Pros and Cons of Remote Hiring?

The advantages of remote hiring is quite obvious – you can search for talent all around the world and you can also hold the interviews anywhere. But what are the cons?

How have recruiters been adapting to new remote processes?

The adaptation to completely remote work was quite smooth for the HP Global Talent Acquisition Team, considering that, even before pandemic, thanks to our products, our team was already accustomed to running virtual interviews, the pool of candidates being truly anywhere around the world and also to the fact that our recruiters work involved hiring managers located in different offices. We have been all trained to perform at high standard and to keep a consistent and rigorous hiring process, independently on the geographical location.

What do you see as the pros and cons of remote hiring? What has been the candidate feedback?

I believe that in the current context both recruiters and candidates are facing the same challenges and advantages: on one side it is more practical, and you can have the interviews anywhere, on the other hand, we need to sell the HP culture and values over the phone, where in the past it was easier to show them by simply walking around in the corridors office and share the HP facilities and the working environment.

How can companies make sure new employees feel engaged while working from home and only meeting their team virtually?

I personally believe it is crucial to have a strong company culture based on trust and respect. Those values are the foundation of HP and as a leader I do trust my managers, my team 100%. In HP we do work since decades based on personal / company objectives and those are measurable and actionable so those are relevant to us. In order to maintain an engaged team, as a manager, my first priorities are: to take care of the people, promote a flexible working environment and to promote laugh and fun together. In addition to that, HP made significant investments to support the best working environment in terms of facilities and tools from home.

Mara Lucini, EMEA Talent Acquisition Director at HP has been steering HP’s recruitment strategy across more than 35 countries. With over 20 years of experience in the high-tech industry, and a stellar team of recruiters, Mara has been managing the entire recruitment lifecycle, from workforce planning, mobility/relocation, internal and external hiring channels, university programmes, social media and employer branding, as well as overall recruitment operations and implementing a new recruitment system – Workday Recruitment. Prior to her current role, Mara held various HR roles in Talent Acquisition and also made impact with assignments such as HR Business Partner, Total Rewards specialist, HR Operations analyst, Internal communications lead. She has held roles in key initiatives surrounding mergers and acquisitions where she contributed to the EDS integration and HP Compaq merger. Mara holds a Master’s Degree in HR & Communication from MIP Politecnico of Milan (Italy) and has been an Erasmus Scholarship winner from the University College of London (UCL).