How to Find the Best Remote Team and What to Offer Them

November 12, 2020 Alex Harling

Remote teams offer up a whole bunch of perks. From having a global workforce at your fingertips and accessing some of the best talent in the world, to harboring a culturally-diverse team, it can all help to build up a successful company with happy and healthy employees.

So the benefits of a remote workforce are definitely there, but how do you attract top-tier remote employees, and, more importantly, how do you retain them?It’s undeniable that the world is heading towards a much more fluid workforce, so we’ll be letting you in on some of the secrets on where to find remote candidates and a few ways to make sure they stick around.

How Can You Find the Best Remote Talent?

The power of a strong company culture cannot be undervalued when you start hiring remotely.

One of the main perks of hiring remotely is that you’ve got a global marketplace of workers to choose from. But with all of this choice, comes a huge responsibility to narrow down your choice and pick the right candidates for your company, its culture, and what it represents as well as finding someone with the right skills and experience to fill your role.

What should you look for in a remote worker?

Personality is often favored over experience in a remote team.

It takes a certain type of person to excel in a remote role, and it certainly isn't a way of working for everyone. So, before you start hiring for a location-independent position, it’s important to consider precisely what traits you're looking for, both in terms of personality and practicality.

Self-motivated. Nowhere is motivation more important than while working in a location-independent environment. Distractions are everywhere, and remote workers need to be able to switch from ‘home mode’ to ‘work mode’, sometimes without leaving the same room.

Proactive. Remote workers need to be proactive in their roles, and should always look to use their time as efficiently as possible.

High emotional Intelligence. With more accountability in their roles, remote workers should be able to take responsibility for their work. This means accepting and reacting to constructive criticism, whether it be via email or over the phone.

Entrepreneurial. Flexible work hours is one of the main perks for remote workers, and a good candidate must be able to manage their workload efficiently and effectively, without the need for micro-management.

Something else to take into consideration when hiring remotely is a candidate's time zone. Perhaps you don’t mind if employees are working to a completely different time zone as long as the work gets done, or maybe you’d prefer the whole team to have at least one meeting a week that everyone can attend. Whatever your preference, you should make sure these requirements are outlined in the job description.

Where can you find talented remote workers?

Traditional hiring has turned on its head in the world of remote working.

If you’ve never done it before, working with a remote team can be a slightly unusual experience. If you and your employees are from different continents, chances are you might never meet. But the reality is, that you’ll be spending a lot of time with this person… digitally.

Advertising remote roles on traditional job boards like LinkedIn can still be useful. But, there’s a whole new world to remote hiring that has seen a new wave of exclusive remote jobs boards and freelance platforms to cater to this modern workforce.

Like you’d find on traditional job boards, remote job boards are online spaces where you can advertise your roles to a pool of remote workers.

Compared to an office-based team, remote employees require a few different perks to keep them motivated and satisfied in their roles.

If you want to attract top talent, then you need to offer top perks. This is the motto that many remote employers have adopted in recent years, offering their remote team everything from health insurance perks to Netflix subscriptions to let them know that they’re appreciated.

What perks should you offer your remote team?

Office Set-Up Assistance

Having a proper office set-up is essential if you want a productive workforce. What some companies overlook is that remote workers don’t have the same access to big monitors, super-fast Wi-Fi, or ergonomic chairs that might be available for the office-based team. Offering your remote workers a stipend (whether it be a monthly or one-off voucher) to spend on organizing their office set up is a worthwhile investment and will make your employees feel valued above all else.

Co-Working Options

Remote working doesn’t necessarily mean working from home. Many cities around the world now have co-working spaces that allow freelancers and digital nomads to set up a permanent desk on a temporary basis or hot desk for a one-off fee. It’s worth having a conversation with new recruits to see if a monthly contribution to a co-working space would benefit them.

Flexible Work Schedule

While a lot of remote jobs require workers to be online during normal business hours, remote workers do appreciate some degree of flexibility. An attitude of ‘we don’t mind when you do the work, as long as it gets done’ is adopted by many remote employers. It is always worth highlighting a couple of hours each day when your team is expected to be online (to allow for meetings or calls) and allowing them to choose their working hours for the rest of the time. This is a great way to build up trust and accountability in your team.

Paid Time Off

Everyone needs a holiday to relax and refresh sometimes, remote workers included! Offering paid time off for your remote workers, as you would for you in-house workers, will make them feel like part of the team. Coming back to the office after some well-deserved time is also a proven technique to boost productivity across the board.

Health Benefits

Offering gym subsidies or health stipends help to promote a healthy lifestyle among your employees and grow a productive workforce. But how about going one step further and equipping your employees with health insurance so that they’re covered no matter where they’re working from? Health care can be challenging to navigate when your company is based in one location, and your employees based in many different destinations across the world.

But, SafetyWing’s Remote Health global insurance plan may be the answer to your problems. As the world’s first company to offer health insurance for all of your remote workers in one easy plan, it doesn’t matter where you or your employees are located, they’ll always be covered.

Training and Development Opportunities

Traditionally, employers offer their employees opportunities for professional training and a chance to climb the ladder. So why should it be any different for remote employees? The availability of online courses and workshops makes it easy for remote workers to get the training they need no matter where they find themselves. Other options to provide professional development include tickets to conferences or a subscription to a monthly magazine.

Child Care Benefits

Working from home can be particularly tricky for new parents who are tackling the task of bringing a new child into the world while working in the same space. Remote workers should be entitled to the same benefits as office-based workers with the option of paid maternal or paternal leave.

Employee Socials

It’s not uncommon for remote workers to feel isolated while working at home. Providing the time and space for colleagues to connect either virtually or in-person can be of great benefit when trying to build up that company culture. Some companies organize annual, all-expenses-paid trips for their team, while others host socials online, sending individual party packages to each of their workers. Here, at SafetyWing, we’re lucky enough to have at least three meetups every single year, and our team are always looking forward to the next one!

So, are remote teams worth the time and effort it takes to recruit and maintain the workforce?

The simple answer to that is that soon, you may not have a choice. As the global workforce moves towards this digitally-led future, more and more of the most talented employees around are realizing the benefits of not being tied down to one location and are moving their work online. If you're someone who likes to work with the best of the best, a remote team may be the only way forward.

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