Guide to hiring remotely: manage time zones, culture, legalities, and build effective teams. Learn essential strategies and tools.
Remote work has been growing rapidly over the past few years, with more and more companies hiring talent from all over the world. There are several key reasons why companies are expanding their talent search across borders:
Access to Larger Talent Pools - Companies can tap into a global talent pool instead of just their local area. This gives them access to more candidates with the skills they need.
Diversity & Inclusion - Hiring remotely across borders allows companies to build more diverse and inclusive teams with people from different backgrounds and cultures.
Cost Savings - In some cases, companies can save on salary expenses by hiring overseas, especially when there are wage differences between countries.
Time Zone Coverage - With team members around the world, companies can have coverage across more time zones and operate on a 24/7 basis.
Specialized Skills - Certain skills and expertise may be concentrated in specific regions, allowing companies to find qualified candidates globally.
While there are great advantages, hiring remotely across borders also comes with challenges including legal compliance, communication barriers, and managing a distributed workforce across time zones. Overall though, with the right strategy and tools, companies can overcome these hurdles and build successful global remote teams.
When hiring remotely across borders, it's crucial to research and comply with labor laws, tax laws, employment laws and other regulations for the countries involved. There are several key considerations:
Proper research is crucial when employing remote teams globally. Seek guidance from legal counsel when unsure. Staying compliant prevents major risks down the road. Keep apprised of legal changes that may impact your international team members.
Clearly defining the job responsibilities, required skills and experience, and expectations upfront is crucial when hiring remotely across borders. This helps set clear expectations and ensures candidates fully understand what the role entails before accepting.
When defining the job, focus on outlining:
Additionally, carefully evaluate if the role can truly be done remotely long-term. Assess aspects like the need for in-person training, access to specialized equipment, security and data privacy considerations, and ability to collaborate and engage with internal teams. Clearly determine if a permanent remote set-up is feasible.
Defining the position thoroughly helps attract qualified, serious candidates and sets the foundation for a successful cross border hire. Listing detailed requirements also helps screen applicants effectively.
When hiring remotely across borders, it's important to leverage online resources to find qualified candidates from around the world. Online job boards like LinkedIn, AngelList, and Remote.co can help connect you with talent in different countries and regions. Make sure to tailor your job descriptions and requirements to clearly convey what skills and attributes you're looking for in remote employees.
You may also want to post on international hiring sites like Remotive, We Work Remotely, and FlexJobs to reach prospective candidates open to remote work in various time zones. Social media can also assist your recruiting efforts through targeted posts and ads on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit.
Consider leveraging international staffing agencies and recruiters as well, who can help source candidates, manage applications, and handle visa logistics. They often have existing relationships and talent pipelines around the world.
Be open to candidates from diverse backgrounds and markets. Hiring remotely provides access to an incredible global talent pool, if you cast your net wide enough and know where to look. Leverage online resources and hiring professionals to connect with qualified individuals eager to work remotely for companies based in other countries.
When hiring remotely across borders, it's important to have a consistent and thoughtful screening and interview process. Here are some tips:
Having standardized screening procedures and virtual interviews allows you to thoughtfully evaluate candidates when hiring abroad. Carefully assessing their communication skills, cultural fit and capabilities will help find the best hires.
When hiring remotely across borders, it's important to make a competitive offer that accounts for local market rates and norms. Here are some tips:
Making a fair, competitive offer helps attract top talent globally and gets new hires off to a good start. Do your research to determine what's appropriate in each market.
A thorough remote onboarding process is essential for bringing new remote hires up to speed. This involves setting clear expectations, introducing them to the company culture, and making sure they have the tools and knowledge needed to be productive.
Thoughtfully onboarding remote employees sets them up for success and gives them the connections needed to become productive team members.
Deel is a modern payroll and compliance solution that makes it easy to hire and pay contractors and employees globally. With Deel, you can onboard team members in over 150 countries, handle international payroll, and ensure compliance with local laws and regulations. This can be a valuable tool for remote teams spread across multiple countries and regions.
Glyph AI is an AI-powered insight extraction and notetaking tool that can be particularly useful for recruiters conducting interviews with candidates for remote teams. During virtual interviews, Glyph AI can automatically transcribe the conversation and generate detailed recruitment notes, technical debrief, screening call notes and more with over 10+ ready made templates.
This allows recruiters to focus fully on the conversation and candidate evaluation, without being distracted by manually taking notes. After the interview, the AI-generated notes can be quickly reviewed, shared with the hiring team, and referenced to make faster and more informed hiring decisions.
Collaboration is key for remote teams spread across borders. Provide tools and encourage connections to unite everyone.
Equip the team with tools for seamless communication, like Slack, Zoom, and Google Hangouts. Have clear guidelines on when to use chat vs email vs video calls.
Get everyone on the same page (literally) with shared docs in Google Drive, Office 365, or Dropbox. Use Trello, Asana, or Jira to coordinate tasks and projects.
Don't forget the human element! Schedule regular video hangouts for socializing and team building. Send care packages or UberEats to connect across borders. Consider an annual offsite if budgets allow.
Foster an inclusive, one-team culture. Discourage "us vs them" mentalities between locations. Highlight shared goals and values. Celebrate wins as a unified group.
It's essential to track performance and provide feedback for remote employees. Here are some tips:
Hiring remotely across borders can be challenging but also rewarding if done right. Here are some key takeaways:
Remote work is growing rapidly as technology improves. Companies able to source talent globally will have an edge. The workplace is now global. With proper management, remote teams can be just as productive and satisfied despite being distributed worldwide. More countries are also creating visas and programs to attract digital nomads. The remote hiring process will only get more streamlined over time. The future workplace will be globally connected like never before.