David is a veteran human resources leader and CEO of IQTalent Partners, Inc., an on-demand talent acquisition and executive search firm.
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If you are in the talent acquisition business, it's likely your day-to-day operations were turned upside down with the onset of a global pandemic. Almost overnight, we all moved from the office to working from home, and that included taking home the recruiting function. As you may have already experienced, recruiting remotely brings a host of concerns: How do you successfully complete the interview process from home? How can you thoroughly assess the culture fit of a candidate if they can't see your office and you can't speak with them in person?
The first response for many companies when the country went into quarantine was simply to freeze hiring. As the pandemic continues, it has become obvious that a hiring freeze is not a long-term answer. Many firms still need to hire mission-critical talent and cannot afford to delay the process. Try this step-by-step plan to make your remote recruiting effective and efficient.
Making The Case For Remote Recruiting
If the head of talent acquisition and the CEO are not sold on the idea that remote recruiting can be as effective as in-person recruiting, it will be difficult to succeed. Most executives have never experienced hiring a candidate they've never met in person, so the concept can seem unsettling. Cost-per-hire is significant, and making the wrong decision about a candidate can cost a company thousands. However, the future of work is changing, and recruiters (as well as CEOs) must adapt and create a virtual hiring strategy.
Remote recruiting works. In fact, many recruiters have been using successful virtual recruiting tools for years. From phone screens to video calls to researching a candidate's online presence, and through candidate outreach via social media, you can find numerous examples of successful virtual hires. Many companies regularly hire talent out-of-state or even out of the country and may not meet the candidate until they relocate and come to the office on their first day. The only difference today is that the new hire may not relocate to the office in this post-pandemic "new normal."
It's important to remember that with many teams moving entirely to remote work, a manager or executive must be able to lead effectively in this virtual world. What better way to evaluate if a candidate will thrive as a remote manager or remote team member than if they can impress you in a virtual interview?
What's Really Important?
• Employer Branding
Your employer brand has never been more critical than it is today. With remote recruiting, a candidate may never see you or the inside of your office in person. They will have to learn about your company from online research or their own outreach to current employees.
Your company's digital presence is paramount. Review your social media pages through the eyes of a desirable candidate. Consider adding a career page to your LinkedIn company profile. Your online brand must show your company has integrity, engages its employees and represents the values emphasized in your corporate culture. Use photos, videos and even employee testimonials to paint a vivid picture of life at your company. At my firm, for example, we recognize an Employee and Team of the Month, and we post those celebrations across all our social media channels. Finally, check out those Glassdoor reviews. A negative review is hard to read, but it's better to know about it and face the internet's negative side head-on.
• Virtual Interviews
A great recruiter is a great interviewer, and now you must be an expert at virtual interviews. Like all things, becoming great at virtual interviews takes practice. So, practice! Research and review all the available tools for video calls and become an expert on the tool you choose. You never want a call to drop or a video to freeze in the middle of an interview with your top candidate. Tools such as Teams, Slack, Webex and BlueJeans all offer excellent user experience. Invest in high-speed internet for your workspace and test and retest your technology until you are confident it will work every time.
Find the best location for your virtual interviews. Consider using a digital background or a professional backdrop in your remote workspace and check that the lighting is in front of you and allows the candidate to clearly see your face.
• Challenge Your Biases
The biggest obstacle most employers must overcome when they move to remote hiring is that they feel they must see the candidate in-person to know that they are "the one" and to know if they will be a culture fit. It's important to ask ourselves what is it that we cannot learn from a virtual interview that we can learn in person, aside from physical attributes.
If you are truly serious about diversity, you'll want to hire people who are different from you and recognize that physical attributes are not a part of the hiring process. When you consider remote recruiting, you may realize that it offers the occasion to create even more diversity within your company because we are inherently stripped of our unconscious biases that could arise in person.
The future of work is changing at lightning speed, and the opportunities in this virtual-dominant world far outweigh the challenges. By restructuring your recruiting strategy, you may discover that through building a diverse remote team beyond your locality, your company is stronger than ever. And you can do it all from the socially distant safety of your home office without a single awkward fist bump!
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