5 Mistakes to Avoid in Your Remote Hiring Strategy

Remote work is growing at a rapid pace—and by extension, so is remote hiring. When recruiting people from a broader range of locations, however, hiring strategies that work for in-office staff won’t necessarily cut it. 

Companies with little experience hiring remote employees often make certain mistakes. Consequently, they may miss opportunities to attract talented individuals who would have been an excellent fit for their team. 

Keep reading to discover the top five mistakes employers make when hiring remote workers, and how to ensure you don’t do the same. 

Remote Work Statistics

Even before COVID-19, remote work was a growing phenomenon. From 2010 to the end of 2019, the number of people doing their jobs outside of the office at least once per week rose from 9% to 36%. Several factors led to this, such as improving internet speeds, better equipment, and higher levels of cloud-based enterprise security. 

During the pandemic, many employees were forced to work from home, a change that happened virtually overnight. The phenomenon has likely changed the workplace forever: Gartner believes that by the end of 2022, 47% of knowledge workers worldwide will be remote. 

Although some companies have tried to force employees back into the office, statistics suggest that workers want more flexibility. In early 2021, Microsoft found that most participants in one of its surveys want flexible options where they can work at least some of the time remotely. 

Why Remote Hiring Isn’t the Same as Traditional Hiring

Hiring remote staff means reconsidering a lot of what you thought about hiring. When you interview candidates in different countries and time zones, meeting them in person is challenging and expensive. New strategies are required while providing a good overall picture of a person’s credentials and attributes. 

Another big difference between remote and traditional hiring is the onboarding process. When you hire a new in-house employee, you can spend a little more time with them to ensure they understand how everything works. However, it’s more challenging to bring remote employees up to speed with your company’s processes and strategies without that face-to-face connection. 

Remote hiring also means considering how to attract candidates from a wider location pool. Whereas you might have previously been limited to your city, state, or country, you can broaden your horizons to attract people who might otherwise have been inaccessible. 

5 Mistakes to Avoid in Your Remote Hiring Strategy

1. Not Using Trials or Assessments

When you hire in-house employees, you likely put them through a trial period before deciding whether you should employ them full time. Doing so helps gauge how prospective team members will perform in company-specific situations and enable you to identify areas for improvement once the onboarding process is complete. 

If you hire remote employees, the challenges they’ll encounter will often differ from those in-house team members face. For example, they might find it tougher to keep up with deadlines without a reminder. It may also be harder for them to learn the ropes with minimal guidance from their coworkers. 

It’s essential to ensure that new hires can cope with the pressures of working remotely. Use trials and assessments to discover how competent they are in such situations.

2. No Voice or Video Interviews

Face-to-face communication has several benefits; it builds trust, and non-verbal cues can help both parties understand where the conversation is headed. If you only communicate with potential employees via email or message board, neither of you is getting a complete sense of the conversation—which can lead to miscommunication. 

During the recruitment process for remote employees, voice and video interviews are non-negotiable. Doing both will help you build more of a personal connection and determine whether you’re likely to form a healthy and effective working relationship. 

3. Poor Onboarding

First impressions count, especially when onboarding a new employee. According to Digitate, employees who have a negative onboarding experience are twice as likely to search for opportunities elsewhere. A poor retention rate will result in unnecessary time and money being spent finding a suitable replacement. 

Examples of bad onboarding practices include: 

• Using software that is difficult to navigate
• Lack of personalization in the onboarding experience
• Insufficient training for new hires

When hiring remote employees, establishing clear expectations is essential. Moreover, new team members must be welcomed and integrated into the company’s culture. By providing flexibility, establishing good relationships, and ensuring employees have a good experience, businesses will keep their best talent engaged. 

4. Limited Talent Sourcing

For companies, one of the most significant benefits of hiring remote workers is that they’re not as bound by borders. If someone is reluctant to move or obtaining a work permit is difficult, they can work from wherever they are. 

Despite having a bigger window of opportunity, some companies will continue to limit themselves in how far they’re willing to search for the right candidates. They miss out on employees who would have been engaged and happy to grow within the business. 

When adopting a remote hiring strategy, casting a wider net will attract more talented team members and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), which is beneficial for innovation and problem solving. 

5. Not Using Remote Hiring Tools 

Many businesses don’t make full use of the technology at their disposal when recruiting remote workers. As a result, their HR team spends a lot of time on tasks that could be automated. One example is screening potential candidates. 

The HR department has many responsibilities, so automating low-value tasks allows them to focus on more important things that will help move the company forward. 

You can use several remote hiring tools, such as remote onboarding software and applicant tracking systems. Doing so will increase team members’ productivity, simplify the recruitment process, and ensure that companies meet their KPIs.  

Get Your Remote Hiring Strategy Right 

Remote work will form an essential part of many businesses’ future, but it’s naive to think that everything will work like it would in an office setting. Hiring employees that can work from anywhere in the world requires significant preparation. 

By understanding the most common mistakes, you can ensure that you don’t repeat them. Build a personal connection with candidates and new hires, and be open-minded about where you source talent. These are essential parts of a strategy that will help you attract the right team members and keep them engaged. 

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