Why HireSmart made availability one of its seven core values, why every person we hire is held to it, and why your own team should be too. 

You know the feeling. You reach out to someone you are counting on, and then nothing comes back. An hour goes by. Half a day. You start to wonder if they got your message, if they forgot, or if something went wrong. The task itself has not changed, but your confidence in the person has. 

I know that feeling because I hate it. That is exactly why availability is one of the seven core values at HireSmart. Our values spell out the word SMARTER, and the A stands for available. It is not a nice sentiment on a wall. Availability as a core value is a hard requirement for every person we hire, because I refuse to let a single client of ours sit in that dark, wondering silence while one of our people stays quiet. When availability is the standard, someone always knows you heard them. 

Why Does Availability Matter So Much? 

In the absence of communication, people do not assume the best. They invent. They decide they are being ignored, or that the work is falling apart, or that they did something wrong. The story someone writes in that silence is almost always worse than the truth, and by the time you finally respond, you are not just answering a question anymore. You are repairing trust that quietly drained away while they waited. 

I first noticed this in myself. When I ask a question and hear nothing for a couple of minutes, a small hum of worry starts up. That is the reptile part of the brain taking over. It does not care about your reasons. It just registers the silence and braces for the worst. Multiply that by every client, every project, every open loop, and you can see how a business earns a quiet reputation for being hard to reach. 

Remote work makes that hum louder. When your team is not down the hall, you cannot glance over and see someone heads-down on the problem. And this is not a fringe situation anymore. Among workers whose jobs can be done from home, 43% now work a hybrid schedule, with many more fully remote. Proximity used to do the reassuring for us. Now availability has to be built on purpose. 

Why We Built Availability Into Our Core Values

I did not choose this value from a management book. I chose it from experience, as a customer and as a boss. 

As a customer, I have been left waiting more times than I can count. My husband and I once tried to hand a company our money on a strong referral. We told them we were ready. We heard nothing for weeks. The price was never the issue. The silence was. If a business cannot get my attention while it is courting me, I have no faith it will be there after I pay. 

As a boss, I felt that same worry every time someone I relied on went quiet. So when Mark and I founded HireSmart, I made availability a value we live by, not a slogan we recite. Inside our company it takes the form of the two-minute rule: every request, in any channel, gets a response within two minutes during working hours. A response is not always the answer. Often it is four words. I hear you. I’ve got you. It tells the other person they were seen, and it buys the time to solve the real problem well. 

What “You Must Be Available” Looks Like in Practice 

The two-minute rule is not a suggestion for our team. It is the standard every HireSmart virtual employee is trained on and held to. We build the expectation in from the very first day, and availability is part of what we look for before we ever place someone with a client, because being truly there for them is how you earn a client’s trust and keep it. 

That does not mean dropping everything the instant a message arrives. It means acknowledgment. Not long ago I was in back-to-back meetings when a client hit me with an urgent issue. I could not fix it in that moment, so I told him I heard him and would have a full answer that afternoon. He got a real solution a few hours later, and he became a bigger fan than if I had rushed a half-answer while distracted. The acknowledgment protected the relationship while the work got done right. 

When availability becomes second nature, clients feel it. One client, describing a HireSmart team member, wrote: “She now sends hourly updates on what she has been working on and responds within the first couple of minutes of us reaching out to her.” That is what the value looks like in daily practice. It is a habit, not a personality trait, which is exactly why we can train it and require it of everyone we place. 

Should You Expect the Same From Your Own Team? 

Yes, and I say that whether or not you ever hire us. The exact standard matters less than having one. You need a clear, stated expectation that the people you employ will stay reachable and keep others informed, and then you need to hold them to it through open lines of communication. When availability is left to chance, it disappears under the pressure of a busy week. When it is a named standard, it holds. 

This is not only about clients. The same standard that reassures a customer keeps your own people engaged. Gallup found that 80% of employees who receive meaningful feedback each week are fully engaged at work, a bigger lift than almost anything else a manager can offer. Availability runs in both directions. When your team knows you are reachable, and you know they are, small problems surface early instead of festering, which is also why regular check-ins catch problems long before they become resignations. 

Being available to your customers and turning a tense moment into a good one is not a soft skill. It is the difference between a one-time sale and a lasting relationship. Another client said it plainly, describing their assistant as “incredibly helpful and always available to offer an extra hand when the team becomes overwhelmed.” You do not earn that kind of praise with talent alone. You earn it by showing up, again and again, in the small moments most companies let slide. 

So think about the last time you were left in the dark, unsure and waiting. Now make sure no client of yours, and no one on your team, ever feels that way because of the people you employ. Name availability as an expectation. Live it yourself. That is why the A in SMARTER is not decoration. It is a promise, and it is one we keep every single day. 

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Frequently Asked Questions 

What does availability mean as a core value? Availability as a core value means treating reachability and timely acknowledgment as a non-negotiable standard, not a personal favor. At HireSmart it is the A in our seven SMARTER values, and it means no client is ever left wondering whether their request was seen. Someone always confirms they heard you, even before the full answer is ready. 

Why did HireSmart make availability a core value? Because being left in the dark quietly destroys trust. Anne set the value from firsthand experience, both as a customer left waiting and as a boss who felt the worry when someone she relied on went silent. Rather than hope for responsiveness, HireSmart built it into the company’s expectations for everyone it hires. 

What is the two-minute rule? The two-minute rule is HireSmart’s internal standard that every request, in any channel, gets a response within two minutes during working hours. The response is an acknowledgment, not necessarily the full solution. It tells the other person they were heard and buys time to solve the real problem well. 

Does HireSmart require availability of its virtual employees? Yes. Availability is trained in from the first day and is part of what HireSmart looks for before placing anyone with a client. It is a requirement, not a preference, because the whole point of the value is that clients can rely on it consistently rather than hoping for it. 

How can I make availability a standard for my own team? Name it out loud. Set a clear, realistic expectation that your people will stay reachable and keep others informed, then hold everyone to it consistently. The exact response window matters less than having a stated standard, because availability left to chance fades under a busy week. 

Why does availability matter more for remote and hybrid teams? In an office, seeing someone at their desk quietly reassures everyone that work is moving. Remote and hybrid work removes those signals, so silence gets read as neglect much faster. That makes deliberate availability, through clear expectations and open communication, essential rather than optional.