Tips for Hiring Remote Workers

Before COVID-19, remote working was catching on rapidly and growing fast. Roughly 4.5 million people were already working from home prior to the coronavirus pandemic. Of course, as we all know since the pandemic, almost 90% of businesses around the world sent their workforces home to work remotely.

If you are new to hiring a remote workforce, this article will cover a few tips to help you hire and retain top talent.

1. Be open to remote work

It’s important to not be negative about hiring remote workers. Before COVID-19, many companies and hiring managers were not totally comfortable hiring remotely.

However, remote working is something we should all be embracing. There are many benefits that come with remote work:

You are not geographically limited when it comes to hiring workers. Hiring remote workers globally means there’s access to more talent that you otherwise wouldn’t have considered. Of course language barriers come into play, but still you’ll find you can target much more talent.

Saves money for both the companies and employees. Employees won’t have to commute everyday, saving a fair amount of their salary. Running a large office and paying the bills is something that many businesses can now consider leaving behind if they hire remotely.

Employees working from home are more productive. In the office there can be many distractions such as noise, working remotely is a much more comfortable environment for many workers.

You can hire customer service and support workers from around the world in different timezones. This can help to ensure someone is always available 24/7.

2. Be on top of your communication skills

Communication is a key skill in any role, but it's even more important when working remotely. Video messaging isn’t always possible, so written communication skills need to be on point to avoid errors and miscommunication. Remote workers need to be able to ask questions and get clear responses so everything runs smoothly and there are no costly mistakes. It’s important that both the employee and employer are good communicators when working in a remote capacity.

3. Organisation is key

It’s always been the case that hiring someone who is well organised will save unnecessary errors and time wasting. With remote working everything is online and it is easy to lose files, emails and notes. Both employee and employer should be well organised online. There are many software solutions for remote companies that help remote workers and employers communicate clearly and share documents and files.

Monday.com is a great place to start for remote working software and teams.

4. Problem solving is important

When hiring remotely, look for someone who can use their own initiative and is a good problem solver. Having a remote worker who can figure things out on their own will benefit you greatly and save valuable time explaining things. At the same time, you don’t want someone who will go over your head and do as they please.

5. Test remote working applicants

Testing potential remote workers is a common practice to see if they are a good fit and will be a good addition to your remote workforce. For example, you could give them a paid task to complete some work for you and see how they get on before committing to them. You could ask them to write an article or letter which would reveal the following:

Technical skill - Can they do the job you need them to do?

Communication - Are they responsive or asking the right questions?

Time management - Did they complete the task on time?

Attention to detail - How well did they follow your instructions?

6. No need to Micromanage

Micromanaging is time consuming and almost impossible if you have lots of remote workers. Setting clear goals and forgetting about it is the best way when it comes to dealing with an experienced remote professional. Experienced remote workers will have their own methods and organisation to complete the task. As long as you’re clear with your instructions and deadlines, there’s no need to micromanage and control everything.

Ready to start your remote working career? Search the latest work from home jobs.

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