Over the last 18 months many companies have actively hired remote-based talent. While large numbers of Virtual, Augmented, Metaverse, and Virtual Production businesses are slowly starting to implement ‘return to the office’ plans; the remote working trend seems to continue.
Have you been thinking about recruiting more Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Metaverse, Artist, Developer talent to your workforce? Or expanding your current remote working options to accommodate more employees? If so, you’re certainly in good company. The COVID-19 pandemic has altered how businesses operate – with vastly increasing numbers opting for remote teams.
Before the pandemic, it was commonplace for almost 50% of AR, VR, employees to work from home at least once per week. However, just 18% of workers held fully remote jobs.
Primarily driven by skills shortages on a local level, the XR and gaming industry has been an early adopter of remote recruitment. As a result, Designers, Developers and Creatives have been getting used to spending more time working from home.
We’ve taken the step of crafting this detailed guide into how to hire remote talent:
What Makes a Good Remote Worker
1. Good Communicator
Proper communication is the cornerstone of remote work. Employees need to be comfortable working with collaboration tools like Slack, Teams, Zoom, email and project management platforms to help teams work effectively.
Remote work means it’s impossible to drop by the office and call an informal meeting. Making an understanding of how and when to raise concerns and issues a priority.
It’s also essential for remote workers to be reliable in their communication. Attending meetings on time is necessary because it may be your only face-to-face interaction with team members across an entire week.
2. Productive
According to data recorded by Stanford professor Nicholas Bloom, workers at home saw an average 13% boost to productivity compared to their office-based counterparts. But despite this, it’s still essential to recruit the right workers capable of performing better in remote environments.
There can be many distractions at home, and the appeal of remote work can sometimes lure in applicants who are motivated only to enjoy the relaxation of abandoning the commute.
While it’s great for employees to find appeal in the perks of remote work, businesses need to hire people who respect that work still needs to be done. With this in mind, look out for workers who have a proven track record for productivity or those who have shown that they can be trusted with doing work in any location.
3. Motivated
Perhaps the essential quality to look out for when successfully hiring remote talent is their motivation. In this respect, goals can often be a strong motivator.
According to a recent study, goal setting can improve worker performance by between 12% and 15% without financial incentives.
This calls for a multifaceted approach for companies with remote workers:
- Set solid objectives, goals and KPIs for your workers that you’re hiring as a means of keeping them on task and motivated
- Seek out self-motivated people who display evidence of maintaining their own vital personal and professional goals.
Be sure to always have a clear ‘next’ in place for remote workers. They shouldn’t ever need to ask managers for more work or tasks. This can adversely affect their motivation levels and lead to unwanted distractions. This emphasis on motivation in largely remote developer positions shows the industry emphasis on finding individuals eager to impress.
4. Flexibility
Things change quickly in remote environments, mainly when there are objectives that remote workers aren’t ready to anticipate. In a remote setting, employees need to be flexible enough to roll with the punches and alter their work patterns at the drop of a hat.
5. Organisation
Remote workers need to be organised to manage their time and tasks in a more independent environment. Whether you’re working remotely or a business decision-maker, you’ll need to be working with the latest information whilst fully in-tune with your priorities.
Hiring Remote talent is a Full Company Effort.
Fundamentally, remote workers are much more than adding video conferencing to your meetings. They require businesses to shift their mindsets and adopt different operating models. Whether you’re hiring developers, designers or creatives, when recruiting remotely, it can be as big as opening a new office or releasing new software – and it deserves meticulous planning.
Your company needs a plan to assimilate and develop remote talent. While this could involve equipping them with the right tools and software, creating an accommodating environment is also essential. Building a remote landscape in which your new hires can thrive can significantly help drive the growth of your business.
