What I Wish I Knew Before Hiring Online

Nowadays everything has started going digital, from what to wear to what to eat to working online. And when I started hiring online too, I had to learn a couple of things.

More and more companies have shifted to the online world and that includes the hiring process. A lot of the time though companies tend to do the same mistakes I did before when I was just starting with hiring online.

There are a lot of things I wish I knew before hiring online 4 years ago and I'm here to share that with you. And below are things you should know before hiring online:

1.Expertise does not equal good character

Most of the time companies prioritize the best resumes, thinking that years of experience shown in the resumes equal to a good quality employee. Of course, years of experience is something to be applauded for but one thing that needs to be highlighted is that the person you need to hire is someone with good character, someone that is willing to learn & be trained.

Because a good hire is someone with experience. An even better hire is someone who is willing to grow and learn and matches the values of the company.

2.You need to be clear with them

As a boss, your focus is to make sure that the employee has everything they need to get things done. Whether that's making sure they have the right tools, or that they have a clear view of what their goals are, it is your responsibility to give them that clarity.

As Brene Brown says in her book Dare To Lead:

Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind.

When you're unclear, you are not only wasting each other's effort but also each other's time. So before you hire anyone, you need to prepare the things that the employee needs to work on to avoid leaving them hanging.

3. You set the boundaries. You are the culture.

Do you expect employees to be in semi-formal wear when doing Zoom meetings? You need to show up that way. Do you expect employees to be on time or give a heads up when they're running late? Be there 5 minutes early or let them know an hour ahead if you can't make it.

When you're the employer, you're the person who sets the boundaries on what is expected from them. So if you'd like a more professional environment, set it. What other employees see that you tolerate is what they think is OK to do too.

4. Value of building loyalty

Creating a connection with employees can be hard, especially if you have never met each other personally. And building loyalty can be even more difficult but can be worth it when it comes to growing your business for the long run.

You can never expect people to be as loyal to you as you are to them because they still have different priorities from yours, so it's hard to convey that especially if you're just meeting your employees digitally.

So the way that to fix this to grow the relationship is by keeping in mind their birthdays, giving them small gifts, giving small bonuses. Just to show your employees that you're sincere to them and you're a real person. That extra step goes a long way in taking care of the people who help take care of you and your business.

5. Invest in people

Invest in growing your employee's mindset just like how you would invest in teaching them the right skills and how to use your tools.

Invest in self-development books and courses for your employees not only will you help them develop the right mindset but you will have a team who are self thinkers, motivated to grow.

6. Use tools wisely

To be more efficient in getting things done at work, prepare tools that will be of great use to your employees. Most of the time, a lot of time is wasted because of the lack of tools presented by the company that can be used by the employees.

But remember tools only really multiply who you are, so you can have the best laptop but you don't know how to use it, it will not be of great help.

So keep in mind to hire someone who has the basic knowledge of how to use different kinds of basic tools to work online, and actually work with them to make sure that those tools are being utilized in the best way.

7. Filter people better

By filters what I mean is when you're posting a job ad make sure you put a special instruction just to make sure that the applicant is not just mass sending their applications everywhere.

By doing this you're avoiding already applicants who don't care for the job and are only after for the salary.

They're already filtering their selves out without you putting in too much effort. So make sure to put filters in your job postings.

8. Know that people will leave, so part as friends.

Keep in mind that you can't keep an employee forever. Some of them might leave, or you might find that they're just not a good fit.

But remember that that's okay, what is important is you part as friends and as long as your paths will connect then it will still make sense to keep in touch and help each other.

You'll never know how you can work again together in the future, or even how your paths will cross again somehow.

These are the top things to remember when hiring online. These tips will hopefully save you from making wrong decisions when hiring.