The ultimate employer’s guide to remote-first recruitment and hiring

Have you been working remotely – from home or another destination – within the last year or so? Due to national lockdown restrictions because of the coronavirus pandemic, it’s likely. Where possible, employees were asked to work from home for over a year. But if we had asked the same question back in 2019, your answer would have probably been different. A handful of people might have had remote jobs, and some may have negotiated a couple of days working from home a week.

But we’re now seeing people – both employees and employers – realise the full potential of remote working. After all, we’ve proved that work still gets done outside of an office environment.For employees, remote working means a much greater work-life balance, thanks to swapping a potentially long and stressful commute for more free time. It gives employees the flexibility to choose how to spend their time, whether that’s more time with their family and friends or newly available time to prioritise exercise.

It’s hardly surprising that more and more employees want to work remotely. According to a YouGov report, 57% of working adults want to be able to continue working from home after the pandemic – 18% who want to be able to work from home the whole time, and 39% who want to be able to work from home some of the time.

Remote hiring is a competitive space, but it also gives companies a competitive edge. Those companies which value the work-life balance of their employees and trust them with additional flexibility and freedom are the ones which will attract (and retain) great staff.

Accessing the talent pool

Acquiring talent starts with a job description. A good job description should be comprehensive, transparent, and enticing. You want people to apply, but you need to be accurate if you want them to continue with the recruitment process. For remote jobs, the logistical details are key. Potential employees looking for a fully remote job would be wasting their own and your time applying to a hybrid role. To attract the right kind of candidate, keep the following things in mind when writing a remote job description.

Provide an accurate description of the remote policy.

Are you fully remote, hybrid, distributed, or something else entirely?
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Include the company’s (remote) story.

Why is the company remote, or why is this specific job remote?
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Logistical requirements.

Are there time zone requirements? Are there travel requirements to, for example, the headquarters on a monthly basis?

Describe your company culture in detail or link to information on your website.

That should provide enough detail to allow potential recruits to make their own decision about whether your company is right for them. Be sure to review what information you provide on your own website too. Companies often provide details on what it’s like to work for them, information on their current employees, and the history of the business. This can all help a candidate choose you over another company. But how will they find the advert? Some of the most common places to find candidates online include:

A successfully onboarded employee should feel welcome, included, prepared, and motivated. During the first days and weeks, it’s the employer’s chance to build the right foundation for successful integration and relationships within the workplace. With the right onboarding process, you can set up the employee for success. Great onboarding programmes create great employee outcomes:

Technology

Don’t just send a laptop to your new employee’s home. Help them get set up with the right equipment and software. You could create a series of videos to provide step-by-step instructions for getting set up, or enable company-specific software and programs to be loaded remotely with the right credentials. There should also be an option to talk to someone if they’re struggling.

Expectations

When starting a new role, employees won’t know exactly what you need them to do. The interviews will have established they’re qualified to know how to do specific tasks, but you have to be clear about expectations. What tools do you need them to use? How should they be reporting progress? Are there any other requirements for doing a good job? Be clear with your expectations. Of course, any new employee needs time to settle in, so be patient and provide all the support they need.

Compliance

Throughout the onboarding process, be clear about any compliance requirements which keep the business running and protected. Also remember that these first few interactions will set the tone for the new employee’s experience in your workplace. It’ll set the expectations for interaction between other company members or customers, for example.

Culture

Every business has a culture. Its purpose, principles and people all contribute to this culture. An employee’s behaviour at work will impact that culture, so it’s important to be clear about what you value within your business and which traits you’d like to encourage. For example, you may prioritise transparency within your company, and would therefore expect staff to regularly present to the team on their progress. Or you may value an environment where individuals welcome feedback and challenges. To encourage this kind of collaborative culture, you’d need to demonstrate to new employees how it works in practice.

