Despite the negative impacts of COVID-19, not all companies can afford to halt their hiring process because some roles might actually help them to sustain their current financial condition. For instance, Amazon is in the process of hiring 100,000 warehouse workers. (Profico, 2020)

In a situation where the company needs new staff, the onboarding process which will be heavily relied on technology and this can be challenging considering everyone is now working from home.

S2M has put together some key strategies you can use to smoothly welcome your new hires.

1. Send IT hardware and detailed manuals to your new hires

Make sure that your new staff receives these things well in advance so they get a chance to go through it. Ensure that your IT department members are responsive and are able to help the new members with all technicalities.

A decent laptop with connected company email, mouse and a keyboard is a good start pack.

Another thing to keep in mind would be to get them up to date with all the communication channels that your company uses for instance Slack, Microsoft teams etc.

2. Help new staff in completing all HR and legal formalities

Make use of tools like CamScanner to scan all documents and Hello-Sign to sign all documents online. Understanding terms and conditions of employment can be time consuming so ensure that your new hires receive these documents well in advance. Be available to answer any questions they have.

3. Educate them about your company culture

Getting them up to date about the working culture by providing them with handbooks ad guides can be beneficial. Share presentations, pictures or videos to give them a better idea. It might be worth giving them a welcome package where you can give them your company related items such as any t-shirts, mugs or notebooks.

4. Get your HR leaders to manage expectations

Asking your HR members to t give a session to new hires about your company expectations and role specific expectations would be beneficial. It might be good to define some short and long term goals and set up regular meetings with the supervisor/manager.

5. Arrange role-specific inductions

Role-specific orientation can significantly help new hires to get a much clearer idea about what is expected from them. A great method to do is to create training sessions with games, quizzes to increase engagement. Having a long question and answer session might also help to clear doubts.

While is it difficult to welcome new hires digitally, it is not impossible. Remember that effective digital engagement is the key to employee retention.

For more such advice, feel free to reach out to moreinfo@s2m.com.au