HIRING REMOTE STAFF - 5 POINTS TO CONSIDER WHILE YOU INTERVIEW

Many accounting firms of this generation see remote employees as a solution to reduce overwhelming workload, particularly during tax season. Hiring remote staff opens up chances to reach out to more candidates from all over the world. It not just opens a wide pool of qualified and experienced international talent but also helps cut hiring cost, operational overhead, infrastructure expenses and HR hassles considerably. But it is really important to know the person well before hiring. A good hire is as good as a thoughtful investment which will ultimately add value to your firm, so it is always recommended to have a rigorous hiring process to bring a new staff onboard.

Here are top 5 points to consider while hiring remote staff:

1. Keep the important set of questions handy Almost every employee being hired for remote work is interviewed over a video conference. By the means of video, an interviewer can easily observe and rate the body language, facial experience and overall confidence level of the candidate being interviewed. A continuous interaction and smart questionnaire lead to a defining interview session. It is even better if an online test could be conducted. This will determine the practical approach of the candidate at his task and justify what he has mentioned on his resume. This process is just about the first and most important phase of having a great employee.

2. Whether to go for onshore or an offshore remote employee While shortlisting out the applications of remote workers, you should notice the salary difference between domestic and international applicants. A US-based employee is more likely to be paid higher than the one who is based overseas. There are a multitude of reasons to it, the expense of lifestyle could be one factor in the overseas applicant’s case, compliance and other benefit costs could be other. Both have their own sets of pros and cons. For example, an onshore employee will largely available to work in the same hours during which your office is open, an offshore employee is based in a different time zone which sometimes feels difficult when you need to give instructions in real time. However, there is always some overlap to manage things.

3. Communication Skills and reporting abilities Your remote employee will always have to communicate things to you and your clients. The conduct and the skills are very important to observe and account for. It is always recommended to have only those employees who speak English. An onshore employee knows the local language best and has slightly an upper hand over overseas employees. However, every person keeps learning with each passing day and with time the overseas employee is also very likely to adapt to company culture and the ways how communication is carried out at the firm.

4. Setup for work Now while a remote staff saves the cost of infrastructure building and expansion of office space to accommodate more employees, at the same time it also renders the sensitive client data vulnerable. So it is very important to have a security plan for safekeeping of such information. It is always recommended to take a legal commitment from the employee or the staffing agency which must bind them with non-disclosure. If the remote employee is working from the offshore office of the agency then one can check how they do mitigate the risks and threats of data security.

5. Time Management and daily reporting Employers are generally looking for remote workers who can manage time well efficiently. Quality centric, focused, timely delivery of assignments are important to have in a remote staff. Daily filling of timesheets and routine reviews and communication are keys to managing remote staff as they don’t work from the office physically.

Entigrity™ is a trusted offshore staffing partner to over 500+ accountants, CPAs and tax firms across the US and Canada. Our flexible and transparent hiring model gives helps firms of all sizes to hire staff for accounting, bookkeeping, tax preparation or any other task for 75% less cost. As a firm 'run by accountants, for the accountants', Entigrity captures the hiring needs of accounting firms most precisely, providing staff that works directly under your control and management, still you are left with least to worry about compliance, payroll taxes, overheads or any other benefits.