Define your objectives clearly and choose the locations for remote teams
Businesses opt for remote workers such as freelancers or contractors mainly for short or part-time projects. One key aspect of why small businesses often prefer remote resources is that it is highly convenient for companies to resize their existing workforce. Also, having a remote team allows a cost-saving operation for businesses.
For employees, working remotely provides work flexibility and work-life balance. With a higher chance of job satisfaction and control over work environments, employees are likely to be more productive than in-office employees.
This blog outlines the best 8 tips to help companies find effective ways to hire remote employees. Using these tips, you can hire top remoter workers in a foreign country smoothly and build a strong team. Through these 8 steps, you can understand a complete overview of how recruitment can proceed to choose the right talent for your remote work.
Before you begin your recruitment process, you better should consider two critical aspects. Firstly, make clear your objectives and goals as to why you need to hire remote employees. Secondly, finding the right geographical location and understanding why it will be more beneficial for hiring remote employees in that country.
However, hiring remote employees can still be challenging for many companies, especially when hiring remote candidates for the first time. Sometimes, it can be tedious and time-consuming to figure out how to arrange or conduct several activities ranging from job descriptions (JD) to salary negotiations.
Best 8 essential tips for effective hiring of remote workers
These tips will help you prepare for an attractive job post and conduct effective interview processes, which may result in successfully hiring a highly talented remote workforce.
1) A clear description of job requirements: A job hiring post requires detailed information about the nature of the job, working hours, and the position (designation) your company is looking for. Make sure you mention the detail of the qualifications, skills, and experience requirements of candidates in the post.
Tips: Mentioning the expected salary range for the position and all employee benefits offered by your company in the job post can be more attractive to candidates. The ability to work independently, good time management, high-quality work, and problem-solving are some major skill sets required for remote hiring.
2) Transparency and gaining trust: The information in the post “About Us/Company” section should be authentic and correct. Remote work can’t be possible if there is an absence of trust between recruiters and candidates. Remote workers can only communicate and coordinate with the team virtually. Providing correct information about the company profile can help candidates gain the trust of candidates applying for the job.
Tips: Be transparent about the candidate’s specific roles and responsibilities to allow job seekers an informed decision before applying for the job. Write briefly about the company’s expertise and years of experience in the industry or services.
3) Using reputed online job boards for advertising: Posting job openings on relevant online platforms and reputed job boards can easily attract the right candidates. It is vital to choose those popular online platforms for advertising your job post that can reach a maximum number of remote candidates.
Tips: For advertising job posts for the remote workforce, you can use these popular remote job boards such as We Work Remotely, Remote OK, Upwork, FlexJobs, and Remote.co, which allows companies to streamline their hiring process. Some of these platforms also offer advanced features such as applicant tracking.
4) Screening candidates: Rejecting irrelevant candidates by evaluating job applications is the first and foremost step for filtering potential candidates who may be fit for the role. Through scanning resumes, a recruiter can determine which potential candidates have the right skills, qualifications, and experiences for the job.
Tips: Examine some work samples to evaluate their existing knowledge and skills in the particular business domain or industry. For technical candidates, it’s advisable to conduct a thorough technical assessment test to check whether candidates are suitable or matched with the JD.
5) Videocall interview: Conduct interviews of those potential candidates using video calls to evaluate their communication skills and personalities. Good communication skills are essential for remote workers as distant or remote working can be a source of miscommunication for certain instructions and tasks.
Tips: prepare a list of questions in-advanced of the interview to understand more about their soft skills and personal understanding about handling their remote work. Ensure candidates are given prior intimation about the interview schedule a day or two before the interview that will allow them some time for interview preparation and make them available for the interview.
6) Time zone and work culture difference: Understanding the differences in work culture and timing of remote employees can be a critical factor. The interview should also focus on knowing the preferred work timing of the candidates and their ability to adjust the timing per the company’s requirements.
Tips: You may need to choose candidates who are willing to work or adjust their timing when you need them during your official working hours. Explaining details about the company’s preference for working timing and team meetings can help candidates to make the right decision.
7) Competitive compensation: Once the right candidate is identified and shortlisted, the next step is the offer negotiation. Negotiation can take some days to a few weeks, giving time for candidates to think over the expected pay package offered by the company. We must remember that remote employees have a high attrition rate due to the rising shift of jobs for a high salary and better job opportunities.
Tips: Offering fair and competitive compensation can be effective as remote candidates are most likely to seek out information about the current salary structures and employee benefits offered by different companies in the same industry.
8) Onboarding programs: Welcoming new employees to your company by sending congratulatory messages via email can be a way to appreciate their joining. By handing over the offer letter, companies remind employees about their probation or trial period and performance expectations during the period.
Tips: Sending welcome kits for new employees to their homes urgently, say within a week of the final selection can be a good gesture from the company. And, briefing about the company’s key policies and core values, recent achievements, and upcoming targets can make employees aware of the company’s long ambition and goals.
What about the risk factors involved in hiring remote workers?
Whether companies have prior experience or not, there are certain risks in hiring remote workers. It’s equally important to understand risk factors associated with building remote teams if you aren’t well aware of the local employment laws and regulations of different countries where you have your teams.
Employment regulations and labor laws generally differ from one country to another. You may get into financial trouble or face legal liabilities if you fail to comply with local labor laws and employment regulations regarding employing remote resources. So, working with external companies that have expertise in the prevailing laws and regulations of local remote hiring can be a wiser option.
For example, if you’re looking to hire remote workers in India, you can take assistance from international PEO/EOR. They are well-versed companies in legal, accounting, payroll, and HR administration besides having extensive knowledge, networks, and skills in hiring highly talented Indian remote candidates. EOR ensures that your remote hiring is 100% compliant with Indian labor laws and employment regulations.
If you want to explore more and have questions about how to hire remote resources effectively in India, you can take advantage of Remunance’s assistance.
