Remote work is no longer a trend — it’s the new normal. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many companies to embrace remote work, even if they were not ready. However, the transition to remote work is not easy. It can be difficult to manage remote employees. It can also be difficult to hire employees remotely.
1. Not setting expectations
Setting expectations is important in any business relationship, but it’s especially important when you’re hiring someone you won’t see in person on a regular basis. Make sure you’re clear about what you expect from them in terms of communication, availability, and the quality of their work.
2. Hiring someone who isn’t a good culture fit
When you hire someone who doesn’t fit your company culture, it can lead to a host of problems. For example, they may not gel with your team, or they may not be able to work independently, which is a common requirement for remote roles.
To avoid this, make sure to spend time getting to know your candidates before you hire them. This can include conducting video interviews, checking references and even having them complete a trial project. A public records lookup can help verify background details and provide added confidence in the legitimacy of a candidate’s qualifications or employment history—especially useful when you can’t meet them in person.
3. Not being clear about the role
When you’re hiring for a remote role, you need to be as specific as possible about the job description and the role itself. This is because remote work can look very different depending on the company and the role.
For example, a remote role at a company with a flexible work schedule might not require a candidate to be online during traditional business hours. However, a remote role at a company with a distributed team might require a candidate to be online during certain hours.
Make sure to be clear about your expectations for the role, and be as specific as possible in the job description.
4. Not having a good onboarding process
Onboarding is important for every new hire, but it’s especially important when working with remote employees. Remote employees don’t have the benefit of an office environment to help them get acclimated to their new role, so it’s important to have a good onboarding process in place.
Make sure your onboarding process includes things like a welcome email, an introduction to the team, an overview of the company culture, and a review of the employee’s job responsibilities. You should also schedule regular check-ins with the employee during their first few weeks on the job to make sure they’re getting the support they need.
5. Not having the right tools in place
When you hire a remote employee, it’s important to provide them with the tools they need to be successful. Providing the right tools becomes even more crucial in project-based industries like digital marketing, IT services, creative production, or software development, where teams collaborate on multiple projects simultaneously.This includes everything from the necessary software to access your company’s systems to a computer or phone, and increasingly, using specialized solutions such as AI recruiting software to streamline candidate selection and speed up the hiring process
Depending on the role, you may also need creative tools for visual communication — for instance, an AI background changer can be a quick and easy way to create professional-looking visuals or profile images for team bios, presentations, or client meetings, especially for employees working in environments not suited for standard video calls.
Before you start hiring remote employees, make sure you have a plan in place for what tools you’ll provide and how you’ll get them set up. You can subscribe tools like Calendly and others to help schedule meetings. The last thing you want is to have a new employee start and then have to wait weeks to get the tools they need.
6. Not hiring for the right skill set
When you’re hiring for a remote position, it’s not enough to look for candidates with the right experience. You also need to consider the skills and traits that will make them successful in that type of work environment.
“Remote work requires a different set of skills and habits than in-office work,” said Lee. “For example, remote workers need to be self-motivated, good at time management, and proactive about communicating with their team.”
Before you start the hiring process, make a list of the skills and traits that are most important for success in a remote role. Then, use that list to create your job description and interview questions. This is especially important since different types of work environments remote, hybrid, or in-office demand unique qualities and mindsets from candidates.
7. Only hiring contractors
One of the biggest advantages of hiring remotely is that it opens up the talent pool to include full-time employees who are looking for remote work. By only offering contract roles, you could be missing out on the best talent.
While many professionals are happy to work as contractors, offering full-time remote roles can help you attract and retain top talent. Companies can also benefit from recruiting qualified construction staff through professional contractor agencies, which streamline the hiring process, provide pre-vetted talent, and ensure projects are completed efficiently without the administrative burden. It can also help you build a stronger team by giving remote employees the same benefits and opportunities as in-office employees.
8. Hiring too quickly
The time it takes to hire can be a make-or-break moment for a candidate. As a result, you might feel pressure to speed up the process to accommodate the candidate’s timeline.
However, hiring too quickly can have negative consequences, including making a bad decision, setting the wrong expectations, or missing out on an opportunity to get to know the candidate better.
It’s important to move quickly, but not at the expense of the quality of the hire.
9. Not interviewing enough candidates
Especially in a job market like the one we’re in right now, it’s tempting to stop the hiring process as soon as you find a candidate that looks like a good fit. However, even if you think you’ve found the perfect person for the job, it’s important to interview multiple candidates.
When you only interview one person, you have no way of knowing how that candidate stacks up against other potential hires. You also run the risk of missing out on someone who could be an even better fit for the role.
By interviewing multiple candidates, you give yourself the opportunity to compare and contrast different skill sets, experiences, and personalities. This will help you make a more informed decision and increase your chances of finding the right person for the job.
10. Not having a good management process
The last thing you want to do is hire a great remote employee and then have them quit because they feel like they aren’t being managed effectively.
You should have a good management process in place before you even start looking for remote employees.
This includes setting clear expectations, having regular check-ins, and providing feedback.
You should also make sure that you have a way to monitor their work and progress.
This could be as simple as having them send you a daily or weekly report or using a project management tool.
11. Not hiring remotely at all
Finally, a big mistake is not hiring remotely at all. The world of work has changed, and remote work is here to stay. If you’re not already hiring remotely, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to attract top talent from all over the world.
Don’t let your company get left behind. Embrace remote work and start hiring the best talent, no matter where they are located.
12. Not having an employee referral program
When hiring remotely, one of the most effective but often overlooked strategies is setting up an employee referral program. Your existing team likely knows talented professionals in their networks—people who are more likely to be a cultural fit and require less time to onboard. Without a referral program in place, those connections often go untapped.
A simple incentive-based system can encourage employees to recommend candidates, helping you fill roles faster and with more qualified talent. Tools like ReferralCandy, typically used to build customer referral programs, can also be repurposed to create internal employee referral programs. You can use it to easily launch, manage, and reward successful referrals—without needing to build anything from scratch.
If you’re hiring remotely and not actively encouraging referrals, you’re missing out on a low-cost, high-quality hiring channel.
Conclusion
Hiring remotely can be a great way to bring in top talent and save money. However, it’s important to take the process seriously and avoid the mistakes we’ve reviewed above.