From lower operating costs to reduced employee turnover, there are so many advantages of assembling a fully remote team as a small business owner. For one, you and your employees can work from nearly anywhere in the world, as long as there’s access to a computer, the internet, and any other tools needed to effectively perform your job duties and responsibilities. This not only widens your talent pool but also expedites the hiring process.
While recruiting a virtual team of workers can benefit your small business in many ways, there are several common challenges of remote hiring. Check out leadership tips from HR Solutions, LLC to make the remote hiring process as quick and painless as possible, and succeed as a remote team manager.
1. Learn HR Skills
As you prepare to build a virtual team, it’s important to start by learning a few human resource (HR) skills such as recruitment, business ethics, and conflict management. These HR skills will help you to lead and engage your remote workers, become a better listener, build a positive company culture, and recruit the best talent to work remotely for your company.
To help you develop the skills you need to succeed in business, HR Solutions, LLC offers a wide range of services for business leaders and their human resource teams. In-person, online, and live webinar trainings are offered, covering topics such as business ethics, communications, employee relations, human resource management, team building, and more.
2. Build a Recruitment Process
In addition to learning a few HR skills, every successful business needs to have a recruitment process in place before assembling its team of remote workers. This process should cover the following:
● The criteria you’ll use to assess your candidates (e.g. portfolios, cover letters, professional references, and skills tests or assessments)
● How you’ll recruit, screen, and interview applicants
● Your company’s remote work vision statement
● Your onboarding process for remote employees
● The equipment you’ll need to provide your remote workers if any (these tools may include laptops, software, and hardware)
Fortunately, there are lots of tools available to make remote hiring a breeze. As a few examples, you can use Zoom and Skype to interview virtual candidates, time zone converter tools like Spacetime to accommodate applicants living in different time zones, and applicant tracking systems such as Freshteam or MightyRecruiter.
3. Stay Connected with Remote Work Software Tools
Once you’ve assembled your remote team, be sure to create clear communication guidelines for your workers to follow. Many remote teams communicate via email, video conferencing, chat, and intranet, while others use digital workplace platforms to enhance the employee experience. Some of the best communication tools for remote teams include Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Slack, Basecamp, FreeConference, Workvivo, and Monday.com.
Moreover, advanced software tools can help to effectively manage your small business bookkeeping and streamline the payroll process. Plaid’s suite of API products, for instance, can help with everything from processing contractor invoices to tracking and managing your business expenses. Some other great bookkeeping tools for small businesses include QuickBooks Online, Freshbooks, Wave Accounting, and Sage Accounting.
Retain Your Remote Workers
While remote work reduces employee turnover and increases worker productivity, this doesn’t mean you should skimp on employee benefits. Show your remote workers just how much you value them by offering memberships to virtual gyms, opportunities for professional development, and technology stipends that can be used to create a productive home office space.
The ability to work remotely and enjoy a flexible work schedule may be enough to retain some of your talent, but additional benefits are needed to keep your remote teams happy and engaged for the long term. When your workers are happy and motivated, your business will thrive.
HR Solutions, LLC serves small businesses through its human resource consulting, leadership development, executive coaching, workforce training, and other online and in-person services. To learn more, view HR Solutions’ Catalog of Services, call 406-836-2833, or send an email to deborah.hrs@outlook.com.
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