The events of 2020 have permanently altered the recruitment landscape. Rather than COVID-19 forcing companies into temporary changes, the vast majority of adaptations are here to stay. According to the research firm Gartner, 74% of companies will permanently shift to more remote work post-COVID.
Thus, as an employer, you’ll have to get used to a new way of doing things when it comes to both hiring and onboarding new employees. Not actually meeting your candidates in person is fast becoming the new normal, and you should adapt to meet the expectations of the 2020s workforce.
With that in mind, here are seven tips to make that transition as seamless as possible as we navigate this public health crisis.
Make All Interviews Virtual
The changes within the recruitment process start with the interviews themselves. With in-person meetings no longer advisable, it makes sense to conduct all new-hire interviews virtually with the help of video conferencing software such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams.
Virtual interviews are an innovation that is set to say long after the virus has receded since they save so much time for both employer and candidate. Therefore, it makes sense to get comfortable with them as soon as possible (if you haven’t already). The best part is you can keep the interview format the same, as there’s no need to change anything.
Streamline Your Recruitment Process
While COVID has been disastrous for some industries, those in essential sectors such as construction, IT and logistics are searching for top talent in an extremely competitive environment.
If your recruitment process takes several weeks, then it’s likely that you’ll lose out on highly-skilled workers who’ve been snapped up by other businesses who’ve moved through the process faster. Thus, limit the number of stages your candidates have to go through and make quick decisions to avoid losing out.
Make All Paperwork Digital
As mentioned, speed is everything in this new working environment. For that reason, you don’t want to rely on logistics providers creaking under the growing swell of demand to get your essential documents posted to your chosen candidates.
Instead, move away from printing and posting signed contracts altogether. It’s a cumbersome, unnecessarily costly, and time-consuming process that has long been ripe for digitization. Share vital paperwork via online tools such as DocuSign or HelloSign so that employees can sign digitally and quickly share contracts with you in a secure environment.
It could make all the difference when trying to secure a remote candidate fielding several offers.
Set Your New Employee Up to Work from Home (WFH)
Of course, every WFH set up requires its fair share of technology. As soon as the contracts have been exchanged and you’ve agreed on a start date, it’s time to arrange delivery of all equipment and software required for remaining productive while working from home.
Liaise with your IT provider to see what they require, including whether they need any specialized tech due to the nature of their role. It’s then useful to run a technological induction with your new remote employee.
This induction gives new remote employees the chance to familiarize themselves with work-related software, tools and policies stipulated by your IT department (antivirus, password managers, etc.), team collaboration platforms (chat, file-sharing apps, etc.), and ensure their technology works for those all-important video conferencing (mic/audio/video checks, etc.).
Effectively Communicate Company Culture
The next stage of your onboarding process should cover your company culture. This is much more difficult to pick up in a remote environment, so spend as much time on this as possible. Time invested during this process will help you to avoid conflicts later down the road and increase productivity.
An excellent remote introduction to your business’ values should consist of at least the following:
- Breakdown of the company values
- Description of the company’s past achievements and future goals (including mission statement)
- Company code of conduct (including a code of ethics)
- Digital version of the employee handbook (and any other employee literature)
Introduce Your New Remote Employee to the Rest of the Team
Once your new hire has their feet under the table, it’s time to introduce them to the rest of your team. This practice is vital because, in a remote environment, inclusion and making them feel comfortable is more crucial than in a traditional setting where plenty of social interaction already exists.
This should be a constant process, not a one-time deal. You don’t want your new employee to feel like an outsider looking in. You need them to feel like they are very much part of the team. With that in mind, schedule weekly one-on-one calls with their line manager, as well as daily catch up calls with their peers to make sure they are receiving a healthy dose of social interaction.
Set Specific Goals and Expectations
Once your new remote employees have run through their inductions and met the team, it’s time to set them up for success by setting expectations and regular goals. You can’t waste your time micromanaging your employees in a remote working environment. Therefore, you need to have a roadmap laid out so that they’re never waiting on management to tell them what they need to be working on next.
Make use of applications such as Slack to delegate works and keep everyone on track. Also, discuss more general short-term and long-term goals while outlining what you expect from them daily. As highlighted previously, the more time to spend upfront on expectations and objectives, the less conflict and misunderstandings you’ll have further down the line. With these accountability frameworks in place, your new employee will view all tasks through your desired lens.
Adapt Your Recruiting and Onboarding Process to the Remote Working Environment or Face Getting Left Behind
The global pandemic has accelerated changes within the world of work that were already underway. As a result, so many of the adaptations advanced by the virus outbreak are here to stay. By evolving your recruitment and onboarding process to better fit the remote world, you can save time and money both today and moving forward.
Here at Offer Accept, we have continued to operate throughout the crisis, matching high-quality candidates in the critical fields of supply chain distribution, IT, accounting & finance, construction and warehouse, to name a few.
Many of these individuals within our candidate pool do not advertise that they are looking for a new position. Thus, if you would like to gain access to our privately-curated, highly-skilled talent pool, then don’t hesitate to give us a call on 305-910-2524 to discuss your virtual or on-site recruiting needs.
Farley Ashby
Recruiting Expert
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