How to hire remote employees

You no longer have to be a part of a huge corporation to grow your company outside your home country. 

With access to the internet and the speed with which we can communicate across the globe, it is possible, even for smaller companies, to hire employees from anywhere in the world.

The COVID-19 pandemic normalized remote and hybrid work and showed us that we no longer need to be physically present in an office workspace to get our work done. Virtual work can be just as productive and, in quite a few cases, even more so.

As a result, it now seems like a boon to employ individuals from across the globe with more diverse skills and talents. A global workforce fosters an increase in innovation and growth as individuals from a variety of educational backgrounds and experiences are brought together.

Here’s your comprehensive guide to hiring remote workers.

Characteristics of a Top-Notch Remote Worker

Remote hiring is not easy. You need the ideal person whom you can trust with the work. Since not everybody is perfect for remote work when hiring remote employees, consider the following characteristics.

Action-oriented - People with this characteristic have a natural tendency to work even without a task list.

Trustworthy - Make sure the remote employee you hire is trustworthy as they will not be physically present in the traditional office setup.

Ability to prioritize - Your remote hires must be able to distinguish between high, medium, and low-priority tasks. They must understand the tasks clearly and focus on the right ones at the right time.

Skilled in written communication - When you hire remote workers, most communication occurs via emails, slack, text, or direct one-on-one messages. So, if your remote worker is not proficient in writing, they may struggle to communicate their issues and task updates.

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Why Hire Remote Workers?

There are several reasons for hiring remote workers. You can build more diverse teams with access to a wider talent pool. You can reach people with different backgrounds, cultures, and experiences who can offer fresh perspectives on different business scenarios.

Hiring remote employees can also help you reduce your overhead costs by hiring remote employees. For instance, if a company hires freelancers from low-cost economies, they can save on labor charges and employee benefits like insurance. In fact, even at a higher hourly rate, you can expect to save 20 to 30 percent annually with a freelancer when you factor in not having to pay for benefits, like health insurance and retirement, as well as Medicare and Social Security.

How to Write a Remote Job Post?

A generic job opening won’t attract the ideal remote employee. So, when hiring remote workers, understand the job responsibilities first. There are two approaches to do so.

Shadowing the work

This approach involves trying to do the work to understand it with the existing employees. Once the job is understood, one can evaluate the abilities of the remote candidates. In short, shadowing the work approach involves doing the work yourself, understanding it, and preparing a job description to help you hire remote talent.

Kick-off meeting

The ‘shadowing the work’ approach may not always be feasible for obtaining necessary information about a job position. Hence, kick-off meetings are the second way you can adopt. During kick-off meetings hiring managers interact with recruiters to understand the position they are hiring remote workers for. They collect details like what activities are involved in a typical day, key goals, and how the role interacts with the other roles in the team.

Using either approach, you can create a comprehensive and compelling job post to hire the best remote staff for your organization.

How To Find Remote Candidates? 

Here are a few places to find suitable candidates for remote positions.

Networks - Your network is the most useful at this time. Hire people who have worked with you previously. Ask your friends, customers, partners, investors, etc., to refer someone who would be perfect for the open position. This way, you can find someone trustworthy and dependable.

Blogs - People often visit your website, read blogs and find the topics interesting. As a result, they apply for open positions at the company. Though your blogs do not mention positions, they do contribute to building interest in the audience about your company, its product, and its culture. Hence, you can find people reading your blogs applying for an open remote position.

Job boards - Job boards are a good source for hiring remote employees. However, keep track of who is looking into the job portals for remote work. Some candidates may be looking for any remote job, not yours in particular. So, be selective and choose the ones who are skilled enough to fulfill the responsibilities.

Social platforms - Share your job post across social platforms - Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, or any other channel you can access. The more you spread the hiring news, the more likely it is to get ideal candidates.

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How to Hire Global Remote Employees?

