How Candidate Quality of Hire Differs for Remote Workers

It is no secret that remote work is on the rise. According to Gartner, remote workers will total 628 million, representing 32% of employees worldwide by the end of 2021.

A remote workforce can be an excellent way to diversify your business and offer more opportunities for employees. It gives you access to better talents, improved productivity, and helps you cut costs. Candidates also love autonomy, flexibility, and the balance remote work offers.

However, hiring remote employees requires a different approach. You are looking for the right skills and how they will fare in an environment without daily in-person interaction with co-workers and managers each day. 

Read on to learn how the candidate's quality of hire for remote workers is different from your in-office employees. But first;

What Does Quality Entail?

Candidate quality comes down to three main factors: qualifications, culture add, and team fit.

Qualifications such as education and work experience meet minimum quality standards for the position. In contrast, business skills such as communication and creativity show an ability to do more than just get by. However, it is not only just about what your candidate can do in the role but also how they think and approach problems outside of it.

Is it important to make sure the candidate aligns with the role they are interviewing for as well. You would not want an introvert working in a customer service role that requires them to be on the phone for hours each day.

Culture Add takes into account personality, values, and preferences. The ideal candidate is passionate, goes above and beyond the job description, and outwardly displays the company values with their actions and attitude.

Team fit is how your candidate will interact with you and their future team members. They have to work well in the team structure you have in place, as well with the whole company in a collaborative manner.

How Different is the Candidate Quality of Hire for Remote Workers?

The main differences relate to:

• Communication and collaborative skills
• Ability to prioritize results over activity
• Ability to plan and execute
• Ability to work independently
• Ability to manage time wisely

Communication and collaborative skills

This quality is critical since remote workers have less access to in-person communication with co-workers. They need to be able to work in a team, contribute positively, and take feedback from their managers effectively.

They also must master the ability to work collaboratively using technology tools such as Slack, Zoom, Google, Microsoft Teams, and more.

Ability to prioritize results over activity

A responsible and productive remote employee prioritizes output rather than the number of hours worked. Remote working isn't just logging on and off at specific times but rather getting quality work done each day. A remote worker must understand the importance of the tasks at hand and be accountable without being micromanaged. 

Ability to plan and execute

Unlike in a typical office setting where teams meet in-person and are given clear instructions and guidelines when working on a project, remote workers are expected to plan and execute independently. They need to be highly productive and perform tasks diligently without being led directly through every step.

Ability to work independently

You cannot tell if a candidate will be self-sufficient or not just by looking at their resume. A great way to find out more about them in the workplace is by giving them a test during the interview process. During this test, look out for their ability to research on their own and their self-sufficiency. 

Once hired, a good fit remote worker will work independently and figure things out on their own, but possess effective communication skills and confidence to reach out to team members when questions arise.

Ability to manage time wisely

Remote workers have less face-to-face contact with co-workers and managers, so they need to be more organized and productive. A quality hire will know how to balance work and downtime by giving quality attention to the tasks that they are working on so that you should not have to micromanage them.

Let Crosschq Help

At Crosschq, we have reimagined the way companies build better, diverse teams. Whether your company is 100% in-office, remote or hybrid, our Talent Intelligence Cloud™ platform helps you with sourcing, screening, onboarding, and retaining the best candidates aligned with your business needs.

To see how you can build your team up to 95% faster sign up for a free demo today.Your blog post content here…