Utilizing remote workers can reduce operating costs, broaden talent pools, and increase productivity and employee satisfaction rates among other benefits. Touting all these outcomes is fine, but it isn’t very helpful to just tell someone how great something is without also describing how to begin. So, let’s go over how to find and evaluate good remote workers. If you need help hiring the awesome remote workers, using our free online recruitment systems can really help. Start your free trial of Recruiteze today.
Identifying a Good Remote Worker
Some of the qualities that make a good remote worker are the same as any in office worker, while some are unique. A business owner shouldn’t just slap the word remote on a job advertisement and expect the process to sort itself out. One needs to market to, source, and interview remote workers strategically.
Like all workers, remote workers will need to have a good work ethic, possess the job-based skills you need, be trustworthy, and fit the company culture. Unlike in office workers, it is also crucial for remote workers to be self-starters, have great organizational skills, communicate well in writing, be easily accessible, and work well when evaluated by performance and tasks rather than hours worked.
It is essential for remote workers to motivate themselves and structure their time. They’ll be working at home or in a public space where there is no manager representing the company, no time clock, and no other workers physically present to demand anything or see anything. The remote worker must get on their device and engage in the work in a timely manner all in their own planning. Not everyone can do that.
Typical remote working jobs require most, if not the entirety, of communications to be done in writing, if not the work itself. If the worker doesn’t communicate well via the written word, teamwork will be weak, directions and feedback will be difficult and slow, and the end result will probably suffer.
On a similar track, teamwork and project completion go best when all parties involved can be reached and respond quickly. When one party is waiting for someone else to be able to complete their task, the productivity of the whole company starts to slow.
It’s arguably not a good idea to keep judging in office workers’ performance by hourly work rather than goals reached, problems solved, and/or tasks completed, and that idea definitely needs to go when using remote workers. With remote work, results based standards make for a much easier and more rewarding experience for all. Remote workers can enjoy more of the good of being out of the office, because they are paid by work completed rather than time spent, and owners get a better sense of the value of their investment in their employees. The owner can’t see what the person’s doing, and they don’t need to. The person can work anywhere and any hours, if the work gets done. The owner usually gets more much productivity out of the worker because each task, each effort carries more value than just filling a minute in an hour. This means that the best remote workers are used to and/or will enjoy working in this format. Be sure to track your remote employee talent by using our free online recruitment systems. Keep reading to learn more about Recruiteze.
Marketing to Remote Workers
After deciding what type of candidate to look for, it’s necessary to attract that type of candidate. Owners looking for remote workers should use online, countrywide, and global avenues to put their brand in the sight of potential worthy candidates.
Put ads on a job board that targets remote workers, not just general job boards. Here is an article that has a list of the top job boards to hire remote workers.
It’s also a good idea to have a presence on websites and in communities where desired candidates are likely to already be on a regular basis, using certain forums, following certain social media accounts, talking about an issue in the industry, etc.
Look for communities where potential candidates gather to talk about their love of the industry or their problems with the status quo. Either method helps a company find and connect with candidates with passion.
Software developer Jeff Atwood described this well,
“If your startup is so small or pre-product market fit, you still have options. There are most certainly other communities out there that resemble what you hope to build, in terms of the type of people and how they communicate. Go after them. Make a compelling argument for how you’re working on something that will speak to them and how they have an opportunity to help you shape it. Somewhat counterintuitively, also try looking at communities that are passionately dissatisfied with the status quo in your field or industry. It might be harder to state your case, but if you reach out to the right people, you can explain that your product is the one they have been waiting for in the market. They will be immediately and urgently moved to help you make that product the best it can be.”
Blogging helps quality candidates find a company in searches, run into them while researching industry-related topics, and gives them valuable information about the company’s brand.
Josh Pigford shared,
“We write a ton on our blog. A lot of people know Baremetrics through the blog. That is a source of people knowing about Baremetrics and knowing about our job openings. So, it’s not like we’re a company that nobody knows about. When we try to find people to work for us, there are people who know about us. It’s a lot easier to find people that way.”
Sourcing Remote Workers
Source remote workers anywhere, all over the world, through online job boards, on social media, and in global communities. Use creative sourcing tips to locate candidates by keywords and images. Look for people in technical communities and discussions about remote work. Seek out parents. Many remote workers choose this type of work because of their families.
Revisit past employees. If an excellent employee struggled to maintain their in office schedule, preferred flexibility in their work environment, and/or was technologically savvy, they could quite likely be doing remote work now. Reach out to them.
A company should look at their current network, business partners, customers, and the like. There are probably quite a few people who are passionate about the company’s mission and have the ability to benefit the company who just need someone to reach out to them. It doesn’t always occur to someone that the maker of their favorite software might be hiring someone like them, just like it doesn’t oc