture. That of trust, integrity, and genuine happiness at the workplace,” concluded Mr DeGiorgio.