In terms of how we recruit and how we work, 2020 was a completely different year. Almost all businesses in all sectors were forced to have all or some of their employees work from home. Despite all the difficulties that ensued, we were able to see first-hand many businesses take on these challenges and even thrive. As a result, many were able to keep recruiting and grow their teams. However, one of the aspects that were always going to be hard to deal with while recruiting during the current Covid-19 climate was integrating and onboarding new employees.
Recruiting Remotely
The current situation has definitely made it harder to recruit new team members from a practical standpoint. However, there are many great candidates around who are immediately available. It might feel odd to not meet a candidate in person, but it has become the norm. Over the past year, all of us have become must more accustomed to meeting virtually and working remotely.
In order to recruit remotely successfully, you must change your mindset and get creative. We are still able to find great candidates for you and present them as well as we were able to do before.
We believe that to carry out the best marketing recruitment, it is just as important as ever to meet our candidates before we present them to employers. That is why we virtually “meet” our candidates. We conduct video interviews to help us understand them not simply as CVs but as people as well. That makes it possible to present the right candidates to you. We can also share our interviews with you, to give you the first impression and save you valuable time on having to conduct multiple video interviews.
Although you may not be able to meet candidates in person these days, you can still recruit the way you normally do – perhaps a short first interview and then a second interview that is more formal where you can request a presentation or set a task.
Onboarding
Reassurance & Communication
Even during the best of times, it can be nerve-racking to start a new job. However, during these difficult times, it can be quite stressful for someone who is needing to begin a new job. As either a talent manager or line manager, it is essential to open up lines of communication early on in the process and provide them with reassurance about the overall process.
Recently, one of our candidates starting their new position remotely told us that their new manager called to have an initial welcome conversation and followed up with an email giving their mobile phone number to let them know they could contact them any time that they needed to. It is key to keep lines of communication open yet not be too overbearing.
Assist Them with Technology
It is hard to imagine being without Zoom, VPNs, laptops, Slack as well as all of the other applications and forms of technology that are helping us these days. It is time for the IT guys to stand out.
Do whatever you can to help your new employee get set-up from a technology point of view as soon as possible.
Get a Structured Welcome Programme Set Up for New Employees
At this time, structure is essential for everyone and it is critical for new employees to have a structured and clear welcome programme. Don’t overload your new members with information but make sure to have a clear and structured programme in place for their first week. That can include everything ranging from a presentation on the company’s culture to a team Zoom call along with what will be included in their daily tasks.
Stay in Touch
Keep in contact on a regular basis and make sure they are comfortable calling you when they need to. Just make sure you are not overbearing. Let them know you trust them and that it isn’t necessary to constantly check on them. Have zoom chats or regular chats with them every day in the beginning and then less often once you see everything is going well.