Hiring the right employees is crucial to success but what happens when you’re setting up a remote team?
Considering the geographical distances, differences in time zone and minimal (or lack of) facetime, how do you ensure you’re hiring the right candidate who is not only qualified for the role but is also equipped to work remotely?
It is indeed great to have access to a wide pool of top talent is great. But, it also has its own drawbacks. You are likely to be bombarded with an avalanche of resumes for your remote positions. You should not be hurrying up your hiring process and end up hiring someone who doesn’t live up to your expectations.
Be wise and stay away from these six common mistakes that every hiring managers make while hiring remote employees.
Most Common Remote Hiring Mistakes
Mistake #1: Relying on One Hiring Source
To hire the right talent, you need to look for them in the right places.
If you are just posting your job ads on generic job boards such as LinkedIn, Monster and Indeed, thinking you will find someone worthwhile, you are mistaken.
Owing to the rise in the number of remote jobs, there has been a spike in niche job boards that specifically cater to remote workers. Some of the most popular remote job boards include WeWorkRemotely, FlexJobs, Remote.co, Jobgether, and Remotive among others.
These are the portals that candidates who are specifically looking for remote work opportunities turn to. Hence, it is mandatory for those companies hiring remote workers to leverage these platforms.
Advertise your job postings on these platforms and hire the best talent for your roles.
Mistake #2: Not Doing a Phone or Video Interview
It might be faster and more convenient to screen resumes and select candidates for the role. But, resumes do not always convey everything you need to know about your candidates.
You need to go beyond the resume. Scheduling a face-to-face interview is not possible when hiring remote employees. That’s the reason why you should conduct a phone or video interview before you make the final decision.
You need to sit together with your team members and set up an interview process for hiring remote employees. Interviewing the candidate gives you an insight into their personality. In addition to this, it lets you gauge their communication skills and make a more informed decision.
Mistake #3: Not Giving a (Paid) Trial Assignment
Before you commit to a candidate, it makes sense to give the shortlisted candidates a paid trial assignment to evaluate how well suited they are for the job.
For instance, if you are a book publishing company looking for remote ghostwriters, you can give them a short paid assignment to test their creative writing skills. Similarly, if you are looking for graphic designers, you can ask applicants to design a logo for your brand.
A trial assignment is way more effective and powerful than a resume can ever be. So, do assign a paid trial assessment to be doubly sure of the candidate you hire – it’s totally worth it.
Mistake #4: Not Assessing their Remote Working Skills
Many recruiters and good managers hiring remotely make the mistake of paying so much attention to assessing technical skills that they forget to evaluate whether they are cut out for working remotely in the first place.
Working from home is not for everyone which is why you have to see whether they have previous remote working experience. You should consider key skills such as communication, self-motivation, discipline, and organization when you are planning on hiring and managing a remote team.
A useful tactic to evaluate their soft skills would be to ask behavioral questions such as –
- How do you deal with multiple projects and deadlines?
- What was the biggest challenge you have faced at work and how did you overcome it?
- Tell me about a project you are proud of and why.
- How do you deal with distractions while working remotely?
- How do you stay motivated?
- Tell me about a time you made a mistake. What would you do differently today?
You should ensure that you don’t ask any questions that put your company in a bad light.
Mistake #5: Not Establishing an Onboarding Process
This is one of the biggest remote hiring mistakes a hiring manager can ever make.
Your work does not end with hiring a candidate. You need to also ensure you have an onboarding process in place to set the foundation for a smooth working experience.
In a traditional office setup, it gets easier to welcome new employees and get them accustomed to the way of working. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said in the case of remote teams. This means that you need to take extra efforts to make new hires feel comfortable and welcome.
Start with establishing a standardized onboarding process wherein you familiarize them with the tools your company uses, the working process, and the company culture.
It’s a good idea to have this first onboarding meeting over a video or phone call. It will help you communicate your expectations better and also use this time to answer their questions and concerns.
Mistake #6: Not Using the Right Remote Working Tools
Lastly, to successfully lead a remote team, you need to leverage the right remote working tools.
There’s no way you can manually keep track of projects, time, and progress. So, it is advisable to get your hands on tools that will help you manage time better and be more productive as a team.
Here are some of the best remote working tools you should use for success.
- Trello, Asana or Basecamp for project management (Trello and Asana both have free plans that you can try out with the option of upgrading to premium plans if needed)
- Slack for communication and collaboration
- Google Drive and Dropbox for cloud storage
- Hubstaff and Time Doctor for time management
- Zoom, Skype and GoToMeeting for video conferencing
Hiring candidates for remote positions is not a difficult task. You should have a well-defined recruitment process and follow it diligently. Ensure that you do not make any of the above mentioned remote hiring mistakes.
Jobsoid is a cloud-based recruitment software which is designed to help you hire better, and faster. You can post your jobs on multiple job boards as well as social media in just one click using Jobsoid. It also has some advanced tools to help you in streamlining your recruiting process.
You can sign up for a Free Jobsoid account and optimize your remote hiring process.
