How to Get Your Remote Team Up and Running

When you’re ready to start hiring staff for your business, it’s important to hire people who are well suited for their roles, are qualified and experienced, and are enthusiastic about helping your operation grow. This is especially important if you’re hiring a remote workforce. Stellar Virtual Assistant is a social media expert service that can help you build your enterprise.

Benefits of a Remote Staff

Many businesses can be operated entirely — or in large part, online — and hiring a remote workforce can give you a number of advantages over your competition. For example, if staffers work elsewhere, you won’t have to invest as much in large office space, furniture, or equipment. That means your overhead and operating expenses are greatly reduced.

If you hire remote staff, you may also be able to retain employees as freelancers or independent contractors, which could save you money on taxes and benefits. It’s important to know the difference between employee classes when it comes time to file taxes. Additionally, when your staff doesn’t have to be physically present on-site, your pool of applicants expands exponentially — you can hire staff from other cities, states, or countries.

Before staffing up, be sure to set up a quality payroll system. Keep track of billable hours with an automated payroll system’s shift and schedule tracker like QuickBooks Time, which can be used on your desktop, laptop or smartphone. With easy copy-and-paste and drag-and-drop, employees’ scheduled times in and out can be adjusted and put into current and future timesheets. There’s even an option for users to retrieve, send and approve time remotely with push notifications that prompt employees to clock in and out.

Getting Your Company Established

Of course, remote staffers will want to know in advance that your business is well-established and reputable. If you haven’t already formed a limited liability company, now’s the time to start. Not only does incorporation give your business status, but it also protects you against some types of liability and offers tax benefits. Every state has different regulations around LLC formation, so learn about yours before moving ahead. You can do the paperwork yourself, hire a pricey attorney, or utilize a formation services company to handle the legwork and fine details for you.

Ensuring the Right Fit

It’s important for potential remote staffers to have an in-depth understanding of what they’ll be signing on for if they work for your business. Before you start advertising for open positions, create job descriptions that outline both big-picture and day-to-day tasks employees will be responsible for. According to Wright State University, the best approach is to be comprehensive and detailed with the description. Will they work hourly? By the project? How much autonomy will they have over their roles? Will they be required to check in throughout an average day?

Also be clear if the position is full-time, part-time, contract, or benefits-eligible. Will you provide equipment, or will they need to provide their own? These are all questions candidates will ask, so think about your needs in advance.

Finding Your Dream Team

You’ve got a lot of hiring options when it comes to building your staff roster. If you’re in a unique industry, you might go to membership organizations and look for job posting opportunities. Job boards also attract a lot of traffic, as do professional networking and even social media sites. Asking around your own network of colleagues and business contacts can also help you get personal referrals to people in your field. Some job placement organizations offer screening tools, and, as CNC Jobs Inc. notes, hiring a professional staffing service can help you weed out candidates who might potentially be a bad fit for your company.

Getting a remote staff hired, up, and running is a big undertaking that will pay big dividends down the line. Once you have everyone in place, make sure they’re trained and oriented to your business and to one another. Regularly scheduled meetings and check-ins can help ensure your well-oiled machine is operating at peak performance levels.

If you want to take tasks off your plate that you do not enjoy so you can focus on doing what you love, let Stellar Virtual Assistant work one on one with you to come up with a plan that works best for you. Reach out for more information! 502-996-2359