How to recruit world-class remote talent

Most modern workplaces - especially if you worked in tech - were already embracing remote working and using technology such as the internet and cloud-based platforms to recruit, onboard, contract, and manage their world-class talent. And now, as we rethink our work lives and home lives during a global pandemic, remote working has gone mainstream for many office workers, and for most, changing the way we approach our company recruitment processes. In fact, these days it’s possible to start, implement and finish a project entirely remotely, without even meeting your colleagues or setting foot in an office space.

Let’s explore how you can efficiently identify suitable candidates from a global pool of talent without letting the task completely overwhelm you. We’ll walk you through the recruitment process, from how to screen candidates, what questions to ask them, and why using a platform such as Lano will help you to manage the recruitment, contracting, onboarding and payment process no matter where your remote team members are located. Then, we’ll look at how to set up a smooth onboarding process that’s both compliant and efficient.

1. Speed

Speed is an essential characteristic to look for in an ideal candidate. Ideally, they should be self-motivated, have an agile mindset and can “hit the ground running”. When working remotely, all aspects of hiring and onboarding is expedited, and this would include the training process. Look for a candidate that has performed accordingly in their employment history. Whilst changing employers or industries a lot may have traditionally reflected poorly on a CV, the positive side is that these could potentially be contractors who will get up to speed fast and have adopted a learning mindset.

Question for candidates: Is it more important to act fast and get it done, or to take your time and do it right?

2. Intrinsic Motivation

When you manage remote teams, you’ll want teams who are intrinsically motivated. Intrinsic motivation means you are motivated by internal rewards such as the enjoyment of doing the work, liking the process or other intrinsic qualities such as creativity or problem solving. Remote workers must also have good boundaries with work and life balance. It’s easy to overwork when you work from home contrary to many people’s opinions - remote workers are usually the opposite of lazy. Look for someone who has experience working from home or working in many different work situations. They are likely to be able to embrace the lifestyle and reap the positive benefits of remote work.

Question for candidates: What appeals to you about remote work and how do you keep motivated?

3. Adaptability

Adaptability is an attitude and completely advantageous in the modern and future workplace. Being able to weather the ebbs and flows of external events beyond your control, and learning to adapt, learn, unlearn new skills. In the book The Adaptation Advantage, future work experts and tech analysts Heather E McGowan and Chris Shipley argue that in order to succeed, we need to “let go of the way we've always done it”, including our professional identities. Now is a pivotal moment in history, where remote working has gone mainstream and hiring talent that support this mindset and hold remote working with high value will mean you’ll get a very adaptable and flexible talent who is hired not just for their skills, but for their willingness to learn.

Question for candidates: Describe a time when a project you’d been working on cancelled abruptly. How did that make you feel?

4. Hire for mindset, train on skill

Building a remote work culture is just as important as building a good culture within a physical environment. Recruiters often advise to hire on personality, train on skill. But a good cultural fit isn’t about hiring someone who looks and dresses exactly the same as you, but rather hire on the values that the candidate brings and how that can best benefit an existing team. Remote team culture has its particular nuances and the right candidate should be adaptable, flexible, have a can-do attitude, and is a great communicator who can simply be trusted to get the job done.

Question for candidates: Tell me about a time where you created a project that you were proud of, either inside or outside of work. What happened and how did it make you feel?

A platform like Lano makes setting up a recruiting and onboarding process really simple. The cloud-based platform allows you to automate and optimize your onboarding processes by using customized workflows. You can send your candidates documents, run background checks and for contract or freelance workers, protect your company against false self-employment. Hire the best talent, no matter where they are located. With its clean interface and great design, Lano’s standardized documents make recruiting and onboarding a breeze. The candidate is walked through the process in a step-by-step manner that makes sense, saving loads of administration and mass email chains of documents containing sensitive data. Get your worker set up correctly from the very beginning so they can start on projects straight away and get them paid fast.

Attracting the best remote talent is no longer about physical proximity to an office space, team events or onsite perks such as food or drinks. Remote workers want to be trusted to do great work, get good compensation for that work (on time, every month), and have the tools and access to a like-minded team culture. A good start for new hires is crucial for a successful long-term collaboration. In addition to efficient onboarding, small attentions such as a welcome kit for freshers can make the integration of new colleagues into the company even more successful.