Remote work has finally entered the big stage in 2020. It’s not that people weren’t used to remote work before, but the coronavirus pandemic literally forced entire teams to go home and do their jobs from the comfort of their living rooms, kitchens, and bedrooms.
A survey of 229 human resources departments shows that roughly half of the companies have more than 80% of their employees working from home. One of the latest studies also reveals that at least 16% of workers will remain, at-home employees, long after COVID-19 recedes.
But the whole situation is not only changing the way we do business – it is also changing the way companies approach their hiring procedures. In this post, we will discuss the top 10 HR recruitment techniques for hiring remotely. Let’s take a look!
1. Create Accurate Job Descriptions
Every recruitment procedure starts with a job announcement, which makes it a focal point of the entire process. To make your hiring efforts faster and more efficient, you need to write accurate job descriptions that leave no room for mistakes or misunderstandings. This will have two effects:
- Clearly explain what you need and attract genuine specialists in a given field
- Fend off applicants who don’t match your job requirements
2. Promote Job Announcements on the Right Platforms
You can’t just publish a job announcement on your website and expect it to reach thousands of candidates instantly. On the contrary, the point is to go where your target audience goes and approach them using the right communication platforms.
For instance, you can focus on digital forums, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Quora if you are looking for essay writers and assignment help experts because that’s where they spend most of their time online. The same logic applies to other positions – find where your audience is hiding and place your announcement over there.
3. Use a Good Applicant Tracking System
This one goes without saying, but we need to remind you that manual work can only get you so far in remote hiring. A good applicant tracking system (ATS) will help you to monitor the most promising individuals and it is the main reason why 99% of Fortune 500 companies use such platforms as part of their recruiting strategy.
4. Beware of Shortlisting
Candidate shortlisting is often the most difficult segment of remote recruiting, which is why you should design a sustainable shortlisting strategy for your company. It is important to define the exact criteria based on which you can source the best candidates from the talent pool.
A good approach is to create a list of trigger words and keyword phrases that can serve as the primary mechanism for talent identification. That way, your ATS will quickly pinpoint candidates who match your precisely-determined conditions.
5. Prepare for Video Interviewing
Nothing outperforms face-to-face meetings, but how can you conduct a job interview remotely? The answer lies in video interviewing, also known as the fastest-growing HR trend in the COVID-19 era.
All it takes is to get a reliable online conferencing platform such as Zoom or Google Hangouts and you’re good to go. Of course, job applicants have to use the same tool and you should tell them to prepare for it beforehand.
6. Test shortlisted candidates
No matter how useful, video interviewing can only get you so far in the attempt to learn more about shortlisted job candidates. But if you really want to figure out their skills, you should test each candidate and check their knowledge and expertise.
7. Keep them informed
Most companies hire only one person per position, but that doesn’t mean you should neglect all the other applicants. According to the report, 83% of candidates say it would greatly improve the overall experience if employers provided a clear timeline of the hiring process.
You can make job applicants feel more comfortable while improving brand image simply by keeping people informed about the next stages of the recruitment process. It takes minimum effort, but it makes a huge impact on the overall candidate experience.
8. Mind the Cultural Differences and Time Zones
Cultural differences and time zones are yet another detail you should take into consideration when hiring remotely. While it is great to diversify the organization and make it more versatile, it’s not good to hire employees who do not match your team’s habits, work hours, and mindset in general.
9. Provide Newcomers with Digital Onboarding
Organizations with a standard onboarding process experience 50% greater new-hire productivity. As for remote workers, your job is to provide them with the right kind of digital onboarding and get them acquainted with the entire team as well as internal procedures. Use every communication channel that can help newcomers comprehend your business and stay available for 1-on-1 consultations during the onboarding process.
10. Ensure Data Privacy
Data privacy is getting increasingly important in a world dominated by digital communication platforms, so you’ll have to treat this issue seriously and guarantee the highest level of data protection. It will make job applicants feel safer and perhaps even attract more people to apply for your job announcement.
The Bottom Line
Remote work is the hottest trend in the business world and it is likely to remain dominant long after the coronavirus pandemic. In this article, we explained the best HR recruitment techniques for hiring remotely. Can you fulfill all of these criteria and attract the most promising individuals to your remote team?
If you’re struggling to implement these recruitment techniques and feel overwhelmed with the hiring process, let us help you. At DistantJob, we’ve been assisting companies to hire the best IT talent while taking care of all the HR aspects.
