How to hire your first Remote Team Member

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Thinking about hiring your first RTM can be overwhelming and confusing. Some people don’t know where to start and some others don’t know what an RTM is capable of doing for their business. 

Let’s start at the beginning by asking; How do I know when it’s time to hire my first remote team member?

When you get to the point of thinking “I’d love to have someone helping me with this” or when you’re completing a time-consuming task and think “I could have done much more with these spent hours”. 

This answer may sound easy but we know it’s difficult to get there. In the property management industry, we are often taking care of many things at the same time, especially when we are starting and are still figuring out the process for our business.

So, because of its nature, it’s already a very busy job, and you as a business owner may want to handle relationships, clients, tenants, maintenance coordination, bookkeeping, and so much more. But the truth is that you simply just can’t. Because the more time you spend handling these responsibilities, the more chances you miss to expand your company.

Now, that you have concluded about needing help, let’s see how to hire your first RTM.

Coming from experience, we would recommend that the first thing you need to do is to write down the tasks you don’t want to do and what others you feel ready to delegate. Spoiler alert: This is going to be the foundation of your job description. 

But let’s get into it with a list of suggestions:

As we do it at BetterWho and with our clients; we have a strong HR team and a thoughtful process to look for the right fit. However, there are some steps before even hiring us or someone else to do the extensive work. 

  1. Write down your needs. Some examples; scheduling meetings, answering emails, bookkeeping, handling tenant compliances, research, and more admin tasks. With these, you’ll be able to start writing your first job description, be creative, and use as many details as you want. 
  1. Look for gaps in your process, and think about who would be the right person to fill them. And what you want to do for those unseen needs.
  1. Don’t limit yourself to one country. It’s normal to do some research and find yourself choosing the most popular countries like the Philippines, and we’re not saying is not the right decision, but you’d be surprised how much talent and experience other countries’ RTMs have to offer. We have had great experiences with people from all over the world, especially in Central America and Jamaica. Give it a try!
  1. Be Skeptical of Referrals. Referrals are important when you want to get someone new into your company, you need trust. However, some people with experience in the field will make sure to have good referrals or well-based relationships with industry peers, that’s not bad but it can be tricky. Trust your process and gut feeling when choosing someone new.
  1. Decide which Level of expertise your company needs: Just as in every other hiring process, you’ll have to define if you want someone with experience over skills or the other way around. Also, the level of trust and responsibility you’ll have for this person. Take into consideration that this comes along with the budget you may have designated for that position.
  1. Decide your hiring process and deadlines: Even if you hire a third party to do the full process (interviews, pre-screening, vetting, etc), you have to draw the path you want to follow so you don’t lose the north of it. Because it’s easy to forget why you wanted to hire someone in the first place when you start getting thousand of options. Keep that in mind and stick to your plan. Also, designate personal deadlines, if you know what you need, you also know when you want to get it done, right?
  1. Be open to negotiation: No matter if you decide to do the process by yourself or hire someone else to help you. You’ll get a lot of options to consider. So, be open to negotiating the terms and conditions you may have had at the beginning for that position. You could get surprised by the skillset and experience of someone but it can slightly be out of your plan, just think if you want to let that person go instead of making small arrangements or investing more time to dig deeper and maybe lose the opportunity.
  1. Be prepared with your own training manual and onboarding strategy: This one also has to do with the decision you make to continue with the process; it doesn’t matter, you have to make sure to have your own training and onboarding plan. It does not have to be too complicated or fancy. Even if you hire someone else and they provide training, you want your new RTM to feel confident and welcomed so they can actually be part of your time from the very first day.
  1. Set the right expectations: Define the scope of your process, you don’t want to go over thousands of applications trying to find the one that stands out or just shines at your sight. Be clear about the values and expectations you have over that position and do not worry if your expectations or requirements look challenging (but realistic), you want people that take them seriously, so maybe only the brave ones will assume the challenge.

Finally, It is normal to hesitate or feel unsure about this decision, doubts won’t go overnight, although you must decide on a time to avoid chaotic consequences.

At BetterWho, we can help you develop that plan with some of the advice we shared and then implement it. 

Our hiring process is pretty simple to explain, but it comes with a lot of details to make sure we stick to your needs and get you the best possible match to work with.

Click here if you would like to schedule your first free consultation. Or click here if you want to know more about our process and how we can help.

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