Last year, the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic caused an immediate switch into a remote working environment for a huge percentage of office-based employees at multinational companies around the world.
The sudden nature of this unexpected shift in office and working dynamics created a significant level of stress and upheaval, as people were forced quickly to adapt to a changing work culture and personal lifestyle which has since become a new normal, and one that many of us are still becoming comfortable with.
This new dynamic has clearly presented a series of new challenges for human resources departments when recruiting new employees as well as individual people who now find themselves in the unusual scenario of being remotely onboarded to a new job and meeting their new colleagues for the first time in a video conferencing environment.
In this article, we will take a look at some of the features of this new way to start a job and consider how remote recruiting and the onboarding process is impacting workforce culture at organizations around the globe.
Confidence with technology
This might be a given for many of the new generation who have grown up with technology and use multiple different devices in their personal lives. But there is another group of people, one who may be unfamiliar with modern devices, one who may simply have been uninterested in modern technology or one who was not required to use it. These remain people with valuable skill sets and experiences to bring to any organization looking for talented people - they are now forced to adapt to a new normal of remote work and are in the process of upskilling and familiarizing themselves with innovative digital tools that have all of a sudden, become a necessity in their professional working lives.
Confidence with new technology, like anything else, simply takes time. everybody learns at different speeds and adapts to change at different levels. Human resources departments and the professionals who work within them, need to be considerate of individual needs and place an importance on patience when it comes to onboarding new employees who previously did not work in a technology-oriented environment.
It will be important therefore, for HR professionals to work on a plan with technology and IT to support professionals with a new job inside the organization, to ensure a clear and helpful process is in place for new starters on their first day, who have been on boarded remotely to raise tech queries and have them answered promptly.
Connection and motivation
Video conferencing calls are not for everybody and right now, a lot of human resources professionals are hearing about ‘zoom fatigue’. This is to be expected and one major challenge that HR departments everywhere are facing in this new normal is how to maintain employee motivation without face-to-face interactions
There needs to be a recognition that certain individuals require a level of human interaction and connection to feel motivated and be at their productive best. The coronavirus pandemic and restrictions that go with it means that this is no longer possible for many individuals -HR teams need to develop strategies that help create a sense of connection between team members as well as managers and their direct reports. For now, this may only be a temporary measure, but many media reports suggest that a full return to daily office life five days a week is unlikely- this means that there should also be a more long-term view for any initiatives around employee well-being, mental health and connectivity to fellow members of the workforce.
Enable employees with digital tools
One feature of the global pandemic has been the assumption that a move to a remote environment is not that big a deal to achieve. Modern technology is everywhere, and employees can adapt quickly to remote onboarding thanks to the availability of innovative digital technology tools -this is the prevailing logic anyway.
The reality can be quite different at a lot of organizations who found himself simply unprepared for a dramatic shift to a remote working culture and this new form of employee onboarding. The level of investment in innovative digital tools and their existing IT infrastructure was simply not designed to cope with a mass movement of the majority of their global workforce to a work from home scenario. There is no pre-existing onboarding checklist or templates for new remote employees who become part of a team on day one via video conferencing technology.
Last year was about setting up the remote environment and delivering core business services in the best way possible in challenging circumstances. This year, more consideration needs to be given to the type of innovative tools needed to digitally upskill those working from home and ensure that they have the necessary tools to hit the ground running as part of a remote team.
Innovative tools that facilitate remote working have now become a necessity -the coronavirus is still here and despite positive news about vaccinations, key business services will continue to be delivered remotely across the globe for the vast majority of 2021. Ensuring that employees are enabled to do their jobs with the correct digital tools should now be a business priority at every multinational organization. There should really be no barrier to investment in digital transformation and remote working tools.
Efficient processes need to be in place for any new employees who are onboarded remotely -they should be supplied with the correct hardware and software in the first week to allow them to hit the ground running and bring immediate value to an organization- HR teams need to merge logistic and organizational skills to make this a reality and they will require support from senior leadership teams who must recognize that remote on-boarding is no longer a stopgap measure but a new reality and company culture.
Embrace the new way
Sudden and unexpected change is rarely welcomed at multinational organizations- but COVID-19 has been with us for quite some time now and is not going to disappear from our lives anytime soon.
HR teams and professionals will by now be embracing this new normal and looking at ways to help employees thrive in this environment instead of simply survive. Last year may have been about simply keeping heads above water when it comes to remote recruitment and employee onboarding. This year will be a lot more about acceptance that this is now how it is and then pivoting immediately towards the kind of digital innovation practices that will make remote employee onboarding as smooth and efficient as possible.
Demands and expectations on HR professionals will increase as a result -when previously, a part of their job ended at the job offer stage - they are now very much front and center of the remote on boarding experience and they will play a significant role in preparing any new employee for life at the organization.
Setting expectations, ensuring digital innovative tools are ready and waiting for that employee and developing internal human resources practices and processes that ensure that each and every employee who is onboarded remotely receives the same experience will go a long way to ensuring that remote onboarding can be an effective process in the long term.