Recruiting & onboarding employees virtually

2020 the year of virtual working - given the current working from home set up for most companies, recruiting virtually is now the new normal. There are a number of things to consider when doing so, from the initial job description through to inducting the employee.  

Traditionally to welcome a new employee you might have taken them out for lunch with the team but we all know that this isn’t always possible at present given current government restrictions.

Therefore, ensuring that you have strong onboarding processes in place will help to settle in the new employee with ease and more importantly make them feel included and part of the team. Creating a friendly welcome to a new employee means it’s likely the employee with feel valued which will in turn equal a great work output for your business.

1. Create a role profile

This should be really clear on the skills and experience you want the candidate to have. You should also include a bit about your business, what the role entails and any employee benefits applicable to the member of the staff. The more you include on the description the less time you will need to spend answering any questions. Remember this is going to be the first interaction a potential candidate has with your business and you want first impressions to be positive so ensure that the role profile reads well and is line with your business branding.

2. Advertising

You might decide that you’d rather an agency handle the process for you, although this can be costly. LinkedIn is a powerful social media tool for business and would be a great way to attract candidates to your business. To ensure you attract the right candidates and don’t become overwhelmed with the number of applications received it is important to be clear on the advert of your expectations. Including information on the advert such as the closing date, where to send their CV are useful, you may even want to have a list of questions based on the role profile that potential candidates need to prove they can meet before sending across their CV. This way you filter out any ‘time wasters’ and only attract committed and motivated candidates who want to work with you.

3. Virtual interview & questions

Zoom/ MS Teams are both great tools to use for virtual interviews. Ensure that you have an agenda for the interview to keep it structured and on time. Have a list of questions to ask the candidate (normally competency based around the role profile). At the end of the interview ensure you let the candidate know of the next steps of when they can expect to hear from you.

4. Job offer paperwork & IT set up

You’ve found the ideal candidate and they have accepted your offer. Great! My advice, get the paperwork out as soon as you can. This shows you value the role they are going be carrying out and that you are committed to the process. There is nothing worse than being told you have been successful with a role and then sitting around waiting for the paperwork to come through to make it 'official'. If applicable, you’ll then need to ensure that the new employee has any appropriate IT kit sent to their home ready for their first day.

5. Virtual Induction

This is super important. It’s always daunting starting a new job but doing this virtually could create even further anxiety so you want to make this a friendly and smooth transition for them. I’d recommend creating an induction pack for the employee, an employee handbook as such. Setting out all the key contacts in the business (HR, IT, Team Members) and providing them with any documents and network access to ensure they have everything they need in order to carry out their role.

When I’ve inducted employees virtually I always set them up daily virtual calls with their line manager as well intro calls with people within the team that they will be working with – ask your team to ensure they have their cameras on, this makes it much more personable. Setting up the new employee with a point of contact within the business i.e a virtual buddy will also support their induction process and be a sounding board for the new employee for any queries or concerns. Be sure to invite the new employee to any team meetings and perhaps consider doing something ‘social’ such as a ‘virtual pub’ on a Friday night where you and your team can get to know your new employee on a personal level too.

I hope that you find these tips useful when recruiting/ onboarding a new employee virtually.

If you’d like to find out more on how I can support you with this process, please do get in touch.

E: info@pavilionva.com

W: www.pavilionva.com

Thanks for reading!