TSP • @myTSPnet
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced companies around the world to adjust to working remotely. Today, even months after the pandemic began, its repercussions are still in effect. In the midst of the chaos, companies must grow and adapt to be successful. The hiring and onboarding process is an essential aspect of the growth of every company. Companies must prioritize the organization and implementation of hiring processes to help new employees feel welcomed, comfortable and well-equipped to succeed.
Although hiring and onboarding from a contactless and remote setting is difficult, there are several ways to alleviate the transition and help new employees adjust. Explained below are four tools and strategies to facilitate the contactless hiring and onboarding process.
VIDEO CONFERENCING
To create a sufficient hiring and onboarding process, companies must establish an effective virtual meeting method, and video conferencing is the closest alternative to face-to-face meetings. Video conferencing helps meetings feel more personal and engaging, while phone meetings allow for more distractions because employees don’t show their faces. Zoom, Skype for Business and Cisco Webex are three professional platforms that make video conferencing easy. These platforms also allow users to screen-share, which is beneficial for business meetings.
The goal of hiring is to find candidates who are well-qualified and can enhance the company culture and mission. Video conferencing allows employers to get a more complete look at the candidate. For example, was the candidate on time? Have they dressed appropriately for the interview? Do they seem prepared and engaged? These are all important questions video conferencing can help you answer. Furthermore, video conferencing platforms allow people in different locations to join the interview. This is extremely helpful for interviewing out of state candidates and for ensuring there are a sufficient number of interviewers on the call.
One of the challenges working remotely presents it that employees may feel isolated from their co-workers and company. This is especially true for new hires who have met very few employees prior to their first day on the job. In order to avoid feelings of isolation, utilize video conferencing tools to schedule one-on-one or small group meetings with current employees and new hires. Designate a specific topic or process for employees to review. This allows new hires to learn more about their position and company while simultaneously getting to know their coworkers.
VIRTUAL DOCUMENT STORAGE
An important aspect of every company is the creation, collaboration and sharing of documents. Google Drive and Microsoft SharePoint are two popular platforms companies use to simplify document sharing and organization.
Before and during the interview process, candidates are asked to share resumes, cover letters, work samples, recommendation letters and more with the company. An online document storage platform allows employers to share these documents with other leaders of the company. This allows multiple people to be involved in the interview process, creating a more complete interview process.
After potential candidates are hired, the employee must review and sign contracts virtually. Consider using a virtual tool that allows employees to legitimately sign and complete documents. Furthermore, many of the work new hires are assigned needs to be completed via a virtual document. Thus, companies must obtain an effective virtual document storage system to utilize during the onboarding process in order to effectively share, collaborate on and complete documents.
ONLINE CALENDARS
While physical calendars and planners can be beneficial for individual use, online calendars are perfect for organizing meetings and delegating tasks. Virtual calendars like Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook Calendar allow users to coordinate meetings and deadlines.
Online calendars make the interview process organized and efficient. When your company has an open position, you’re probably interviewing multiple candidates for the job. With the help of online calendars, you can easily schedule these interviews because you have access to your coworkers’ schedules. You can also include the video conferencing link, conference bridge and any other relevant information in the calendar invite.
For many new hires, the onboarding process can be overwhelming because there’s an abundance of information to learn and remember about their new position and the company. As a result, new hires can easily forget meetings or assignments during their first few weeks of work. Online calendars can be of great assistance to help them stay organized.
TEAM BUILDING ACTIVITIES
An important part of developing a positive work culture is the encouragement of personal relationships between employees. Employees want to feel comfortable with and supported by their coworkers. To foster healthy work relationships, schedule non-work-related activities every few weeks like virtual happy hours, virtual trivia games, coffee breaks or Netflix watch parties.
For new hires, the first few weeks on the job can be stressful — even lonely. Team bonding activities allow employees to unwind, get to know each other and have fun. Employees are ultimately going to stick with a company that makes them feel happy and accepted.
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the business world and caused business leaders to reevaluate and establish important aspects of their companies. In spite of the uncertainty, many companies are still hiring. The hiring and onboarding process is arguably one of the most important facets of a company because new employees determine the future of a company. To host a successful contactless hiring and onboarding process, companies should utilize video conferencing, virtual document storage platforms, online calendars and schedule team bonding activities.
