Criteria for Hiring Remote Employees or Independent Contractors

Many companies are growing their network to search for talented candidates on an international level to cater to their remote recruiting challenges. One way of becoming a top performer is to hire freelancers, remote employees, independent contractors, or other contingent labor worldwide.

With an advanced era, you can hire a remote employee from anywhere. But make sure the employees are legally working and navigate them. If there’s any experienced candidate, look over his/her previous record and check if they have been professionally supported with their company and culturally included.

Some of the employers might prefer in-house employees instead of hiring a remote team. It’s because the complexities in the whole process make them feel overwhelmed. Companies who refuse to meet the modern world’s demands, like adopting remote work culture, may face difficulties to grow.

6 Tips to Consider for Effective Remote Hiring Process

As the world is digitally transforming, companies are opposed to popular opinion. Hiring new resources can still bring a better value and return on investment (ROI) to your company. Well-trained, experienced, and specialists can help build the foundation for a team-focused and strong work culture.

Indeed, remote and mobile businesses have a unique set of requirements in the worldwide economy. With the growth of modern technology and the annihilation of global information barriers, it is now more convenient than ever to find exceptional workers to meet your unique needs.

The remote team comes along with a huge set of challenges for any business. So, before you swayed yourself from salary requirements and lower overhead expenses, consider the following tips;

1. Minimize and Delegate Before Outsourcing Virtually

Before you start drafting job posts for your new remote employee, survey your company and determine whether you need a remote employee or not. Many companies consider remote hiring as a convenient and efficient way to eliminate overwhelming workload. It’s like a plug and play type of solution for overstuffed work.

However, hiring a remote team for a full-time, part-time, or a limited time for a particular project would require responsibilities. The entire hiring and onboarding of employees are a massive set of tasks. Each worker requires management support and supervision under a supervisor in the beginning. It would be a smart move to reduce redundancies and enhance operational efficiency before pursuing.

2. Create Training Plan Before Onboarding

Consider remote employee’s training and learning period as a long-term investment. As you spend time on their training to develop their skill set, your company will benefit. Make sure that remote employees understand the working process. It can be beneficial in terms of marketing your product or services. Due to training, learning, and exposure, employees will be more likely to stay loyal to the company.

3. Provide Work Flexibility

The major difference between an in-office and remote employee is the degree of flexibility regarding workload. An in-office employee works for one company at a time, and he/she is restricted from following the company’s rules and obligations. An independent contractor has a choice to work at a suitable time.

Flexibility at work is beneficial for most companies, but some face hurdles. However, it all depends on the type of work it is and what remote employee wishes for.

4. Cast a Wide Network to Find Qualified Employees

For the past few decades, the only suitable way to find remote employees is to publish a project on a freelance portal like Guru or Elance. Although these sites work as a medium and they online provide a platform for both parties to connect.

However, as remote workers’ arrangements are becoming quite common when it comes to the hiring options are increasing too, you need to carefully review the resumes, applications, portfolios, and work materials. Remember that any of the candidates can provide you false records.

To avoid such frauds, you can consider having face-to-face interviews via Skype or Zoom. You can also contact references to confirm that the candidate you shortlisted has the potential and skills.

When you’re sorting applications between many candidates for remote work, you’ll see another striking feature. That is the salary requirements and bids asked from international candidates. Some of these candidates often bid much lower than the domestic workers. Depending on your project’s type, you’ll see international workers willing to work at rates lower than 10$ per hour.

Before you finalize any specific arrangements, have a look over each worker’s skill set carefully. For instance, two shortlisted two candidates, US-based, are demanding 20$ per hour, and another international candidate is asking for 5$ per hour. So, this may look like quite an obvious choice.

Ultimately, if you discover that the international candidate has poor English language skills or the task submission is delayed somehow. With the whole package, you would be able to avoid delays.

5. Plan Meetings to Communicate

Working with a remote team can lead you towards some international miscommunications that may upset the business priorities and reduce employee fulfillment. Ensure to keep all your remote team members on the same page. Communication in a work environment can lead to success, and to keep it effective, adopt the following strategies for better communication;

• Arrange weekly meetings for both individual departments or the whole company.
• Share frequent updates and progress reports through email messages.
• Provide access to internal communication tools.
• Arrange in-person events that will support connection among remote team members.

If your remote workers are working from home, it doesn’t mean that they won’t demand time. You can develop a writing system and outline your expectations in terms of responsibilities and communications. This way, you can reduce the friction that remote hiring brought into an improvised company often experiences.

6. Understand & Aware Employees About Legal Obligations

The legal obligations and tax are important; so, make sure you explain exact terms to your remote employees or independent contractors. Generally, any organization’s requirements depend on whether you’re hiring a remote employee directly or connecting with workers as independent contractors.

For direct hiring, you have to register your company with a revenue department. You might need to submit a percentage of your salary as an income tax withholding or give it into the compensation fund in such scenarios. You can reach out to an employment lawyer for help to sort out all legal obligations. Also, avoid any improper registrations.

Even if your project is for a limited time with a remote employee or independent contractors, you must be aware of law obligations. A professional lawyer can guide you and stop you from running afoul of the law while hiring a remote employee.

However, the remote hiring process can bring tremendous benefits for any company across the globe. You utilize these criteria for onboarding lower salary expectations and also prefer to welcome a superbly talented employee. The best part is that it doesn’t matter how far they are located from your home.

Conclusion

The criteria to hire remote employees from Aspired works under the supervision of experts. At Aspired , there are several remote workers, and they all are well-trained, talented, and experienced. So, why wait for a miracle when you can hire the best. Our smart approach makes us unique, and our customers satisfied.