Hiring a Remote Employee?It Requires More Than Just an Internet Connection

If your company has an available seat for a work-from-home position — or one that may be — a remote worker could assist in filling it. But, before that can happen, you'll need to deal with more than just the basics, such as equipment and cybersecurity. Here's everything you need to know before hiring a remote worker.

1. Determine The Logistics

If you hire an employee in a different state than where your small business is now located, you will be liable to the employment regulations and payroll taxes of that state. Workers' compensation insurance is also required in any state where you have employees.

The more dispersed your team becomes, the more probable it is that you will need to recruit a human resources staffer, consultant, or vendor, which will deplete your budget for new jobs.

"If you want to keep things easy, remain inside your state," advises Megan Dilley, communications director at Distribute, a remote work consulting organization.

To make the recruiting process easier, you may use a freelancer-for-hire service like Fiverr or Upwork.

Tessa Gomes, a wedding planner from Hawaii, hired a team of five contractors through Upwork earlier this year.

"It simply makes so much more sense than me doing it alone," Gomes explains. "It's as if [my] pool of human resources has increased tenfold."

2. Describe Your Firm And Your Job

Make sure to provide information about your remote-work environment in your job description.

"All of the definitions [of'remote'] are rather hazy," Dilley explains. "Be as clear and transparent as possible from the start."

For example, if you require employees to arrive at the office at 9 a.m. Eastern time every day, to come in twice a week, or to travel for a quarterly meeting, state this on the job post.

Improve your company's website and social media presence. Consider including information about your personnel and your workplace.

According to Victoria Neal, an HR knowledge adviser at the Society for Human Resource Management, each company's internet presence should convey "who they are, their brand, what their culture is like, how they treat their employees, DEI."

Job posts can be listed on LinkedIn and other job board websites, but Neal recommends distributing job announcements through social media or email to individuals who already follow your company.

"A lot of firms are actually exploiting their present user bases," she adds, to discover new workers.

3. Rethink Your Interview Procedure.

You'll need to educate interviewers about new topics because they may no longer encounter candidates in person.

According to Allan Platt, CEO of business consultancy firm Clareo, "virtual hiring and virtual interviewing can erase some prejudices." He adds, however, that they can create a whole new set of assumptions, such as candidates' internet connection and home office setting.

Platt claims his company's interviews are extremely disciplined and candidates are evaluated using uniform matrices to aid with this.

"When we're doing remote interviews, the way we structure and organize our interviews is incredibly crucial," Platt explains. "Candidates evaluate us just as much as we evaluate them." They're looking for any and all hints."

You could also want to change the format of your interviews. Remote employees, for example, must be great communicators who can fulfill deadlines. You may uncover individuals that display those talents by asking behavioral interview questions and assigning example work.

4. Get Ready For Day One

Make sure your workplace works properly asynchronously before bringing on a new employee. Employees may support each other through online tools for remote work like Slack, so a new hire's boss doesn't have to address every query — especially if their working hours don't coincide.

By organizing an onboarding program, you can help your new workers feel welcomed and prepared from the start. If you don't already have documentation for typical processes, aim to have it done before your new person arrives.

Schedule regular meetings with your new staff at the start. As the meetings wind down, Dilley promotes over-communication as the norm.

Spend some time reflecting on your own mindset. Prepare to give up some control if you're used to maintaining frequent touch with a new employees, especially during their first few weeks.

"Trust is expected and not earned," Dilley says of remote employment, "which is a bit different from what people used to talk about."