Give yourself a pat on the back! You survived over twelve months of crazy and uncertain circumstances. Some of us have even been lucky enough to make it through and are now experiencing a need for new hires within our companies.

We are now faced with the question, “how do I hire someone when I don’t know what the workplace will look like in two months, let alone one year?” There isn’t a playbook for this, or a resource guide to help you set up the process for success. All we have is what we know, what we feel, and what we are looking for. The rest are just minor details, or are they?

What We Know

The word of 2020 was “adapt.” We were all required to be flexible, understanding, and willing to think outside the box. We know this isn’t going to change for quite some time. The frequency of changes will reduce and the time between changes will extend, but there will always be a need to adapt.

When candidates are looking for a job, trends have shown that one of the top questions asked is, “Is this job remote?” That is something that is completely up to your company. If your workplace is still shut down, with no hint of opening back up, you can be confident in saying “yes.” If employees are being told that there are discussions about coming back to the office in some fashion, your applicants will appreciate you being upfront about the fact that there is a possibility that they will be required or expected to be in the office at some point.

The last thing you want to do is tell an applicant that the position is currently remote and then change the job requirements once your company decides on a return-to-work plan. That being said, it is important to understand that the workforce now caters to remote employees. There are plenty of jobs posted online that allow and encourage remote employment and not offering flexibility may result in losing great candidates. 

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What We Feel

Hiring is hard. The pressure to select the right candidate for the job and team can overwhelm a person. You are responsible for growing your team with successful players. The best thing to do is to take your time. You may be getting pressure to fill the position if your team is already running on a lean crew, but it will be more damaging in the long run to hire the wrong candidate for the position.

Similarly, our heads often get muted by the resumes we are looking at. Who has the best education? Who has the most applicable experience? Who has the longest employment period? These are valid questions in reviewing the candidates, but how the candidates get along with you and your team is just as important. 

What We Are Looking For 

We know the skills and experience of candidates can vary greatly. Some can be experts at a software program while others may have completed a single session training video for the same program. If you are looking for an employee who you are expecting to hit the ground running, an expert is what you need to find and you must be willing to pay more.

If you are comfortable training a new hire in the systems used by your company, you will want to reconsider what skills you are looking for and aim to find someone who is coachable, wanting to learn, and has a record of owning new projects to full completion. It isn’t always about the degree of a student, but the projects completed. 

The hiring process has been turned upside down over the past year. Resumes are submitted during all hours of the day and interviews are scheduled for video calls in between meetings. In CE Pro sister publication Commercial Integrator’s recent article “Employees Would Rather Quit Than Give Up Remote Work Flexibility,” it was noted that, “… employers like Google, Ford, and Citi Group have promised greater flexibility…” That change in flexibility doesn’t just apply to the workplace; it applies to the process of finding employees for your workforce. There is a new flexibility in how you structure the position, how you find the candidates and how you select the right fit.  

 Brittany Board is the senior channel marketing manager for The PSA Network.

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