Remote Work in Tech: Hiring, Onboarding and Retaining your Best Talent

While the shift to remote working was in response to the pandemic, flexible and remote working will shape the new future of work. Many organisations across the tech industry are considering how they will work in the future, and are looking at remote and hybrid models that can benefit both their business and their employees.

One of the hurdles that has become apparent during the move to remote working is the impact it has on hiring, onboarding and retaining talent. Let’s take a closer look at each and how they are affected by remote working.

Hiring remote employees

Adopting a remote working model gives employees the freedom to work from any location and also provides greater flexibility for employers to hire from a wider talent pool.

When location-based requirements are removed from a vacancy, employers have more talent available to them. Which can help them close skill gaps within their company and also improve diversity and inclusion within their organisation. But one of the biggest challenges with hiring remotely is remote interviewing.

While video conferencing applications such as Zoom enable you to interview applicants via video call, there is a lot to be said for conducting face-to-face interviews. Meeting with an applicant in person can help you better read their body language and important culture-added attributes, which can be harder to assess remotely.

With that being said remote interviews in the tech industry are becoming more prevalent and can be successful. Recognising the challenges of remote interviewing can help organisations adapt their interview process to ensure any issues can be addressed.

Onboarding new remote tech employees

Onboarding new employees is another big challenge of remote working. New employees can feel disconnected from their colleagues, the company and the culture, and relationships can be harder to build and maintain.

But as remote working continues to shape the future of work, organisations are developing innovative ways to onboard new employees. Most aspects of the onboarding process in a physical workplace can be adapted to remote working.

Ensuring new employees have the information and access to applications they need and that they are familiar with workplace policies and who they report to are easy to convey over a video conference.

Organisations can overcome the relationship-building element of remote working by implementing new processes to ensure new employees feel part of the team. One way is to introduce a buddy system, where new employees are assigned a colleague who will mentor them, introduce them to other colleagues and ensure their transition to the company runs smoothly.

Other ideas include arranging regular team lunches either virtually or in-person and also team building activities that can help new employees develop relationships with other team members.

Retaining your best remote talent

The shift to remote working could potentially make it more difficult for tech companies to retain their best talent. With skills in high demand and location no longer being important when it comes to hiring talent, the risk of your best talent being headhunted or seeking other opportunities increases with remote working.

Developing and nurturing a strong corporate culture and employee value proposition can help you nurture your top talent and mitigate the risks of them leaving your company. Taking a person-centred approach that makes your employees feel appreciated, listened to and respected can help with retention.  

Beyond meeting salary expectations, organisations should consider other benefits they can offer employees such as gym memberships and health and wellbeing subscriptions. Offering additional perks to employees demonstrates that the company cares about them and their wellbeing and can go a long way in driving employee retention.    

Why choose Digitech?

The transformative powers of technology have disrupted traditional business models. Every business is now a digital one. To ensure continued growth, stability and longevity, businesses need to source the best tech talent.

Digitech became an early adopter in the transformative technology space. We have built up an enviable client and candidate base through strong relationships, hard work and keeping abreast of industry development. If you are searching for tech talent, get in touch to see how we can help.