#9 - Erica McMannes: Tapping into the 12 Million, The Power of the Military Spouse Workforce

Erica McMannes, Chief Experience Officer at Instant Teams, joins the podcast to share her expertise in building high-performing, fully distributed workforces. Having moved 14 times as a military spouse, Erica founded Instant Teams to create a talent marketplace that connects companies with the highly skilled but often overlooked community of over 12 million military spouses. She discusses the "ethos to remote communication" that her company established long before the pandemic, highlighting that in a remote setting, connection and camaraderie do not happen by chance—they require intentional, driven structures to replace the accidental "water cooler" moments of a physical office. The episode explores the transition toward skills-based hiring and the flaws in traditional resume-focused recruitment. Erica explains how HR professionals can shift their focus to "durable" and transferable skills, using customer experience as a prime example of where military spouses excel due to their natural empathy and adaptability. For leaders struggling with distributed teams, Erica recommends "maniacal organization"—using processes and visibility systems to track productivity without resorting to micromanagement. She encourages HR to support managers through proactive communication and expectation management, ensuring that remote work environments remain transparent and trust-based. Hosted by Jocelyn King, founder and CEO of VirgilHR. VirgilHR provides instant, trusted answers to HR compliance questions—helping teams navigate federal, state, and local employment laws with accuracy and ease. To learn more, visit ⁠www.virgilhr.com⁠ and ⁠follow Jocelyn on LinkedIn⁠ for ongoing guidance and industry updates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices