Through the pandemic, I took a leap of religion and began my very own tech startup. Little did I do know that distant work would change into the brand new norm, not only for my workforce, however for numerous different companies as properly.
As I juggled the challenges of launching an organization, I discovered myself adapting to the distant work way of life alongside my workforce. Even my children needed to embrace the digital world as they attended faculty via Zoom calls.
Let me take you again to 2017 after I was hustling to construct my first firm. Our recruitment course of at the moment revolved round in-person interviews, however issues modified after I launched into my second entrepreneurial journey through the pandemic. I rapidly realized that if I wished to assemble a stellar workforce, I wanted to solid a wider internet and discover expertise from all corners of the world. It was like unlocking a ton of prospects, tapping into a various pool of candidates with contemporary views and distinctive expertise. Distant work grew to become the important thing that opened doorways to world expertise, and it utterly remodeled the best way I approached recruitment.
Voice over Web Protocol (VoIP) performed a serious function in making your entire interview and onboarding course of a breeze for our firm. With VoIP, I may seamlessly conduct interviews with candidates from completely different time zones, chat with them in real-time, and get a real sense of their expertise and personalities. It was like having a face-to-face dialog even once we had been miles aside. This expertise not solely saved money and time but additionally improved the general recruitment expertise for my firm.
On this article I’m going to share three key areas the place VoIP could make a major distinction in your small business, from the interviewing stage to the distant administration of recent hires.
1. Interviewing candidates who’re distant
Distant work has vastly widened the pool of accessible expertise however has additionally made it essential for companies to search out revolutionary options for interviewing candidates who aren’t native. A enterprise VoIP service will help with this. VoIP is a kind of communication that transmits voice and multimedia content material over the web as an alternative of conventional telephone traces. This permits companies to modernize their communications whereas vastly decreasing dependence on expensive on-site telephone tools.
VoIP additionally makes it straightforward to interview candidates from nearly anyplace. I’ll offer you a real-world instance:
I based an organization referred to as TopicRanker in 2022 and our workforce has grown to 9 folks since then. We just lately employed a buyer schooling specialist who resides in Toronto, Canada (our firm is predicated in New Hampshire). We had been launched to the candidate via a mutual good friend and had been instantly all for their skills and expertise. However earlier than making a choice, we wished to make it possible for the candidate was an excellent match for our firm tradition and had the required expertise to carry out the job.
To start the screening course of, our HR workforce seemed over the candidate’s LinkedIn profile and contacted their previous employers. We then scheduled VoIP convention calls to speak to their references and get a greater understanding of their expertise and work historical past.
We additionally arrange three-way convention calls with a number of members of the TopicRanker workforce and the candidate. This helped us to get a greater sense of the prospect’s character and communication expertise, in addition to ask questions particular to the job. The power to have a number of folks on the decision allowed us to get a various vary of opinions on the candidate and make a extra knowledgeable hiring resolution.
We then interviewed the candidate via video convention calls. This allowed us to talk “nose to nose” (just about, anyway) and to attach with the candidate visually, which is one thing that’s misplaced throughout a typical telephone interview. We had been subsequently in a position to have a way more interactive dialog, serving to us to raised assess the candidate’s {qualifications} and character.
Lastly, to check the prospect’s expertise, we created an interactive problem on our website and had the candidate work on it reside whereas sharing their display and knowledge via our VoIP system. This gave us a clearer understanding of the candidate’s capacity to carry out the duties required for the job. General, your entire screening and interview course of was carried out utilizing VoIP instruments, permitting us to totally interview and rent a candidate who lived distant.
Utilizing a VoIP system for distant interviews has quite a few advantages. These embrace comfort, cost-effectiveness, and the power to attach with professionals all over the world. VoIP capabilities like video conferencing and file sharing additionally permit for a extra thorough interview for distant candidates utilizing tools that almost all companies have already got (akin to computer systems, webcams, and smartphones).
