Remote work is the undeniable reality of today’s working world. The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed organizations towards exploring untested waters in order to continue their business affairs and operations.

While a lot of organizations have put a freeze on their hiring plans for some time at least, there are sectors (such as e-commerce companies, health-care sectors, logistic industries, etc.) that are in a constant need of manpower as manpower needs in these sectors have reached an all-time high.

For such companies, the entire recruitment strategy stands redefined, and hiring managers/recruiters now have to innovate and reinvent their style of recruiting.  New- age virtual onboarding is now the way forward for organizations.

Companies, across the globe, are resorting to smart virtual technology and AI-backed systems for screening, shortlisting candidates & conducting interviews. Many of the world’s leading companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, etc. are already conducting virtual job interviews in response to coronavirus pandemic.

What is remote recruiting?

Remote recruiting is about sourcing, interviewing, and hiring employees who are located at different locations, through virtual technology. Remote recruitment has become all the more crucial now as most organizations are transitioning to a work from home set up to sustain business continuity during these times of uncertainty.

While the times may be changing, the war for talent is still on and has just gotten more fierce and challenging. In order to continue hiring right, organizations need to adapt to new methods & technologies.

6 Tips for making your remote recruitment a success

Let’s look at some of the key points that hiring managers and recruiters can keep in mind while recruiting amidst the current pandemic situation.

1. Revisit your job descriptions 

Clear and accurate job descriptions are a must-have when it comes to hiring new employees. However, this becomes even more important when organizations are sourcing candidates remotely.

Laying down roles, responsibilities, and expectations in a thorough and easy to understand manner is imperative these days. Since candidates miss getting a proper face to face time in the hiring process, organizations need to ensure they covey all important information to them, in the quickest and easiest way possible.

Share a visual job description, it’s a great way to build a human connection with candidates early in the recruitment process. Thanks to smartphones, sharing, and viewing video clips have become really effortless, everything is just one click away. These video clips could be around the role in question or certain KPIs, expectations, or overall company policies, its culture, etc.

As per CareerBuilder, job postings with videos are viewed 12% more and receive a 34% greater application rate than text- and image-based ads.

2. Have a structured communication process in place

This is the time when hiring managers ought to be pro-active and ever responsive while reaching out to potential hires. Timely and prompt co-ordination through emails, calls, virtual meetings, messages, etc. is imperative.

Setting up a strong communication structure ensures that the whole hiring exercise is smooth and consistent. The key is to identify what are the steps involved and how to prioritize these.

  • Setting up and getting acquainted with the virtual environment.
  • Choose the right applicant tracking system (ATS).
  • Pick the right communication tools – choose what suits you and your candidates, the most.
  • Streamline the entire recruitment exercise – what platforms to use for job postings, how to create virtual employer brand visibility.

Quick Takeaways on how to go about connecting virtually –

  • Test everything internally first – tool, audio, video, connectivity, etc.
  • Ask your candidates if they are familiar with the virtual communication tool you plan to use – is it Skype, Zoom, Google meets, Webex, or something else.
  • Have the candidates also test the tool beforehand, to avoid any last minutes flaps.
  • Be cautious of your expressions etc. while on a video call. The facial gestures might be perceived differently in each case.
  • Make sure that the tool you chose has a sound chat-bot feature, this comes in very handy with candidates that have a lot of questions.

3. Embrace the social media world

A survey finding of SHRM states that around 84% of organizations are currently using social media for recruitment and hiring. Organizations need to know how to use social media (an extremely important tool now) for recruiting talent. This is the actual time to make optimum use of social media to attract the top talent pool sitting at home.

Posting job opportunities on social media is fruitful for organizations in many ways –

  • A wider reach
  • Cost-effective hiring
  • Stronger employer brand
  • Connecting with passive candidates
  • Exhibiting organization culture

LinkedIn, Facebook, and even Instagram, are some of the top choices when it comes to social media. Twitter is also becoming a frontrunner, it has seen an increase in the number of people using the platform for job search and recruiting. Many Fortune 500 companies, like AT&T and Disney, have created separate accounts specifically for their recruitment purposes.

4. Bridge any internal communication gap that exists

Staying connected and maintaining prompt collaboration among your hiring team internally, is very important. Teams need to stay informed and aligned at all times. Organizations must ensure that the responsibilities are delegated clearly so that there’s no scope of confusion.

For example, organizations should make sure their team knows –

  • What steps are involved in remote recruitment?
  • Who is responsible for the first level of screening?
  • Who will host virtual interviews?
  • What criteria for shortlisting is to be followed?

Organizations need to make sure that there are no loopholes in the whole process while recruiting remotely.

5. Run online assessments

A lot of organizations are using online pre-employment assessments to screen and shortlist candidates quickly and in a smart way.  These online assessments can be – aptitude tests, cognitive skill assessments, online personality tests, or also leadership tests. Such tests help make the hiring process more effective and also offer a great candidate experience.

Hiring managers can choose assessments which most suit their requirements and roles to zero down on relevant candidature. Online pre-employment assessments also aid hiring managers in knowing what to ask in interviews and make informed hiring decisions.

Another way of assessing candidates could be by sharing an online exercise/e-tray exercise just to evaluate future job performance, especially with regard to skills like – times management, decision making, or prioritizing & planning.

6. Stay connected & keep them engaged

It’s all about engaging potential hires – that’s the game-changer. Make it a point to keep your candidates engaged throughout the entire hiring cycle. This becomes, even more, important when your potential hires are spread across geographies.

Keep them informed about the status of their application; what are the next steps in the recruitment process, etc. Do not leave anything on assumptions, you might lose onto some talented lot of people. Transparency (in all respects) is the key here!

Organizations can also explore using a virtual CRM tool like Jibe, Smashfly, or Yello; these platforms specially cater to recruitment management and allow companies to build and maintain relationships throughout each stage of the recruiting cycle.

For instance, Yello is a useful recruitment CRM built for dealing specifically with high-volume recruiting. Yello helps recruiters engage, screen, and advance candidates at scale. Organizations can streamline their recruitment process and fill in positions quicker. SmashFly is backed by AI and can help with event management, referrals, and analytics solutions, etc.

82% of candidates expect employers to provide a clear timeline and keep them updated throughout the hiring process when they apply for a job (CareerBuilder), this stands true for the current times too.

Conclusion

Remote recruitment is all about a good blend of sound planning, strong communication, and the use of relevant technology. It’s time for organizations to redefine and reinvent their recruitment structure to embrace the remote-working reality. It’s time for organizations to be agile and flexible, be open to change and be future-ready in order to survive, grow, and succeed.

Author

Garima Sharma
Lead – Assessments & Surveys at GreenThumbs
Garima Sharma is Lead – Assessments & Surveys, at GreenThumbs. She is a subject matter expert for Personality Assessments, Talent Management, 360 Degree Appraisals, Employee Engagement, Feedback Surveys, etc.