Onboarding in times of pandemic

Onboarding in times of pandemic

How do you make your new employees feel welcome, and understand your company's values, when you can not meet face to face, only through a screen? We had all thought and hoped that the pandemic would now be over, but unfortunately it seems that it is sticking with us for a while longer, and we have to settle for both home office and Teams meetings, in what has become the new normal. There is always excitement associated with starting a new job and perhaps especially in times like these. We would dear to say that the onboarding process is more important today than it has ever been.

More than a resource for your company

An employee is not only an asset in your company, but also an indirect marketer of your business; the better your employees thrive at work, the more positively they talk about both you and your company. This is one of the reasons that the introduction your new employees receive from the very beginning is very important. And when we say from the beginning, we mean not only the first working day, but also the time before the person has actually started in your company.

When does the onboarding process actually begin?

Onboarding does not start the first working day, as many may think. The onboarding process starts already when your new employee signs the contract. It is therefore incredibly important to start the work of welcoming, and to prepare the new employee as early as possible.

Digital tools

Digital tools will make this work significantly easier; you can give the new employee access to useful information such as your company's policy, information about the workplace, which people they should get to know, and more. In a good, digital onboarding tool, your new employees can also easily register personal information, such as next of kin or bank information.

In addition, a good tool will easily let you order practical things such as telephone, PC and any other work tools that the new employee needs to get his job done. All this simplifies the onboarding process, and ensures that your newly hired talent becomes productive as quickly as possible. It will be difficult to get started, already the first working day, if you do not have the tools you need.

Some tips and advice along the way

Here are some tips on how to make the onboarding process work as well as possible, also in the home office:

  • It is important that you have a clear process. This is always important, but it is even more important that the new employee is introduced and gets to know their new colleagues when the work is to take place remotely.
  • You should have an onboarding checklist. In this way, you reduce the risk of forgetting some of the steps in the process
  • You should definitely have a digital onboarding tool that supports both administration and process
  • You should set up regular, digital, informal meetings with new employees so that they do not feel forgotten or left to themselves. Here it may be worth remembering that not everyone is comfortable wearing a camera
  • Give the new employees a mentor / buddy who they can rely on, and who can help with big and small questions

If you have questions about how the onboarding process should take place, when it should start and how to get started, you are more than welcome to get in touch

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