Hiring remote employees within your home country is easier. All you must do is,

• Define the job responsibilities
• Draw up a comprehensive job description
• Share the job description across different social platforms and job portals
• Ask for referrals and look into your network to find suitable candidates.
• Set up an interview and hire the candidate who fits your open job position

When hiring remotely within the country, the onboarding process remains the same. You send a compliant employment contract. Once signed, you begin onboarding them.

However, when hiring global remote employees, the process gets slightly complicated. Here’s a 7-step process to help you in hiring foreign remote workers.

Step 1: Confirm the candidate's profile

Firstly, it is essential to know exactly what roles and responsibilities you expect the person you hire to fulfill. Consider factors such as time zone compatibility, communication skills, access to resources, and other factors that might vary internationally.

If you want to expand your product or service into a new country, hiring someone who knows the local language would be helpful. If you are just looking for more options of candidates to select from, then your requirements would be slightly different.

Step 2: Evaluate various channels through which you can hire foreign employees

Once you have defined your required skill set, you can post them on various channels to look for candidates who can be a possible fit. Make use of portals like Facebook, Indeed, and LinkedIn.

You can also use specific cross-border remote job platforms like Recrew.ai to help find you the best remote crew without any hassle or worries.

Step 3: Research the job market

Since you are now hiring remotely and internationally, you must research the job market in the candidate’s country of residence.

Perform a thorough market analysis and research the basic pay scale for that particular job profile, the kind of benefits required per the candidate's country, and any other requirements from the respective country's department of labor.

Organizations like Gloroots can help consult companies with respect to talent to compliance and salary mapping in new geographies.

Step 4: Familiarize yourself with the labor laws

Every country has rules and formalities pertaining to the legalities around employment and labor. Familiarize yourself with the laws so you can plan your interview process and payroll following the local laws. Remember that even the questions you ask during interviews must comply with the country’s laws.

Having a partner like Gloroots will ease the process for you by taking care of all your legal and compliance responsibilities.

Step 5: Obtain the required certificates

Since you are hiring outside of your country of residence, you will have to make sure that you comply with any legal procedures and obtain any necessary documents to hire foreign employees.

For example, in the US, there are two types of work permissions:

• Permit from the Department of Labor, designed to preserve job opportunities for US citizens.
• work visa from immigration services if your job is not remote

The DOL work permit applies solely to foreigners working in the US. Foreign employees working remotely do not require a work visa but would need a business visa if they were to visit the US for training or an extended stay.

To hire a global remote team, you can make use of a professional employer organization or an employer of record based on your requirements to ease through this process.

Step 6: Have an efficient interview process

Once you have shortlisted candidates for hiring remotely based on their resumes and skill set, you should conduct an online interview, ideally, a video conference, to provide a human touch for both the interviewer and interviewee.

Conduct your interview, ensuring that the following questions are answered:

1. Does the candidate have all the skills required for the role?
2. Does the candidate have access to the resources needed for the job?
3. Does the candidate fit well in the company culture?
4. Will the candidate be available during the required hours?

In cases of remote or hybrid work, the candidate must be able to prioritize tasks and remain motivated to complete the expected work in time.

Step 7: Draw up a compliant contract

Once you have decided on a suitable international candidate, you will have to draw up a work contract that is in accordance with any tax regulations, termination laws, time-off policies, and rules about overtime in the candidate’s country of residence for remote employees.

You cannot pay international employees directly from the home payroll since foreign employees are not eligible for the same benefits as your home country. They rely on the local payroll to receive their compensation and tax withholding.

Gloroots can help you provide transparent invoicing and remit salaries to foreign employees in a single transfer with no hidden fees.

Now that you know the remote hiring process, let’s look at a few best practices for hiring remote employees.

Effective Strategies for Global Remote Hiring

Best practices entail a clear discussion on time zones in which remote workers will be available, how comfortable they would be working in a schedule-driven or deadline-driven environment, whether the position will be completely remote or hybrid, how frequently remote meetings will be held, whether the teams will communicate synchronously or asynchronously, and so on are only a few of the important questions to ask.

