5 Ways To Make Remote Hiring A Success

Imagine this situation. A candidate joined the company after a remote hiring process and is soon asking themselves whether they did the right move.

Ouch, this is not something you as a hiring manager, or the company, want to hear. We all know how a lot of time, money, and energy goes into recruiting and training new employees.

Let’s flip the opening situation. Imagine another scenario. Would you relocate for a new job with your family and a dog from Pakistan to Germany on a basis of a Zoom call?

Here is what is happening.

• Many more companies are now actively recruiting, hiring, and even onboarding without ever meeting candidates face to face.

• Companies today can grab instant access to an almost unlimited pool of potential employees from around the globe using virtual hiring.

• At the same time, a lot of HR policies and procedures are seemingly borrowed or adapted from decades of best practices. That should not be the way forward.

When it comes to remote hiring, candidates and companies both can and need to make informed guesses and decisions. Focus on showing candidates that your company is dedicated to looking after its people. By demonstrating how you are building a great future for your employees, candidates will want to be a part of it — and have no hesitation saying “yes” if an offer comes their way.

Essentially, right from the beginning, remote hiring boils down to building relationships and connected company culture. This makes all the difference.

How to do remote hiring and prevent employee churn rate

You’ve got to make sure your employees have good experiences in order to translate to great work and services. Identify the foundation for your recruitment philosophy and then apply that to the virtual world. While hiring remotely it is essential to do anything to prevent the employee churn.

So how can you prove the candidates that relocating and coming to work for you is the right decision?

HR teams, it’s time to get creative. Here are five ways you can make remote hiring a big success, based on our experience of helping companies find worldwide tech talent ready to relocate to Germany and Europe.

1. Let your candidates experience the company culture

During the interview process, you should pay particular attention to your culture pitch and tell stories and examples of how your culture is expressed at work to help your candidates visualize your company. Company culture is something that will reflect on the hiring process, for both sides. As a hiring manager, finding ways to showcase the company culture while hiring remotely will put the job role into context. As a candidate, seeing these examples will play a big role in understanding the company’s values and the wish to become an employee.

2. Remote hiring requires change of communication style

Making your candidates feel valued is one of the biggest challenges of hiring remotely. Try to over-communicate and ensure results at each stage no matter the outcome for the candidates. In the absence of personal connection with remote hiring and today’s uncertain times, it is better to keep informing. That also relates to understanding the emotional aspects of relocating, simply because for candidates who are moving to come and work for you the stakes are high. A strong statement could be to have a manager flying to see the candidate, especially if it is an executive hire.

3. Use the virtual aspect to your advantage

Relationship-building can already start virtually. For example, you can offer a virtual tour of the office and show the company from within, especially if you have a hybrid work format. That is a great opportunity to show how the premises look, give a first impression of the job and routines and an inside peak into the company culture. You can also schedule a team lunch or virtual lunch with the new hire’s immediate team, dedicated to informal small talk and getting to know each other.

4. Connect people early on during remote hiring processes

It is understandable that being outside of the office can create challenges for some people, such as disconnectedness, miscommunication and a lack of team spirit. When hiring remotely, you can already start building a community for your future employees and help them stay connected, and establish strong working relationships. You can, for example, connect them with people from the same country, or other spouses who relocated, or simply connect them with relocation experts for a start. Building relationships will make people stay at your company.

5. Allow flexibility from the beginning

Other than being seen as something connected to the location, flexible working schedules nowadays are connected to time flexibility as well as more options.

Candidates expect recruiting teams to engage with them on their terms. They expect personalization. Therefore, the option of starting remotely in probation period, can be a great signal for a candidate that you can adapt to their needs.

Meet and exceed candidates’ expectations

There is a concept in business that you should hire slow and fire quickly. This means that you should take your time when bringing someone into your organization. On the flip-side, if it is not working out, let the person go quickly.

We at BSMART think you need to hire fast, fire slow. What do we mean by that? There is a war for tech talent and video interviewing lets asses candidates faster. If you see that a candidate has the right qualifications for your company, if you find someone who fits your culture, then hire them fast. If they start struggling with their job despite being objectively qualified to do it, take the time to figure out the problem. In that sense, fire them slowly. As we have seen it, the problem can start right at the beginning of the hiring process.

Being an attractive employer is the key to bring and maintain best professionals. That starts with the first remote interview. Make the hiring process more humane and more authentic. Create an employee experience for your future hires right at the beginning, with value in such excess, that people can’t imagine churning.

Designing your remote hiring process around people will help you create a candidate experience that leaves applicants with the best possible impression of your brand. And leaves you with the best possible talent.