Hiring remote workers

7 steps for hiring remote workers

Here is the 7-step process for hiring remote workers:
 

1. Source remote candidates

2. Screen remote candidates

3. Interview remote candidates

4. Notify the selected candidates

5. Roll out the offer letters to the selected candidates

6. Follow up after the offer 

7. Initiate thorough background checks before they join the organization
 

Each step consists of intricate processes to follow before hiring the right remote worker, as mentioned below.

Here are four efficient ways to source the best candidates:

• Job listing with remote-specific job descriptions
• Employee referral program for remote workers
• Design a remote-work perks package
• Post about your remote-work culture and experience

Let’s go into a bit more detail.

- Job listing with remote-specific job descriptions:

Listing your open positions on multiple job boards is a great way to attract a wider pool of candidates. But most organizations end up spending much more on job listings and sponsored ads on job boards than they intended to for hiring remote workers. This expense can be brought down by more than 50% by simply using a good applicant tracking system like Freshteam—apart from being cost-effective, this also enables companies to manage all job postings across job boards on one dashboard, saving hours of cluttered work. 

Once you have the reach sorted out, it’s time to focus on the job descriptions for remote positions. The most important aspect of doing this is to provide as much clarity as possible. 

• Provide a good description of the role—not a generic list of tasks. Use these templates to get started

• Include remote-specific keywords like ‘work from home’, ‘distributed workforce’, ‘remote working’, etc

• Be clear about geographic limitations, if any

• Include a few lines about the remote work culture, time-off policy, and other perks

• Talk about what the interview process would look like—how many rounds, what is expected, the expected timeline of responses, etc

• Include an easter egg in the description to filter out candidates better

- Employee referral program:

Creating a remote employee referral program for hiring remote workers isn’t vastly different from the regular kind, except in this case, it can only be truly successful if the remote working culture at the organization is rewarding and fulfilling for its existing employees. With that said, here are some ways in which you can get more candidates through employee referrals:
 

• Offer incentives: It can be a multi-level incentive program—The higher the position referred to, the higher the bonus. Or it can be a fixed incentive for all referrals. Either way, an incentivized referral program is a proven method to source great candidates
   

• Transparent process: Make the referral process as simple and transparent as possible for hiring remote workers. Keep your employees informed about what stage their referral is in, why they were rejected, or when their referral bonus will be credited
   

• Make it a part of your remote worker hiring process: When hiring remote workers include a referral form in their welcome kit so they can bring in the people they would like to work with. This gets them more invested in the job and leads to a quicker candidate sourcing timeline.
   

• Use the right employee referral software: Using the right tool can expedite your referral process by 40%, and there are loads of free employee referral software available in the market today.

- Design a remote-work perks package:

The remote-work perks package goes hand-in-hand with the company culture, so this will be tricky to set down. But when hiring remote workers, it helps to mention whether you provide:

• Competitive salary

• Health insurance for all remote workers

• Home office allowance

• Unlimited vacation policy

• 401(k)

• Company retreats

- Post about your remote work culture and experience:

Build an online presence and ensure your careers page, as well as social media pages, reflect your work culture. This requires consistent social media content planning as well as engaging existing employees and making sure they share the content on social media. 

Here are 3 steps to remember when screening remote candidates:

• Screen their resumes for quicker shortlisting: This isn't applicable just when hiring remote workers—Create a pile that matches the job requirements exactly—number of years of experience, location, salary expectations, language requirements, software knowledge, etc. Keep a ‘maybe’ pile where you save promising candidates to the talent pool so that they can be reconsidered later. Use a resume screening tool like Freshteam to get this stage done faster.

• Assessment tests: This helps companies understand the true potential of candidates—which might have been overstated or understated in their resumes. It’s a good check for authenticity and how candidates perform under pressure.

• Ask for portfolios along with the job applications: Whether they’re blogs, social media handles, their personal website, or any sample of their previous work—these can help screen the type of candidates that you would like to proceed with.
   

How and when do you notify selected candidates? While hiring remote workers, it’s important to let the selected ones know as soon as possible to create the best experience—within 24-48 hours is ideal. The easiest way to notify the candidates is through email which can verify the feedback from the rounds of interviews as well as a feedback form for the candidates to fill out about their experience with the company. Thank the candidate for their time, congratulate them for getting the job, ask them to verbally confirm within 48 hours, and mention other details discussed during the interview. Some well-established companies also use telephonic calls to notify that the candidate has successfully cleared all the rounds. 

While it’s important to notify selected candidates ASAP, it’s also good to notify candidates that have been rejected—this will encourage them to recommend the company to others as well as apply again at a future date. 

While this is a step that is skipped by some companies based on their own impression of the candidate, it's extremely important to perform thorough background checks while hiring remote workers. Hiring the wrong candidates can be very expensive in terms of training and replacements. Evaluate the candidate quickly yet thoroughly, and don’t skip the reference and background screening no matter how much of a hurry you’re in. Verify their education records, previous employment history, and other requirements as per your organization’s legal policy.