It's clear that we're approaching a new era of flexible work. So let’s start from the very beginning with a few no-brainers. Every company aims to have motivated and engaged employees but it’s a difficult task when you can’t see each other on a daily basis, right? That’s the reason why you need to be very precise when you hire a future remote worker and there are indeed several soft skills that you should take into account. Introducing tons of benefits just to keep employees engaged is a very simple, straightforward dead end. It's absolutely crucial to start shaping your culture with the recruitment process itself and not right afterwards. Fortunately, there are several ways of finding out how a potential candidate will fit into the digital work era, that embraces the ability to work remotely.

Your essential "why"

What matters the most is the “why”. Why is someone willing to join your company and work with you? What is the motivation of your candidate? It’s actually proven that remote employees are much more engaged if they share the same values as the company and they understand its mission and vision. Look at it this way – if you sit in front of your laptop on a daily basis and your team is not around you then how can you make sure that what you do makes you happy when you work remotely? It’s the common goal, the shared perspective that drives us. In other words, you should definitely consider hiring for the so called “culture fit”, shared values, the mission and vision of your company. That’s why, interviewing remote workers differs a bit from recruitment concerning onsite positions. So, now you need to find the right qualities by asking proper questions so that you can find the best remote talent to work for your company.

Passion means motivation

One of the most important qualities to me personally is passion. Whenever I talk to candidates, I want to be absolutely sure that they believe in the company’s mission. I always look for achievers who will go the extra mile in order to work for mutual success. Many candidates who apply for remote positions are simply going to say that they like the flexibility and they are tired of commuting to work on a daily basis. Those are the main reasons for them to consider a remote position. As such motivation has currently become a no brainer - it is definitely insufficient if we are on the lookout for top performers. Good employees who believe in you and your company are less likely to leave than those who don’t, and you can most probably rely on them.

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3,2,1….GO!

We should be looking for self-starters who require little direction. So, what does it really mean? Remote employees need to remain productive every day and they still need to be motivated. Since there will be no boss sitting next to them and telling them what to do on a daily basis, they still need to deliver the expected results.

It’s very important to set clear objectives upfront – employees must know what needs to be delivered and when.

That’s why a good onboarding process is essential for remote workers – here I mean creating standards and manuals which will let your new employees know on how you expect them to work. Open communication is also crucial - there is nothing worse than misunderstandings simply because some things haven’t been said because of lack of time or someone simply forgets to talk about a certain matter that matters at work. If we act like that, we may face performance related issues which can lead to dissatisfaction on both sides. In this place adjust to this new situation.

Time is money

You need people who can manage their time well! This is a vital skill for being successful at work when not in the office. Working remotely seems brilliant as we can either stay at home, work from a shared space or travel while working at the same time but in such circumstances it’s super easy to forget about self-discipline. You need to find out how your candidates handle their daily responsibilities and if they respect deadlines. Time management skills are a total must. Staying focused and remaining responsible when it comes to the deadlines requires a lot of self-control. Therefore, when it comes to evaluating candidates it’s best to ask open questions

about their previous experiences concerning working in a fast-paced environment with minimum supervision. You may want to find out if they were able to meet the deadlines and how they planned their schedule.

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Bonding is the way to go

Next, we have collaboration… which is the key to success in every team. It doesn’t matter if we work remotely or in an office as we all share the same goals of the organization. When it comes to working remotely then the situation is twice as difficult because we don’t see each other on a daily basis and that’s why it requires more dedication and effort in order to stay connected all the time. Remote employees need to know what their coworkers are working on so that they can easily take over, react or just simply assist whenever help is needed. When you hire remote people it’s always a good idea to involve the entire team in the process so that they can get to know each other better and see if they will be able to effectively collaborate with each other in the future. Also, once you already hire your new remote employee, it’s great to cross-train your team to perform a wide range of related tasks so that each of them can jump in and help out another colleague.

Curiosity doesn't kill the cat

Resourcefulness is definitely another skill which is crucial. For example, we are in a situation that a problem needs to be resolved no matter what, but your employee is totally alone and needs to come up with an idea despite lacking knowledge. While performing the recruitment process, maybe you could try to present a task to your candidates and ask them on how they would react on the spot. I mean… in an ideal world, the scope of work should be structured but since we are talking about remote work sometimes unexpected situations do happen.

If you are wondering whether it's about time to hire remote workers, make sure to watch my YT video "5 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD HIRE REMOTE WORKERS".

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