Besides these practices, here are a few effective strategies you can use to hire suitable remote global talent for your company.

1. Determine why you have decided to expand your candidate reach

As a company, there must be some reason that made you decide to expand your pool of potential candidates. It could be because you want to diversify your company’s market or expand your company in a new region. There could be a gap in the locally available talent pool and you want to recruit the best talent from across the globe to create your remote crew. Or maybe it’s just because you want to have more options when hiring. It could also be because you want your company to be reachable 24/7, and it’s easier to hire folks across time zones.

Once you identify your “why,” it becomes easier to shortlist candidates, so they can be hired to fulfill specific requirements.

2. Define the ideal candidate for a job requirement

We must first define the candidate's traits and desired qualities to narrow our search and find someone who is a good fit for the job.

You have a job requirement in your company. Based on that, try to answer some further questions, such as

1. What skills do I expect my candidate to possess?
2. What kind of resources does the candidate need access to?
3. How important is it for the candidate to be able to communicate in a particular language?
4. Are there any specific hours during which the employee would be required to work?
5. How important is it for the candidate to interact with fellow employees face-to-face, and how frequently would they have to partake in these interactions?
6. Can these interactions be limited to only audio meetings, or are video calls necessary?

Once you have answers to these questions, you will better understand how to filter through candidates.

3. Identify various sourcing platforms

You’ve determined the “why” to hire remote employees globally; the next step is “how.” There are various platforms where you can place your requirements and look for candidates that match your needs, such as LinkedIn and Facebook. You can also try looking at industry-specific job websites if your requirements are extremely specific.

An easier way to find eligible candidates with less hassle is to use a partner like Gloroots, which already has a presence in the global market. Gloroots offers a complete solution for all your global HR needs, enabling you to hire internationally and onboard across functions.

Specific cross-border remote jobs platforms like Recrew.ai, also enable firms to find the right global candidate with a single search.

4. Conduct a thorough interview process

Once you have shortlisted your candidates, the next step is the interview process to select the candidates that would be the best fit for your company. Since the interview process and the candidate’s further employment are likely to be remote, you need to determine whether the candidate has access to the right resources to fulfill the work requirement.

It is also essential to ensure that candidates can stay motivated and are capable of doing the work that is expected of them without having to be micromanaged. Ensure that you get an idea of how your candidates manage their time and prioritize their tasks and the hours they will be available in a day.

Remember that while your interview questions have to be thorough and have to give you a good idea of how the candidate works, you should not overstep and ask any questions that can be offensive.

5. Be thorough with the employment laws

Hiring employees across the globe gives you access to more talent but also requires that you stay compliant with the laws in your country of residence, as well as the laws in the candidate’s area of residence. Keep in mind that even during the interview process, asking questions about the candidate’s age, health, or family status is illegal in some countries. Ensure that your selection process is compliant with local laws.

Before drawing up a contract with a global employee, make sure you familiarize yourself with the termination laws, time-off policies, any rules that the candidate’s country may have concerning overtime, etc.

6. Foster a sense of inclusiveness in your company

Remember, happy employees, boost the company’s productivity. It is important for your employees to feel welcome and at ease while working at your company. It ensures that employees stay longer and increases the likelihood of them bringing in new talent by referring the company to their network.

Foster an atmosphere where everyone feels included in various activities and does not have to hesitate to reach out to other employees or management when required.

7. Foster transparency throughout

Transparency is essential for a productive virtual work environment. It comes into play when leaders disseminate information, employees discuss your company's mission and vision, and teams communicate and collaborate with one another.

Indeed, it should be maintained throughout the process, whether before, during, or after the interview, i.e., when they begin their job. It is critical that the company clearly defines the employee's formal obligations. Effective communication only makes the process easier and less stressful.

Organizations worldwide are transforming and expanding by hiring more remote and global talent. You need to keep up with the market and welcome this change to grow as an organization.

Get in touch with Gloroots today to stay ahead of the game and allow your employers to welcome the transition to a global remote workforce without any hassle.