Covid-19 has changed so much of how we live our lives that it has become almost impossible to foresee a return to all of the pre-pandemic ways of doing things. In the world of work the changes have been some of the most significant. Employers and employees have been forced to embrace the idea of remote working, and in many cases this has been shown to have advantages so distinct that a return to a business model where all staff members work together in a large office is never going to happen in many organisations.
However, despite the promise of vaccines and their potential to liberate us from harsh lockdown restrictions, we are still looking ahead to what is likely to be months of virtual working before it is even possible to change anything back should we wish it. The longer that any business functions in this way, the more of the processes that support it need to be taken online. The processes of pre-boarding and on-boarding provide useful examples of how existing procedures need subtle changes in order to work well online.
First, let us consider pre-boarding, or the process of recruitment to a new post from appointment, via contract negotiation, through to the start date. Employers will do well to bear in mind that candidates for jobs at the moment are likely to be in a different place, psychologically speaking, than is typical. In many instances they will have been working from home for a lengthy period already, communicating mainly with their current colleagues. This has the effect of diminishing the sense in a new appointee’s mind that there is about to be a major change in their life when they start a new job.
Employers need to work at being more personally engaged with their new appointees at the moment, because the lack of actual human contact – an in person interview, a tour of the workplace, a handshake – creates a sense that other offers can be considered at any time without any real sense of disloyalty. Remember all of those personal contact benefits that a new hire would have had in a traditional in person interview, and consider what can be done to provide that engagement in a virtual way in the lead up to the start date.
Video calls and other communications will be important in making a new employee feel connected to the business, but likewise consider things like a welcome video from a CEO or senior manager. Such things are actually easier to organize at the moment, because they can be recorded at any time that suits the senior post-holder. Also, bear in mind the importance of providing new workers with the IT equipment and tech support that normally they would receive on day one well ahead of day one. So that when day one actually comes, they are ready to start work.
All of these points can be seen as part of the pre-boarding process, but there are further considerations that fall under on-boarding, or the process of settling into a new job once work has actually started. New hires will still be working at home, in the same environment, at the same desk, with the same family commitments, etc., so again an employer should look at how the sense of a new chapter of life beginning can be reinforced. If a team lunch would be part of a usual first week in a job, consider offering this online, for example. Also, consider assigning a particular member of the existing workforce to be the main support point for the new hire.
