With Lockdown number 2 in England, companies are having to adapt once again to the restrictions on working in an office environment. One of the most frequently asked questions we received during the last lockdown was

“How do we onboard new team members if we can’t have them in the office?”

We put together some tips on how to onboard successfully during the lockdown. It can be tough for both the employer and the employee but these tips will help you break down the barrier:
 
Make use of Video conferencing
Arrange regular conferencing calls with your new employee leading up to their start date and thereafter. This will help you to build a relationship and keep the two-way communication flowing.

Go digital with the paperwork
Going digital with paperwork is the way forward! It’s not a great time to be stood in a socially distanced post office que to send HR documents.

Use online/interactive training
All training can be conducted with online courses or by video conferencing with the screen sharing facility.

Team and office introductions
Team introductions and office tours can all be done virtually to make the new employee feel like part of the team.

Technology
Make sure all technology is set up and ready to go. If your employees need certain software or access to shared files you should make sure this is all done ahead of the start date.

Send gifts
Sending a gift on their first day would be sure to make them feel like part of the team. Branded notebooks, pens, a branded mug are some examples of items you could send to welcome them to the company. We have recently used Square Fish Events to send out party packages to our team and we couldn’t recommend them enough.

Set clear tasks
Be sure to give your new employee a clear set of tasks, this will outline what you expect from them.

If you would like help with your recruitment/onboarding processes please feel free to give us a call on 01925 377 878 or email info@peelsolutions.co.uk for more information on the services we offer.