Virtual Employees – How To Find & Hire The Best
Today the trend of hiring virtual employees has drastically evolved amongst newly developed and well-established businesses.
Let’s rewind a bit; there was a time when working remotely was more or less unheard of. Business owners could not envision having a workforce working from home, without having a drop in productivity.
However, fast forward to today and almost everyone has heard of remote working. Companies are embracing this shift which is not only proving to be productive, but helping companies save on huge costs that come with office utilisation.
Also, why do so many people prefer to work remotely?
A lot of credit has to go to the revolutionised technology and the massive development of remote access technology making it very easy to work from anywhere.
From apps that allow for collaborative work to video conferencing, we’ve seen a massive leap in technology over the last decade that favours remote working.
Although the tech has improved, finding and hiring the right people has become harder.
Yes, the talent pool has arguably become bigger, however finding the right talent with the perfect mix of skill and ability to work independently is quite difficult. According to McKinsey, superior talent is up to 8 times more productive. Therefore, we’ll show you exactly how to hire the right virtual employee for your small business.
So what are some of the things you have to consider?
What personality traits to look for in Virtual employees?
You need to be sure that the person you hire has the personality and temperament to work without constant supervision.
During the interview process, and as you review the candidate’s work history, it is important to look out for traits of independence and proactivity. The person has to have a track record of reliability.
Motivation
It’s important to try and find out what motivates your potential hires. The right virtual employee has to be motivated to come in and improve the place while getting better at whatever role they will be doing.
As a business owner, this means you don’t have to be worried about constantly following up on them, you know exactly what to expect from them.
Response to feedback
There are probably going to be times when you have to tell your virtual employees that their work has to improve and get better.
You’ve got to be certain that you’re not employing someone who will slack or take feedback negatively. Regardless of talent, everyone has to be able to take feedback well and realise that there is always room for improvement.
Hire on a trial basis first
When hiring a virtual employee, you should first consider hiring on a trial basis and make this clear during the interview process.
Make it known that you would like to work with them on a 1 month’s trial, to begin with, and if the partnership works for both parties you can then make it official.
This allows you to use the flexibility that remote hiring provides by giving you time to adequately judge your new hire before committing to a long-term engagement. It also allows the virtual employee to learn more about you and your business, and they can also decide if it’s a good fit.
Offer a genuinely competitive package
While we all know that one of the key benefits of remote hiring is saving on labour costs, it is important to have a competitive package in order to make the right hire.
Let’s be honest, in most cases, you get what you pay for.
You are competing with companies worldwide when hiring virtual employees. Hence, it’s essential to put together an attractive package to attract the best talent. Use the money you’ve saved from office space and put a percentage of it into benefits.
Finally, Equip your team for success!
The last tip is more about you and how you set up your business working environment to cater to remote working and virtual employees.
It is important to equip your team for success.
This can be from setting up daily stand-ups to ensure everyone is on the same page to offering project and time management tools.
Make sure you invest in communication and collaboration tools.
These systems and software help you pull up progress reports, communicate and engage with your team and examine where your virtual employees may be under or overbooked.
Remote hiring can be quite complicated. The vetting process tends to be even more thorough in comparison to a more traditional permanent role, due to the independence needed from the candidate.
At SuperbHire, we help take the load off your shoulders by taking on the hiring process for you. We source candidates, vet and interview them and present you with the best candidates for you to choose from.
We also handle international payroll processing, allowing you to focus on the day-to-day activities of your business.
Are you ready to start working with remote employees? Talk to us today.
