It’s no surprise that businesses all around the world are feeling the impact of COVID-19. Many are now looking for employment when just weeks ago our economy was booming with skyrocketing employment rates.
In this climate, we must reconsider how to conduct business while moving forward and anticipating what the future of work looks like. Despite this change, there is an influx of hiring in key industries including pharmaceuticals and manufacturing that continue to provide essential services.
As a recruitment agency, Tundra Technical Solutions is working with a number of customers that are facing the same challenges as many other companies in the market: establishing best practices for onboarding candidates remotely. We are here to help.
Where do you start?
Step One: Process Implementation
Organizations must implement a new onboarding process by gathering all the pertinent people involved (HR, Talent Acquisition, Business Partners, Hiring Managers) to determine clear objectives for their new resources and provide the best possible onboarding experience.
Some questions to ask yourself during this planning period are:
- How I can offer a relevant and targeted onboarding experience that will reflect my Employer Brand?
- What is the welcome package (laptop, cell, etc.) the new hire needs in order to be efficient and how do I deliver it to them?
- What documents should the new hire sign and have access to in order to carry out their duties?
- How will we train the new hire during the first few weeks?
- Who are the key people the new hire should meet or shadow?
- Does our organization have the right digital tools in place?
- Should I build a training agenda for the first month?
Step Two: IT and First Day Setup
Always ensure your IT department is aware of the hardware/software needs of your new employee. As part of your implementation process, you must determine if the new hire will pick up their equipment from your facilities or if you will be able to ship all the resources (check your company policy).
Once your new hire has access to all the required tools, it’s time to start training and introducing your processes, company culture and expectations for their new role.
Follow this process to navigate the most important part of your new employee’s journey within the organization:
1. Orientation via Videoconference
Have a personal discussion before you get down to business; introduce yourself, your background, your interests and anything else that may help break the ice. Not everyone is used to video conferences, which can be disorienting and overwhelming. Adding in the human factor will help facilitate your first interaction.
2. Paperwork:
Walk your new hire through the signing of onboarding and training documents. Provide a list of names and contact information for all employees they will interact with.
3. Training Agenda:
Take the time to go over the training agenda you built. Depending on the skills you want your new employee to master, it is essential to clearly set expectations on the training agenda and objectives.
For example, you may want the new employee to have spoken to all team members 1:1 in the first two weeks and have read all essential company documentation he/she should understand. Divide the tasks into smaller packages at the outset to ensure a complete understanding of a process or system (ex: creating a new account in your CRM).
The end goal is to ensure that he/she will be autonomous quickly and help you achieve the organization’s objectives.
4. Introduction to the team:
Present your new star hire to the rest of the team. Schedule a 30-minute conference call so that everyone can be introduced in a roundtable icebreaker.
Organize a virtual event with the team during the first week. Our company found success in virtual lunch & learns, after-hours workout sessions and a virtual pub night. Create your own fun and engaging event.
5. Follow up:
Stay in close contact with your new employee and set a check-in timetable in their calendar, but be careful not to micromanage. We recommend every two days at the outset, but most importantly you should be available and accessible to answer any questions.
Conclusion
Offering the right onboarding process will make all the difference both to you as a manager and to your employee who will start their new job feeling supported and in control.
Ensure you lead with empathy and understanding while assisting your new hire through a smooth transition.