Social opportunities

People need to get to know one another. We spend a lot of time talking to the people we work with, so it’s nice to get along. As well as the opportunities employees have to work together on projects, managers and bosses should also provide social opportunities. Within the onboarding process, this could include assigning new starters a buddy or mentor, or organising a virtual happy hour with the team to get to know co-workers in a more casual setting.

Think of your onboarding programme as a chance to make sure managers or team leaders are accessible and accountable. You need to be clear about who is responsible for the onboarding process, and create chances for the new starter to meet other employees. There should be plenty of opportunities to cultivate teamwork and encourage mentorship.

You also need to think beyond the first week, or even month. After your onboarding process is complete, make sure there are still plenty of opportunities for remote employees to feel valued and heard. It could be providing the space to recognise great work, or regularly asking for feedback. Ask yourself whether you’re continuing to create an environment that allows employees to stay connected to the business and each other.

Beyond day 30

• Keep up integration, training, and engagement

Training at work always seems to get mixed reviews. Some people will dread being sent on training days or conferences, while others leap at the opportunity. But one thing is clear: investing in your own staff pays off. If you can equip them with more knowledge, or train them in new skills, it’ll only help them perform better at their job. But to get these benefits, training – especially remote training – must be executed well.

The length of training

More regular, shorter learning sessions may be suitable for online training. You can spread them out over a couple of days if necessary, rather than attempting to cover a lot with only one day.

The time of training

You may decide to provide a mix of synchronous and asynchronous learning, so employees can choose the best time to learn for them.

The learning objective

What’s the main aim of the training session? Providing clear learning objectives will help employees understand the goal and keep them engaged.

Levels of interactivity

Try to make the learning as interactive as possible. For example, using polls, quizzes, or breakout sessions.

The nature of remote work may actually require some training too. There are some skills that are essential for an employee to become happier and more effective in a remote setting. It’s easy to assume we all have these skills, but adjusting away from office life to home working can be difficult.

Take video calls, for example. A lot of our working time is spent in meetings. Many of us are used to having productive discussions or successful presentations in person. But the dynamics shift on a video call. The way you engage your audience or get conversations going is different. Investing in employees’ video-conferencing skills increases their effectiveness and efficiency – saving a lot of time, money, and energy.

Other valuable remote working skills include:

Time management

It might be easier to get distracted while working from home, especially with flexible working hours. You can teach employees about the importance of setting boundaries at home and how to use a schedule to structure their day.

Remote collaboration

A lot of remote work still relies on effective collaboration. There are tools, such as Google’s Jamboard, which are designed for sharing ideas online. Investigate your options and give employees a chance to practise more.

Independent working

To work alone, employees need to believe in their own ability to solve problems, stay motivated, and maintain discipline.

The learning objective

Try to make the learning as interactive as possible. For example, using polls, quizzes, or breakout sessions.

Critical thinking

Managers and team members aren’t always available, so each employee has to be able to analyse situations and make the right decision.

Organisational skills

In a remote company, organisation is paramount. Only when everybody understands how to logically organise information will it be easy to find – saving a lot of time in the long run. Everyone should learn how to use project management tools and cloud storage correctly.

Basic of cybersecurity and IT

Data breaches are a great concern for many remote companies. Having employees understand the basics of cybersecurity is essential. They need to understand their role in protecting the business when they’re working at home.

When people are working remotely, there is an expectation they’ll have a certain level of self-reliance. But it’s still an employer’s role to provide them with the tools and training they need to maximise their strengths and work from home successfully.

Whether hiring employees, onboarding new starters, or training up existing staff, remote companies that plan ahead and have the right processes in place will be set up for success.

When we talk about remote working, we often discuss it in the context of COVID-19 forcing us all to shift our ways of working sharply. While national lockdowns gave everybody insight into the potentials of remote work, that abrupt and unplanned move isn’t a true reflection of the possibilities of working remotely. If you’re a business owner still thinking about remote work, the best is yet to come – as employees become more adjusted to productive home working, software providers invest heavily in their online platforms, and new innovation arrives.

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