2020 is a year that ended up leading to many different changes. The way we work and the way we recruit are no different. Every business no matter the industry had to make some changes. Most of them had to transition to their employees working off-site. No matter the different challenges, we experienced how a lot of these companies were able to do so in stride and even continue to recruit and bring new employees on board at the same time. That being said, one of the aspects that proved to be increasingly difficult during the pandemic was the onboarding process. This is something that a lot of companies struggled with especially when it came to integrating new staff into the company. This article will be going into this aspect and you should come away with some good tips to implement to help your business do so effectively.
1. Recruiting Remotely
There is absolutely no doubt that the pandemic brought a lot of changes to the scene and made recruiting new employees extremely hard for companies. That being said, there are a lot of different candidates looking for work and who are ready to join your company. For the majority of business owners, it might feel extremely strange not to meet face to face with someone that you are considering hiring. However, throughout 2020, you pretty much had to come to terms with it and do the majority of your interactions virtually anyways.
To effectively recruit new members remotely, you will need to completely shift your mindset and become much more creative. Doing so will enable you to effectively recruit good candidates like you were able to do in the past.
Our professional agency fully believes in meeting different candidates before presenting them to any kind of employer. Because of this, we meet with them virtually. We do so and hold virtual interviews to get a good understanding of what kind of candidate they are beyond their resumes. This allows us to present the best and most optimal candidates to fill your vacancies. If you wish, we can share the results of the interview with you. That way, you can get a good feel for the candidate and it can save you a lot of time in the process.
You don't have to completely change the way you recruit and bring people on board. Just because you are limited to meeting them virtually doesn't mean you can't continue the same process. You can continue to hold a shorter interview initially and then conduct a more formal one later on. That's when you can ask for them to give you a presentation or complete a task.
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2. Onboarding
Beginning a brand new job can be anxiety-inducing for new hires. This is especially true for those that are starting during a pandemic. As someone who is a talent manager, it's important to establish good communication early on with new hires to ensure they are comfortable throughout.
One of the candidates that we had recently secured a position off-site and shared with us how his new manager scheduled an initial call and then followed it with an email. Within the email, they told him that he could call them at any point. This ensured that there was an open line of communication between both parties.
3. Helping With Technology
Without modern technology and various apps like Zoom and Slack, it could be extremely difficult to connect off-site. For anyone knowledgeable in IT, this is where you shine.
A lot of people tend to have a steep learning curve when it comes to the various software and applications that companies use to conduct business online. Because of this, you'll want to have a good onboarding process that gets a recruit set up as quick as possible.
4. Structured Welcome Program
You want to have a good structure whenever you are welcoming new hires. You need to do this when you are running your business off-site. You want to have a well-structured and optimised welcome program that will give them the information they need. Try not to overload these recruits at this time with too much information. However, you do need to have a good and clear program that they can follow. This should include everything from introducing them to the rest of the team, telling them their tasks, and giving them the information they need to know about the company's corporate culture.
5. Keep In Contact
You are going to want to ensure that you remain connected with the newer recruits throughout the entire process. You need to make them feel comfortable and let them know they are free to contact you with any questions. A good thing to do would be to give the recruit some space and time to get familiar with everything. This will show them you trust them without being overbearing and without micro-managing. Try to schedule a call every day during the initial days, but conduct these calls less frequently when they begin to catch up to speed.
