The rise of remote work has expanded the talent pool, enabling finance departments and HR teams to hiring remote finance talents anywhere around the world. And while it may not be easy to form a globally diverse team, the benefits are often worth the effort.
There are plenty of studies about how diversity drives better business outcomes. You get different skillsets and therefore more innovation, and you have more balanced teams that can come up with better solutions for a diverse client base. Is it hard work? Yes. Is it worth it? Yes.
In addition to driving better business outcomes, globally diverse teams, located in different time zones, have the potential to work on projects around the clock, and they’re better positioned to establish a company presence in various hubs around the world.
If your organization is looking to hire top remote finance talent, consider employing these tips for finding and recruiting candidates from a more diverse geographic range.
1. Build up referral networks.
Without the option of in-person conferences and job fairs, organizations searching for remote global talent are turning to job boards, recruiting agencies, and referrals. Job boards can be a great way to cast a wide net, and recruiting agencies work well for filling high-level roles, but many companies have been finding success leveraging referral networks.
Research over the years has proven that candidates who come in after being referred by a current employee have a higher retention rate than new employees sourced in any other manner.
We recommend companies offer a small-to-moderate referral bonus to get employees’ attention, properly advertise and communicate the referral program internally, simplify the referral process, and make sure someone is promptly following up with potential candidates.
If your goal is to form a globally diverse team, communicate to your current employees that you’re actively searching for international candidates with experience working remotely.
It’s all about referrals and connections now, and it’s safe to assume that people who build good connections are going to do really well remotely.
2. Create compelling job postings
In order to stand out from the barrage of wordy job listings, we recommend organizations approach the talent search in a more contemporary and engaging way.
Companies should try creating short video clips to get candidates hooked into the recruiting process, or condensing job descriptions to the essentials, focusing on your organization’s purpose and why you’re excited to have this kind of talent.
Video can make job postings more of a marketing tool, as opposed to a very one-dimensional job description, and the practice has really set firms apart. For candidates who are looking at a number of different postings, that can be the hook.
3. Look for green flags
Because technical skills are fairly straightforward to assess in finance professionals, we encourage hiring managers to focus on what is called green flags.
Green flags are signs that the candidate could be a great fit for your organization, and when it comes to remote work, green flags might include attributes such as adaptability, resilience, motivation, communication, and the ability to collaborate without face-to-face interaction.
While references can be helpful for pinpointing green flags, situational interviewing is often a better way to determine whether a candidate will work well remotely.
With remote work, it’s really about deadlines and communication. How to communicate with Manager when time is up against a deadline. You need to make sure people in remote work situations have top-notch verbal and written communication skills.
Also, you might want to include stakeholders and representatives from other departments in the interview process to get multiple perspectives about the candidate, and for the candidate to get a sense of what your organization is about. Expanding the notion of who is interviewing the candidate opens the aperture beyond one hiring manager.
4. Keep your funnel full
The remote hiring process cuts out the travel required for face-to-face interviews, which is all the more reason to always be searching for top global talent.
It is recommended that organizations get into the habit of “keeping their funnel full” by continuously interviewing people.
You have to continually be talking to people for roles within your company, or else you’re reactive and you’re hiring remote finance talent out of need rather than desire for the right person.