April 2, 2020

A guide to remote onboarding

4 min read

The current climate presents a unique challenge for recruitment around the world. If your company is still hiring during the pandemic, you’re likely going about it in a slightly different way.

We’ve compiled some useful insights for moving your practices online so you can stay business as usual in these unusual times. We look forward to sharing these insights with you over the coming weeks.

A Guide to Remote Onboarding

While much has changed since New Zealand entered a nationwide lockdown on March 26, we know that not every business needs to, or can afford to, completely halt their hiring activity. For some employers, specific roles may be crucial to maintain, support and grow the company during these uncertain times, and for others, hiring new employees is more important than ever.

Given that virtual recruitment is swiftly becoming the norm, it’s essential to consider the impact this will have on onboarding as we move forward. Hiring managers should be preparing to pivot and adopt virtual onboarding for their nationally distributed remote teams.

An engaging and efficient onboarding experience becomes even more important during a crisis. As companies strive to maximise the success of new hires, it’s important to ensure that valuable time spent recruiting isn’t squandered, and that teams have productive new staff members as quickly as possible.

A well planned and structured onboarding strategy enables organisations not only to train, engage and build relationships with new starters but to also ensure new employees feel welcomed, valued and confident about their decision to join the company.

Prior to Employment

One of the early defining moments in any employer-employee relationship is the point of job offer. If the candidate is the right person for the role, hiring managers need to communicate that as soon as possible. Once the offer is accepted, it’s important to ensure that all pre-employment admin duties are completed.

In addition, to minimise the risk of new recruits backing out before they are set to commence the role, it is essential for mangers to reach out to their new staff members prior to their start date to get to know them and also facilitate an introduction to their new team members.

None of these factors change just because you’re working from home – admin tasks can be completed electronically and getting to know the team can be done via technology using email, phone or video calls. That introductory coffee can certainly still be done virtually, as can Friday drinks!

Orientation

To ensure that new starters feel comfortable, welcomed and supported, managers can facilitate relevant team introductions and socialisation. Write down what you would normally do when there’s a new starter in the office, and instead create a diary of virtual activities and introductions.

Keep in mind that there isn’t a substitute for seeing someone’s face when you first meet them so encourage these meetings to be face-to-virtual-face introductions over video chat.

Companies also need effective logistics in place to ensure that their new starters have the necessary equipment and technology to do their jobs. Any company procedures, including data privacy and health and safety, must be adapted to accommodate a remote working environment (if they don’t already do so), and new employees need to be introduced to these policies (as should existing employees if you’re updating your procedures).

Likewise, any relevant training and compliance requirements should be communicated to the new starter as soon as possible. Working from home, in relative peace and quiet, may a make it easier for new employees to complete these modules – and a lot of organisations already have training and compliance set up online. But this isn’t always the case if employees are juggling family responsibilities, so be sure to offer flexibility here and check in with your new starter to understand their personal situation.

Ongoing Support

If the new employee will not be the hiring manager’s direct report it is imperative to communicate the importance of one-to-one time with their manager. You may assume that your managers will be aware of this but keep in mind that leadership is an iterative practice.

Regular check-ins and ongoing training are important elements in any onboarding strategy. Keeping that in mind, new employees who have only ever worked independently will most likely require more check ins as they learn the ropes. These check ins are essential to set objectives for learning, interactions and productivity.

Some would say that company culture is established and nourished in the office environment, however, it is possible to maintain a good culture and share it with new starters while working remotely. To do this remotely, it is essential to act and build a culture supported by technology. If your team has a culture of weekly get-togethers, do the same, but online.

Absolute IT

March 16, 2020

How to nail a video interview

3 min read

Many job seekers would rate a video interview harder than a face to face interview. In a video interview it can be hard to read the person interviewing you or you are not sure how you are coming across.

But it is a reality that in today’s digital world a lot more interviews and meetings are conducted online. To help you nail it, we have put together a short video interview checklist.

Make sure you have a professional username.

Fluffywuffy is an appropriate name that your partner can call you but it does not scream ‘best candidate for the job’ as a username. Create a professional account with an appropriate name and avatar for your job hunting interviews and meetings.

Dress the part, treat it the same as a face-to-face interview.

As 90% of the cues we give are non-verbal it is important that you look professional. Make sure your hair is neat and combed, and men, if you are sporting a beard – ensure it is neat and trimmed. As it is only your upper body that is showing some people will wear a formal top with their PJ bottoms– BUT remember something can go wrong and you may have to get up to adjust the PC or stop to pick up a dog that suddenly runs into the room.

Prepare your surroundings to reflect a peaceful, neat and business-like setting.

Make sure that the room is neat and tidy and if possible, choose a room with a door that you can close to shut off any outside noise. On that note – if you have kids or pets, ask a friend or family member to babysit for that time, feed the pets beforehand and switch your mobile phone to silent to minimise interruptions.

Maintain eye contact.

Be aware that if you look around away from the camera or stare into space that it can look as though you are not engaged and even bored. Look at the person on the screen and treat them as though they are across the table from you.

Remember to smile.

It is harder to smile when you are not in a face-to-face meeting, but keep in mind to smile as it puts people at ease and helps to make a good impression.

Do a tech test beforehand to avoid the frustration of a tech glitch.

You are going to be nervous enough for the interview, so do a test prior to the interview to ensure that all your hardware and software is running smoothly.

Handle tech glitches with grace.

IT happens, do not swear, get flustered or angry – just stay calm and hang up and try to reconnect again. Also, draw attention to a tech problem immediately, you don’t want to answer a question that you couldn’t really hear and it shows that you address problems as they arise – a trait that employers value.

Avoid talking over the interviewer.

This can be hard when there is a time-lag so make sure that the other person has finished talking before you respond.

Prepare, prepare, prepare.

Do a practice-interview with a friend and record it to review your responses and pick up on any funny mannerisms in front of the camera that you should take note of.

For more helpful advice and job hunting resources visit our Tips and Advice section.

Absolute IT