How to recruit, onboard, and retain remote employees
Virtual or remote working is continuing its growth as a preferred method of employment. To compete for talent in the remote working era, organisations need to align with the best practices for virtual collaboration. Digital collaboration tools are a predominant aspect of the employee experience. Employers can brand themselves as a great workplace by focusing on improving the remote work experience. An organisation must change the recruitment, onboarding, and retention processes to have a thriving remote or hybrid work culture.
Remote hiring is cost-effective, convenient, and time-saving. And when done right, it is as effective as an in-person hiring process. Adequate touchpoints and nurturing are possible with virtual recruitment tools that provide automated scheduling and mass communication features for each stage within the workflow. Organisations should assess personality to see if candidates can self-motivate, which is necessary for remote working. Employers must ask questions that help candidates be self-aware about whether their personality and working style suits virtual work.
Voice-based AI interviews are conversational questioning tools that help pre-screen candidates and assess attitudes and competencies using behavioural interactions. These ideal initial screening tools reveal much more than a resume. Video-based innovative interviewing tools allow candidates the flexibility to do the interview anytime and anywhere. These tools provide bias-free ratings of body language, communication skills, language proficiency, and candidate engagement levels. Automated and proctored intelligent assessment solutions offer a range of test types, including programming languages, aptitude, skills, and psychometric assessments. Malpractices can be prevented with AI-powered webcam and window monitoring. AI algorithms for eye movement analysis can check if the candidate is using a book.
An onboarding process must clear the 5Cs of compliance, clarification, culture, connection, and check back to be successful. With an in-person, in-office scenario, the 5Cs get incorporated seamlessly into the series of interactive onboarding activities. When done virtually, there has to be an intentional and planned effort to overcome the barrier of a lack of face-to-face interaction. The onboarding platform allows organisations to deliver their brand philosophy and organisational culture. Intelligent and automated onboarding solutions for remote working provide a personalised hand-holding experience. An online document collection and verification procedure with a built-in digital signature feature facilitates adherence to compliance guidelines and hassle-free task completion.
Automated workflows that send detailed checklists and reminders allow newcomers to be on top of things and track for any misses along the way. The setup and smooth functioning of the access infrastructure and collaboration tools are the most critical factors to help the newbies hit the ground running. The sooner and smoother the access, the more engaged the employee will be. An AI chatbot that provides immediate answers prevents the onboarding team from being overwhelmed and simultaneously allows new recruits to feel safe and confident. A training roadmap and AI-enabled self-paced training modules with bot tutors and customised learning pathways can bring new employees up to speed faster. Allocating a mentor/buddy to the remotely working entrants will ensure a smoother transition into the organisation and an opportunity to network with people other than their immediate coworkers.
> Organisations, especially within a hybrid work setup, need to look out for whether remote workers feel a disconnect, an insecurity that out of sight translates to being overlooked for plum assignments. Employers must walk the extra mile by setting up virtual one-on-ones to ensure remote workers feel valued.
> Online all-hands meets should be organised to share feedback, appreciation, and general organisational updates to improve transparency and build trust. Ensuring that all remote workers have monitored productivity, clear performance goals with metrics, and a formal growth plan detailing their possible career trajectory allays concerns for both parties.
> Organising intentional informal facetime, the equivalent of the office water cooler moments will build up team bonhomie. Planned activities to build awareness about company culture and values and to generate an emotional bond will aid cultural assimilation.
> Organisations need to implement appropriate policies to create a balanced management approach that is not intrusive but supportive and rewards performance over mere physical presence.
HirePro understands that a recruiter’s responsibility goes beyond hiring. Our streamlined onboarding services ensure a smooth transition from shortlisted candidate to valued employee.
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