In a job seeker's market, many businesses find they need to look well outside of their local market to recruit the talent they need to succeed. This strategy puts HR teams under pressure to make meaningful connections with all potential hires and employees, near and far, while also keeping costs in check. High-quality videoconferencing is one solution—and this eBook outlines several ways the technology can make HR's job easier.

1. Recruiting Without Boundaries.
How Video Can Bridge the Distance Between Your Business
and the Talent It Needs to Succeed.

2. RECRUITING WITHOUT BOUNDARIES
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Why Is It So Hard to Find Talent?
IT’S A JOB SEEKER’S MARKET. As the U.S. economy continues to gain
momentum, more organizations are adding jobs to meet escalating business
demands. However, finding candidates for those roles can be a struggle.
Here are just some of the current market dynamics:
■■ One-third of U.S. jobs remain open for at least three months – and the economic
cost of unfilled jobs in the United States is nearly $160 billion per year.1
■■ The unemployment rate for college-educated workers is well below the
national unemployment rate, and has been for some time.2
■■ About 10,000 baby boomers are reaching retirement age annually – a pace
that is expected to continue through 2020.3
These dynamics are driving many businesses and their HR teams to look well
outside of their local markets to recruit the talent they need to succeed, and build
a remote workforce.
1. The Economic Cost of Unfilled Jobs in the U.S., Indeed, November 2014: http://800ft41ynk4y2onf3w1heu7m2.
wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Report-Empty-Desk-Final-.pdf.
2. “Household Data: Employment status of the civilian population 25 years and over by educational attainment,”
Bureau of Labor Statistics economic news release: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t04.htm.
3. “Baby Boomers Retire,” Pew Research Center “Daily Number,” December 29, 2010:
http://www.pewresearch.org/daily-number/baby-boomers-retire/.

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New Pressures for
HR – and a Solution
BEING OPEN TO HIRING REMOTE
WORKERS means businesses have more
opportunity to locate the resources they
need to meet the demands of today’s 24/7,
global economy.
Another benefit: It can make them more
appealing to candidates from Generations Y
and Z, who covet flexible work arrangements.
But expanding the remote or virtual workforce
has HR teams wondering if they need to
rethink their approach to recruiting and other
core responsibilities. Three questions on
their minds:
1. How can we reach candidates anywhere
at a moment’s notice – and ensure those
meetings are engaging?
2. How can we shorten the hiring cycle?
3. How can we keep travel costs in check?

4. 4
RECRUITING WITHOUT BOUNDARIES
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VIDEOCONFERENCING
The answer to all three questions?
Videoconferencing.
With the right platform, HR staff can
continue to do what they do best, but also:
■ Meet face-to-face with potential hires
anytime, anywhere, using any device.
■ Move faster to evaluate candidates
and extend an offer.
■ Enable meetings, large and small,
with all employees across the
distributed workforce.

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Same Hiring Process,
Only Different
TO BE CLEAR, VIDEOCONFERENCING does not simplify
the process of evaluating candidates for remote work
arrangements. (Although, it does provide a window into a
potential hire’s communication abilities.)
Hiring managers will need to ask many detailed questions
– such as these – to make sure the candidate will thrive in a
remote work arrangement:
■■ Do you have previous experience with remote work
or similar flexible work arrangements? Can you tell me
about those experiences?
■■ How would you structure your daily work routine?
■■ How would you describe your communication style?
Do you prefer to interact with colleagues through email,
phone, video or all of the above?
■■ How do you typically track progress on projects?
■■ What do you like best about remote working? And least?
How a candidate answers these questions will also provide
valuable insight into how this person will fit into the work-
place culture – which transcends the physical workplace.
This discussion will also give clues as to what type of
management style the candidate will likely respond to best.

6. Onboarding – and Beyond
STARTING A NEW JOB – even if it’s from a home office – can be
overwhelming for any professional. A formal onboarding process can
help, and through video­conferencing, the process can be just as engaging
for remote employees as it is for new hires who work on-site.
Here are some strategies for enabling a smooth transition:
■■ Provide a warm welcome. On the new hire’s first day:
⊲⊲ Facilitate a video meeting to introduce the new employee
to colleagues.
⊲⊲ Give the remote worker a “tour” of the home office using your
mobile device.
⊲⊲ Meet one-to-one with the new staff member by video to review
company processes and answer questions.
■■ Create a solid action plan. Use the plan to:
⊲⊲ Outline what the remote employee will be doing the first 30, 60
or 90 days.
⊲⊲ Define key milestones to be met, and by when, and how
management will be notified.
⊲⊲ Inform the performance review process.
Another tip: Arrange for a mentor or a peer to assist the remote
employee with getting up to speed and to feel more connected to
the core team. Encourage weekly video meetings between these two
colleagues for the first 1-3 months, so the pair can build a strong rapport.
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Where the Phone Really Fails:
Performance Management
and Annual Reviews
HOLDING IN-PERSON MEETINGS with remote workers is not
always possible for HR and management. A phone conversation
may seem like a logical backup plan, but it can be impersonal. It
also can lead to misunderstandings, especially when discussing
delicate topics.
Here are three situations where video is a more effective tool
than the phone for communicating with remote employees:
■■ Discussing performance: Through video, all body
language “cards” are on the table and there is little room for
misinterpretation of sentiment on either side.
■■ Soliciting feedback: Remote workers in a face-to-face
meeting may be more inclined to be candid when sharing
concerns or offering suggestions.
■■ Acknowledging achievements: Showing appreciation to
remote employees for their hard work and commitment is
even more meaningful when it’s done face to face.

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VIDEO CAN BRIDGE THE DISTANCE between your business and the
talent it needs to succeed – provided the right technology is in place to enable
effortless face-to-face interactions.
HR managers can help their organization become more effective at recruiting,
retaining, and developing employees in every location by using a platform for
video, audio, and rich content sharing that is:
■■ Interoperable: Look for a solution that is device—and network-agnostic.
Meeting is easy if you have technology that can connect popular business
communication tools into the same meeting, including Lync, Jabber, room
systems, browsers, and mobile devices.
■■ Easy to use: HR managers can worry less about missed opportunities
to make a great hire in their city, or across the world, if they can enable
interviews at a moment’s notice right from their desktop using browser
connections.
■■ Secure: Choose a solution that provides enterprise-grade security so you are
confident meetings and sensitive employee data will be protected.
Video can help HR teams and businesses ensure that all workers in the
organization, no matter where they’re located, feel like they’re part of one team.
IN FOCUS: LINARO
Learn how seamless video meetings
with people inside and outside the
organization are creating benefits
for Linaro.
Eliminating Recruiting and Retention Roadblocks With Video

9. Get Into Blue Jeans:
It’s a Great Fit
for HR – and the
Virtual Workforce
A more efficient way to evaluate job candidates, near and far,
and to help remote workers feel connected to your organization
from day one – what’s not to like about Blue Jeans?
Visit www.bluejeans.com/for/video-for-HR to learn more about Blue Jeans,
the leader in video as a service, and why some of the best and brightest
HR departments rely on us.