Everywhere you look now, there are remote workers. Although the pandemic accelerated the transition to remote working, the number of remote workers has been on the rise since 2010. According to the report of a survey carried out by GetApp, the number of remote workers has increased by 400% since 2010. Essentially, hiring remote workers by organizations has increased.
However, in light of the pandemic, India has recorded over 442% increased searches of remote jobs. With so many people willing to work remotely, organizations look to hire remote workers that are both efficient and reliable. Here are some tips for hiring remote workers.
1. Look for workers everywhere
When companies are in the process of hiring remote workers, there’s a tendency to limit their search only to a particular area. One major benefit of remote hiring is that it provides organizations with a large pool of options from which they can choose. Limiting the hiring process to only a certain location completely wipes out this advantage. The more accessible the process to hire remote employees is, the better the chances of hiring great remote workers. As such, organizations must cast a wider net.
Since the organization will benefit immensely from hiring the best candidates for any position, geography shouldn’t be a hindrance to hiring the best. After all, hiring is about a candidate having the capabilities in terms of skill set, temperament, and passion.
You might also be interested to read: Is Remote Working Buoying Employee Productivity?
2. Adequately evaluate decisions to lay-off workers
As stated earlier, many organizations now embrace work-from-home policies due to the coronavirus pandemic. On the flip side, many people are also losing their jobs. For one reason or the other, companies have to shed some of their employees to survive the period. And, in a way, this has increased the need to hire remote talent.
However, the shift towards remote working mustn’t necessarily translate to the lay-off of physical employees. While many believe telecommuting will outlast the pandemic, when things get back to normal, organizations will need people on the ground for organizational success. Besides, the resources required to replace employees aren’t worth the effort. According to a 2017 study, it costs 33% of a lost employee’s salary to find and hire their replacements.
Essentially, as organizations are hiring remote workers, they also must keep a large chunk of their current workforce. Every job can’t be done remotely. Therefore, organizations must identify those jobs that can be done remotely and hire remote employees accordingly.
3. Optimize for virtual interviews
For organizations to hire the best remote workers, they must ensure that their virtual interviewing and onboarding process is adequate and efficient. To do this, organizations must invest in and upgrade their technological tools and equipment. They must also test them in advance to ensure they’re working appropriately.
The importance of ensuring virtual interviews aren’t hampered by inadequate technology is highly essential when hiring remote workers. Hiring remotely is virtual; therefore, the experience during the interview counts tremendously. On the part of the candidate, the interview process is indicative of the company’s work culture.
As technology is being put in place, interview questions must also be well prepared ahead of time. The questions to be asked must deeply evaluate the skills, attributes, and competencies required for the job position. Most importantly, interviewers must take into consideration some characteristics ideal for remote workers.
4. Network
The process of hiring remote workers isn’t much different from the traditional styles of recruitment. As such, organizations should leverage their network when looking to hire remote talent just as they would when recruiting physical workers. By encouraging their employees to use word-of-mouth recommendations and share open jobs on social media, organizations can hire great remote workers.
In fact, using an organization’s network is a trusted and effective method for hiring remote workers. According to Glassdoor, 64% of their users say they would recommend their employers to their friends. When the employees act as ambassadors for an organization, prospects have a positive perception of the workplace culture and environment.
5. Prioritize candidate experience
To hire effective remote workers, organizations must ensure they create the appropriate remote hiring environment. The last six to seven months for most people have been extremely turbulent. People have lost loved ones and, or their means of livelihood. During the process of hiring remote workers, virtual team recruiters must ensure that they show empathy and use good communication. The situation of things has made people stressed, hypersensitive, and recruiters must consider this.
Additionally, the process of conducting virtual interviews is a new experience for many. Candidates are familiar with sitting in waiting halls, patiently anticipating their turn to meet with the interviewer. But the pandemic has forced a change in everyone and with so little time to adapt. As such, it’s important to display good virtual interview etiquettes such as maintaining eye contact and transmitting an overall positive body language.
6. Take advantage of your brand
Candidates are attracted and enticed by the prospects of working for an organization with a good brand impression. Today, candidates are not as motivated with large pay-checks and end-of-the-year bonuses as they are with the prospects of growing and developing in their careers. As such, they’d naturally gravitate towards any organization that provides them with such opportunities.
For organizations to use their brand to attract and hire remote employees, they have to put out information about themselves. It’s not enough to give information about job openings alone; they must also let candidates know what stands them out from their competition in terms of values, company culture, and career growth.
7. Candidate and organization values must align
Every organization has a set of values they preserve, and they expect the same from their employees, remote or otherwise. Ultimately, organizations look to boost productivity by hiring remote workers; so, they must ensure they hire candidates that share organization values. Organizations can use virtual onboarding software tools to collect information on the values of remote workers.
Doing otherwise, probably because the worker is remote, could be potentially catastrophic to the organization. If anything, remote workers are more required to share the same values with the organization. There’s no one to supervise and oversee their work etiquette. But when a remote worker shares the same values with the company, then they wouldn’t compromise productivity.
References:
- Job searches for remote work increase by over 442%: Indeed India | Sudipta Dev | August 3, 2020
- 8 tips for hiring remote | Meghan M. Biro |April 26, 2020
- 8 keys for hiring great remote workers | Glassdoor
- Findings from a decade in tech (New Research) by Zach Capers | January 22, 2020
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