As part of a series of workshops ECI is running for HR Leaders within its portfolio, in-house recruitment experts, Instant Impact, were recently invited to host a session on how to grow teams effectively in a remote world. Following the session, we invited Instant Impact to share the top tips they had discovered within the ECI portfolio and ways they thought HR leaders could enable growth during this period of change.
5 remote recruitment top tips:
1. Have a global outlook:
Now that businesses have proven that they can operate remotely there’s no reason why they can’t explore global talent pools. This can help to find scarce talent, improve diversity and reduce costs.
2. Recruit directly:
With the right board strategy, partners, in-house recruitment capability and employer brand, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to make at least 90% of your hires directly without using agencies. For example, ECI portfolio company CIPHR, run their recruitment entirely in-house.
3. Focus on future performance:
Design your assessment process around future performance using work sample tests and structured interviews rather than introducing bias by using more traditional forms of assessment that are less predictive such as CV Screening and unstructured Interviews. Content + Cloud have adopted gamified testing to assess potential and ensure that their candidates get a fantastic experience in the process.
4. Increase confidence:
When interviewing remotely it can be difficult to be confident that you’re making the right decision. Increase your comfort by having multiple forms of assessment involving more interviewers and doing more detailed background checks if you need to.
5. Improve your reporting:
Remote working has heightened the need for high quality data, reporting and management information. Ensure that you’re making the most of your Applicant Tracking System and that you are tracking everything from cost of hire to diversity. Find out more about Recruitment Technology here.
4 remote onboarding top tips:
1. “Mind the gap”:
The period between having an offer accepted and a candidate starting is key. Bionic shared how they were minding the gap with constant communication and being transparent that, with the government guidelines changing regularly, we’re living in a world of imperfect information
2. Continue to focus on training:
There’s now little choice but to use video / e-learning as part of our onboarding. We’d encourage you to replicate what you already do well with your training and to make the most of new opportunities to get more team members involved and record sessions so that new joiners can refer back to them. Find out more in this article by William Ip on remote training and onboarding.
3. Culture is key:
We know that culture is such a key component of a happy and engaged team. Being remote has presented a real challenge so we need to work even harder to enable social interactions. Some best practice from the portfolio was to use buddy systems and putting on remote events.
4. A little thought goes a long way
Now more than ever, it’s important to focus on the small touches whether that’s providing a personalised package to everyone when they start or sending a Deliveroo rather than taking people out to lunch. Moneypenny send their new joiners coffees to show that they care and encourage the personal interactions that are such a big part of their office culture.
For more information on how Instant Impact could support with your in-house recruitment or onboarding, please contact Rob Blythe (rob.blythe@instant-impact.com).