2. Onboarding distant workers
Onboarding distant hires is a problem, however with the appropriate instruments, it may be simply as efficient as onboarding workers in particular person. At TopicRanker, we’ve discovered our VoIP system to be important for bringing on distant workers. Listed here are a number of the particular instruments and techniques we’ve just lately used to onboard engineers and a marketer:
- Convention calls: Convention calls are a simple and efficient approach to start the onboarding course of. Through the use of VoIP for this, we’re in a position to simply join with distant workers and have real-time conversations with a number of workforce members. This permits us to ask questions, present suggestions, and focus on necessary data in a well timed method. Moreover a VoIP system, you should utilize Zoom and Skype for dealing with convention calls, and so they even provide options like display sharing and name recording.
- On-line coaching: One other device we’ve discovered to be helpful for onboarding distant workers is on-line conferences. At TopicRanker we use our enterprise telephone system to host on-line conferences to conduct reside coaching with new hires. These conferences permit us to supply distant trainees with the identical degree of instruction and steering that they’d obtain in particular person (though our workforce is absolutely distant). Through the use of VoIP for on-line coaching conferences, we’re in a position to contain extra workforce members and supply real-time suggestions, which is crucial for environment friendly onboarding.
- File and knowledge sharing: File sharing is one other VoIP device that we use to onboard distant workers. This permits us to share necessary recordsdata and paperwork through the web—for those who’ve ever used one thing like Google Drive earlier than, then you definately’re already conversant in the consent. Shared knowledge can embrace issues like worker handbooks, coaching manuals, and different necessary documentation, in addition to any exams or studying supplies we might require for coaching.
Through the use of VoIP for orientation and coaching, we’re in a position to present distant hires with the identical degree of coaching and help they’d get in particular person. It additionally ensures consistency and compliance through the onboarding course of. This permits us to extra successfully onboard all of our workers, wherever they occur to be and foster a easy and environment friendly integration into our firm’s work tradition.
3. Managing distant workers
After interviewing, hiring, and onboarding, comes administration. Remotely managing workers comes with a singular set of challenges, however unified VoIP communications could make it a lot simpler. I discussed earlier that at TopicRanker, our workforce is absolutely distant. We at the moment make use of professionals in Hungary, Canada, and Arizona, and we’ve discovered the next VoIP instruments to be significantly helpful for administration:
- Video conferencing: Video conferencing is a key device for managing a distant workforce. We use video calls and conferences for normal conferences between workers in addition to to attach with candidates and new hires, as outlined above. These video conferences permit us to speak rapidly, present extra personalised coaching and help, and be certain that everyone’s on the identical web page for any undertaking. Video conferencing is especially helpful for offering visible knowledge when essential and for constructing and sustaining good relationships between workforce members.
- Presence: Presence is one other necessary consideration for managing distant workers. We use instruments like on-line chat to examine worker availability and be certain that we’re in a position to attain folks rapidly when essential. We are able to additionally use VoIP collaboration and scheduling instruments to see when workers are on-line and obtainable, which helps us to set conferences and handle time extra successfully. That is significantly necessary when working with distant workers throughout completely different time zones. We additionally wish to combine our VoIP collaboration instruments with a notice taking device such
- Name recording: We make use of name recording as a device for monitoring workforce member efficiency, in addition to to create reference supplies for future coaching. By recording calls with distant workers, we’re in a position to see their improvement over time and establish areas for enchancment. We additionally use these recordings as coaching materials for onboarding new workers.
At TopicRanker, VoIP instruments for managing distant workers have proved crucial to the success of our workforce. A streamlined VoIP system has enabled us to extra successfully handle our world professionals and be certain that everyone seems to be collaborating easily.
Remaining phrase
Within the age of distant work, good communication is important to the success of any firm. Implementing an excellent VoIP telephone system is without doubt one of the finest methods to boost the hiring and onboarding course of for distant workers for companies massive and small. Whether or not it’s interviewing candidates who’re distant, onboarding new hires, or managing a workforce of professionals dotted across the globe, a contemporary VoIP system permits for real-time communication and collaboration—with out requiring a mountain of expensive {hardware}.
