One of the most vital aspects of onboarding should be the introduction of the new member of staff to the rest of the team. (Photo: Shutterstock)
There can be no doubt that COVID-19 has caused massive changes for businesses around the world. One of the major ways that might be overlooked, is the way it has altered how companies actually operate internally. With working practice altered, it is also necessary for organizations to take steps to think about how they are going to integrate new staff into the mix.
The process of onboarding has been seen as an important element of HR for a number of years, but if your business is continuing to bring staff on board in the same way that they had in the past – you could be making a mistake.
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Bringing in new staff could be more challenging now, partly because it may be harder to integrate teams that may not have the same level of interaction that they had before. So, here we take a look at what you need to change to improve your onboarding practice after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Update procedures in accordance with COVID-19
The first thing to note about your onboarding procedure is that it needs to change with regards to COVID-19. It is likely that the way that your business operates has changed significantly due to the pandemic. For example, you may now have a much larger number of staff members who work from home, or flexibly.
That means you need to completely rethink everything about your onboarding policy. Many pieces of information will need to amended or scrapped entirely.
Conduct virtual interviews
It could be a great idea to conduct any interviews–before or after the hire–virtually. Use video calling software like Skype or Zoom; these have become far more reliable and also commonplace over the course of the pandemic. The advantage here is not only are you able to conduct face-to-face discussions without having to worry about COVID-19 but also that you will save a significant amount of time.
Through virtual interviews, you can follow the same format as you would if the person was in the room with you. It also stops the inconvenience for them of having to get to your location – especially if you are implementing more flexible policies, as discussed above.
Ensure paperwork is digital where appropriate
One easy change that can make things not only safer after COVID-19, but also faster and easier to manage is the digitization of paperwork. Sending contracts through the post and waiting for them to be returned is hugely time-consuming. And paperwork can even be signed electronically.
Of course, sometimes it can be appropriate to have paperwork, even in a COVID-19 environment. "We are seeing a number of clients becoming more interested in high quality printed employee handbooks," says the team at YouLovePrint, specialists in printed materials "these can help businesses to present themselves as professional."
Get your employee started on the right technology
Technology has become an extremely important part of how many team members carry out their work–even more so that before. If your company, like many others, has been forced to have staff work remotely, you may have found challenges in ensuring that your team members are all working from the same software so that their work can be properly integrated.
This is something that it is essential to manage when you are bringing a new member of staff into the team. They must be provided with all of the relevant information about the technology that they need to use in their role. This includes everything from key software and hardware through to team communication apps and more.
Introduce the new employee to the team
On the subject of communication, one of the most vital aspects of onboarding should be the introduction of the new member of staff to the rest of the team. This can be much harder without a physical environment that you can necessarily rely on.
It may be the case that you have some members of staff working remotely and some at the office– in any case, you need to ensure that you can get workers communicating.
Final thoughts
Better onboarding can create a much productive team with better rapport amongst the members. This can be crucial in building your businesses as the economy begins to recover from the COIVD-19 pandemic.
Dakota Murphey has a wealth of experience in business management, with over 10 years of experience she's worked on a number of successful campaigns. She now enjoys sharing her knowledge through her writing and connecting with like-minded professionals.
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