For years, there was only one way to collaborate with coworkers—in person. Technology has since developed, and the COVID-19 pandemic has further shaped the professional world. Now, employees can come from various regions of the country or corners of the globe! Keep reading this guide to learn how to attract, hire, and retain remote employees.
Attracting Remote Employees
Finding the right team of workers is essential to improving your company. With the right employees, it’s easier to thrive and grow as a business. Moreover, the first step to expanding your workforce is to get ahead of competitors and wow job seekers. Depending on the economy, they may have a wide range of options, and you want to remain their top choice. To do this, you need to market your company and post on multiple job-finding sites.
Market Your Company
A strong online presence makes you known to customers, partners, and potential employees. Strive to post accomplishments and company information on your website and social media profiles. If you use Instagram for branding, create “Day in the Life of” posts for various roles, then publish them to your page. This way, job seekers will stumble upon the information when researching your company.
By making yourself more well-known, it’s easier for potential remote employees to learn who you are. Your focus, now, is on wowing them. The tables will turn once interviews begin.
Post On Multiple Job Sites
When you have an open position, aim to post on various websites, including Indeed, Glassdoor, and LinkedIn. Also, post all open positions on your company website and tell your employees about them. Someone working for the company may have a friend or relative who’s perfect for the role, and not much else tops a personal referral.
Label Positions in Postings
When you create a job posting, strive to add as much information as possible such as:
- Job title
- Duties
- Educational background
- Years of experience
- Working hours
You should also include information on your company. Think up an elevator pitch to describe your business in a few sentences. What do you do? Why do you stand out? Add details about the workplace culture and values. While these employees may be remote, they still want to feel included.
Work With Recruiters
When you partner with Burnett’s Staffing, we help you find your ideal candidates. First, we’ll meet with you to discuss your company’s goals and values. Using this information, we’ll sift through candidates and conduct interviews, then have you decide who’s the best fit.
Hiring Remote Employees
Once you’ve attracted a set number of candidates, it’s time to begin interviews. This is where the tides start to turn, and they must wow you. However, you still need to impress the candidate since they likely have interviews with other companies.
Understand your interview software and carefully evaluate every job candidate to ensure you add the best member to your team.
Understand Interview Software
Whether you use Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Ring Central, or another video platform, ensure you know how to navigate the software. You may have to type in the chat or share your screen. Doing this with ease makes you look more professional to the candidate and wastes less time during the call.
Carefully Evaluate All Candidates
As explained, interviews allow job seekers the opportunity to impress employers. Take the necessary time to evaluate each candidate. Jot down things they say that impress you and any possible red flags. Typically, you’ll ask the same questions you’d ask during an in-person interview, which include:
- Why are you looking for a job?
- What experience do you have?
- How do you communicate workplace problems?
- What’s your greatest weakness and strength?
- What do you like about this company?
Create hypothetical situations and ask the interviewee how they would respond to further test their potential candidacy. For example, “What would you do if you were confused about a project, but your boss wasn’t available on Teams?” They could go to a coworker or another department manager. By understanding the line of authority and who to go to, the candidate proves they’re decisive and resourceful.
Review Referrals
Ask each job seeker for three to four referrals. Contact these referrals to learn more about the candidate’s professional persona if the interview went well. Better yet, you could use referrals from current employees. When hardworking, trustworthy employees refer someone, the person in question likely shares those values.
Retaining Remote Workers
Knowing how to attract and hire remote employees is important. Now, let’s get into retaining them. Doing this requires a great benefits package, a superb workplace culture that makes everyone feel included, and open communication. Most people dislike job hopping and prefer staying at a company long-term.
Offer Great Benefits
Go beyond the typical benefits of great insurance, a 401K match, and plenty of PTO. Consider offering your remote workers an internet or work-from-home reimbursement. When your house is also your place of work, you may have to invest in new furniture, such as an office chair and desk. Give an allowance to these workers so they can ensure they have a comfortable, ergonomic setup.
Maintain Superb Workplace Culture
Think about your workplace culture. What are your top values? When you’re in the office, is everyone helping one another and talking? Uncover your company culture, analyze what works and what doesn’t, and maintain the working parts in the digital environment for your remote workers. You could create a Teams chat or channel labeled “Help” to encourage teamwork. Providing opportunities for collaboration also gives your remote employees a place to go if they have questions when you’re not available.
Pro Tip
Set up remote team building activities so all workers know they’re important to the company and can feel included. You can host digital happy hours or play games such as Jackbox, Paper Telephone, or Skribblio together. Ask everyone to turn their camera on while you play so it feels more personable.
Keep Communication Open
These individuals can’t just walk into your office if they have a question, so ensure all training and company documents are in a OneDrive folder they can easily access. Tell them where this shared information is located; you may have to remind them occasionally. If possible, encourage them to save any crucial documents to their desktop.
Also, strive to schedule one-on-one meetings once per week. If they need to talk, it can be on video. A quick check-in through chat is also great and doesn’t take long. In an employee’s first few weeks, check in several times per week. Getting adjusted is tough, and when you’re remote, it can feel isolating. However, when you have an incredible boss always ready to help and cheer you on, you remember that you are part of a team.
Work with Burnett’s Staffing
Contact Burnett’s Staffing for job recruitment services. We have over 50 years of experience and can help you find the perfect remote employees and retain them. Ease the hiring process with help from the best job recruiting agency.
