Three tips to manage remote staff in recruitment

In 2020, when we were suddenly thrown into a remote working environment, most managers were challenged to adapt their style and their processes at short notice.  At the time, it may have felt like a temporary fix, but as the pandemic recedes, it’s clear that remote working is here to stay.  Here are our tips to manage remote staff in the recruitment industry.

#1 Focus on outcomes, not output  

It’s long been known that focusing on outcomes, not output is the most effective way to create a high-performance culture, but it’s something that many managers were challenged with in 2020.  When you can see your consultants in the office making calls right in front of you, it’s easy to think they are driving results and it creates a false sense of security.  Shifting to a remote working environment meant this was no longer possible and it left some people concerned about how to manage their teams.  But the reality is that just because a consultant looks busy, it doesn’t actually mean they are achieving anything.

Moving your focus to results rather than activity is a mindset shift for many leaders, and it’s also a change in how you measure and report on team performance.  If you are a Recruit Wizard client, you can drop us a line to make sure you have the right reporting and dashboards to support this new way of working.

#2 Be clear on when and how to communicate

Make sure you have regular check-ins booked with your staff and ensure they know when and how they can contact each other.  If you have a large team, constant phone calls can be distracting and make it hard to get your own job done, so make sure your staff know when you are available and how best to contact you.

There is a myriad of communication tools out there, and many businesses use these to great effect, but it’s important to remember that you can have too many communication channels.  Make sure your team are clear on when to use each channel, and when it’s the right move to pick up the phone.

#3 Put the right tech tools in place  

In a remote environment, you have to rely on your technology more than ever before so having an ATS/CRM system that supports your business and your people is a must.  Look for a system that is easy for your consultants to use – if it’s too complicated or doesn’t integrate with their other tools, they simply won’t use it.  And this can be disastrous for a manager in a remote working environment, where your technology must keep you informed on business performance.

We saw this recently with our client, The Recruitment Company.  Not only was our system able to support their recruitment practices and processes in a remote environment, it supported their staff too.  As TRC’s Chief Operating Officer put it, “working outside the system is actually harder than using Recruit Wizard. As a result, our compliance has gone up from about 60% to about 95%.”

Recruit Wizard reporting and dashboards provide TRC’s management team with real-time visibility, a must in a remote working situation. But more than just having visibility, the right system allowed them to have faith that the data was accurate, without the need to micromanage.  You can read more about TRC’s experience here.

If you are a Recruit Wizard client and would like support to adapt your processes and reporting, we’re here to help. If you aren’t yet using Recruit Wizard, book a demo to experience the difference our recruitment tech can make to your business in 2021 and beyond.

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