Remote work isn’t for everyone, even though during the COVID-19 pandemic, most people had to adapt in some way to working from home. There are, however, some people who thrive working remotely. Conducting a remote interview is the first step to hiring someone for a remote position. Once that interview is conducted, there are a few things to consider before offering someone a position, as well as a few tips for effective staff integration once the hire has been made. Let’s talk about important qualities to consider in remote workers and how to best implement the onboarding process successfully.

All hiring managers conduct many interviews for a specific position. It is the interviewee’s job to find a way to stand out, to set themselves aside to land at the top of the list. Once an interview is completed, the hiring manager will reflect on the interviews, read notes taken and consider various parts of conversations before making a decision. Some of the qualities that make great remote workers are:

1. Having experience successfully working remotely in the past.
2. Someone who is more technologically apt (they don’t have to be proficient, but need to be teachable)
3. A “go getter” who doesn’t let waiting on the answer to a question stop their entire day, they know how to find another task to complete while waiting for an answer.
4. Ability to manage their own time
5. Ambitious, motivated attitude
6. Discipline

All of these qualities are really important when you’re working remotely. Even if the person you are looking at doesn’t have prior experience with it, if they can show they have the other qualities, they can learn how to be effective in their own environment.

Onboarding remote workers should be a slow process. There’s no one in front of the employee to hold their hand and lead them around, so having steps in place is important. Whether you use a dashboard like Trello, or use a set of emails with step-by-step instructions, it needs to be organized by tasks. A dashboard can be set up to give one set of instructions at a time, fill out this paperwork first, check it off and the next step is illuminated.

If you’re doing email, have pre-made form emails created to give those instructions. When the reply comes that a step is completed, the next step can be sent out. Whatever process you have for your in-person hires still applies to your remote workers, but the onboarding process will take a little bit longer because most people, if left to their own devices, will skip around and do things their own way. Onboarding should be done in a specific order, so sending out one step at a time is vital.

From a managerial perspective, it is really important to have time in the first week to help with onboarding. Often, people expect onboarding to be handled by others, but with remote workers, it’s very different. There’s no walking around the office shaking hands and meeting people, so ensuring that warm introductions are given is important. Understanding that whomever is doing the onboarding, whether it’s an HR person, manager’s assistant or the new-hire’s direct manager, that person is the new employee’s “go-to” person to triage for help. They are new to this process, you are the person who has been right beside them so far, they are going to escalate to you before anyone else when they need help. That is how they will get through the onboarding process, and it’s going to potentially take more time than it would on-site.

Hiring remote workers is a very different process than hiring someone for an in-office setting. Timelines are longer because there could be delays in communication. It may take someone longer to learn your systems remotely than in person because they don’t have someone right next to them showing them where everything is. Which is why the qualities of a good remote worker are vital to the success of the entire process. Ensuring your new-hire has the necessary qualities and understanding that onboarding will take longer than normal will make the entire process run smoother and ultimately be effective.