“I’ve hired several employees lately but am not overjoyed with those I’ve hired. What am I doing wrong?”
Your HR Survival Tip
Hiring an employee can be a bit challenging and hiring remote employees even more so. The difficulty of finding great employees, plus the differences between onsite versus remote employees, indicates it’s time to review your hiring practices.
Be clear with expectations — We often find companies can’t tell someone how they will spend the full 40 hours each week and are rarely clear about their true expectations. Ideally, you have a job description for each position that outlines the work responsibilities and which skills are needed to perform the job successfully. Given the onsite, remote, and hybrid environment, you also need to be very clear about where and when you expect this person to work. Too many people like the remote and hybrid positions because they think they can work on their own schedule rather than yours. The California wage and hour laws regarding meal and rest breaks and overtime apply to all non-exempt (hourly) employees, regardless of where they work, so they need to follow your policies. Be sure they aren’t accepting an onsite position with the hopes of it transitioning to a remote position.
Confirm the candidate’s skills — Don’t assume what you see on resumes will result in a match of the skills you need. Ask detailed questions about what the candidate has done and make sure they can repeat that success for you. Even remote employees should be tested in similar ways you test onsite employees so don’t ignore steps in your process just because it’s easier than figuring out a way to do it differently. When hiring remote or hybrid employees, make sure they have a home office that is ergonomic and distraction-free, and find ways to ask about self-motivation and initiative since you won’t be there to make sure they’re working.
Compare perks — Your office may have a bagel day, monthly birthday cake, happy hour, etc. In addition, the office staff is more noticeable to the management team and may find it easier to get those promotions and raises. What are you doing for those remote employees? Think of ways to gain their loyalty and for them to build a similar camaraderie with their coworkers.
Sell candidates on your company — You work hard to get and keep your customers. You should work just as hard to get the right employees. Create a marketing package for candidates that includes information about your company and what perks and benefits you offer and their cost, if any. You need to impress candidates as much as you want them to impress you.
While there are differences in hiring onsite versus remote employees, there are also many similarities. When hiring is tough or has been disappointing, review your practices to improve your process. Smaller companies have the ability to hire faster while still moving through all the steps. Use what you have to make hiring a fabulous process for both your team and the candidates.
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