HUMAN FACTOR
Remote Hiring
There’s a host of ways to attract a wide variety of sharp job candidates when in-person hiring has been put on hold. BY LAURIE KAHN
W
hile it might seem daunting at first, recruiting staff members during remote working conditions can help with retention and open up the candidate base. How can you recruit virtually? First and foremost, you need to have a strong, informative website that sells your opportunity. Your “about” page is a great place to include the company history, mission statement and strengths in reaching the community. Use your “career” page to highlight different positions, culture, offices, fun aspects of the job and how to attain more information. Consider shooting a video that shows your offices, your employees and different staff activities. If your company turned to virtual events during the past year, include those so that potential candidates can see the creative ways that you handled the pandemic. Share clips that illustrate how you have shown compassion and caring with your staff. Always include a variety of employees in these videos. By showing that you have a diverse staff, and one that includes members of the younger generation, you’ll attract a larger number of people. Federated Media provides an excellent example of this on its site, federatedmedia.com (under “our culture”). It’s also helpful to use testimonials. Find happy employees who will share why they joined the company and what they like about working there. Video is the most effective means of conveying this, but a still picture with a short, written quote will work as well. Just be sure to monitor your site so that if someone you featured leaves you can replace their video with something else. The “careers” section of Entercomradio.com does a great job of showing employees from a several different departments. If you are in the interviewing process, take or record a virtual tour of the station so that prospects can get an idea of where they would be working when offices are reopened. Include workspaces, meeting rooms, studios, break rooms and any
title, include descriptive words about their management style. If they have promoted several past employees, share that information. Sell the reader on the idea that a manager can help them to succeed. Ask for recommendations from the manager’s direct reports. If the position you’re filling involves entertaining and you want to see how a prospect interacts in a social setObserve how well a job candidate does on a ting, do a virtual lunch remote call. If a job involves presentations, ask or coffee appointment. Have a meal delivered them to share their screen and provide one. and meet online while outdoor areas open to staff members. you enjoy the food. This can be awkward, You could also share your sales and mar- so it may work best with more than just two keting materials. If this makes you uncom- people. fortable, delete the pricing pages, but give Along the way, observe how well a job them an idea of how you position your sale. candidate does on a remote call. If a job inAlways make clear what you do to help volves presentations, ask them to share their a new hire succeed. Cover the training and screen and provide one. support with realistic expectations for perIf a candidate you’d like to hire is interformance. Be sure to explain what services ested in joining your team, send a package or tools you subscribe to and any consultants of station items to help them feel welcome. that work with you. Host a happy hour for all to meet the new If you are moving the person forward, person. Set them up with a buddy or mentor introduce them to a few team members so to help them acclimate. When a new hire they can have phone or video chats about feels welcome, you’ll increase the likeliwhat it’s like to work for you. Invite them to hood of loyalty and join a virtual department meeting so they retention. can see how people interact. Most importantly: Successful remote hiring also needs to be on time, have mainclude updated social media. Check your terials ready to share, Glassdoor profile to confirm there are not know how to conduct negative comments posted. If there are, en- an online meeting and courage happy employees to go on and share be professional. positive remarks. If there are several negative Laurie Kahn is president of Media Staffing comments, you may need to find out what is Network, which helps media companies with all of going on and address the issues immediately. their talent acquisition needs, including diversity Hiring managers should have updated planning. She can be reached at (480) 306-8930 or laurie@mediastaffingnetwork.com. LinkedIn profiles. Instead of just posting a The Financial Manager • March/April 2021 7
