Virtual hiring – the new way to bring candidates on-board!

Creating a positive recruitment and onboarding experience can make a huge difference to how people feel about your company. Get it right and instantly prospective and new team members will feel valued, engaged and excited about working for your company. Get it wrong and not only can it be damaging to the individual, with heightened levels of anxiety and a lack of belonging or sense of connection, but also damaging to your brand and future hiring success.

Although recruiting may prove a challenge for many businesses due to the current lockdown and social distancing restrictions, RRTALKS is here to help guide you through some alternative hiring and onboarding tips that will ensure you continue to successfully hire new talent whilst creating a memorable employee experience.

1. First impressions really do matter

Interviewing candidates face-to-face is something we’re all familiar with. But whilst we’re adjusting to what is now known as the ‘normal’ work setup, video interviews are a great way to interact with potential new hires, providing many of the same benefits of a face-to-face interviewing – just virtually!

Video interviewing can also help remove some of the anxiety around the interview process, with people feeling more at ease in their own surroundings and having more flexibility around suitable times. 

There’s lots of free online video conferencing tools out there such as Zoom, Google Meet and Skype and these are super easy to set up and schedule.

Although this may feel alien to most, preparation will ensure a smooth video call is made. Before your interview, ensure you provide your candidates with clear instructions on how to log onto the video call whether that be via their smartphone or laptop and encourage cameras are turned on so that you can see each other for that extra human touch.

2. Bring your work culture to life

What makes your company so great to work for? Remember, an interview is also your opportunity to sell the job to the candidate.

Invite other team members onto the video call to give the interviewee the opportunity to ask questions about the team they will be part of. This is also great for your colleagues to talk about their experience when they joined the company.

Show what it’s like to work for your business and let them see the culture and environment they will be working with. Follow up the interview with a virtual tour video of your office or site as this will help candidates visualise a day in the life of the role being advertised.

3. Making an offer and stay connected during the notice period

Having finished interviewing, you’ve now found the perfect candidate and you’re ready to make an offer. Take an alternative route of communication by setting up a video call to make your offer so that you can show them how excited you are to offer them this role.

If your candidate is having to serve a notice period with their previous employer, stay connected by making the odd phone call or text and see how they’re doing. Do they need to complete any forms or other HR related paperwork before their first day? Open the line of communication up and provide the opportunity to answer any questions your new employee may have. 

When you need to send the employment contract, why not send a video message as well sharing how much you and the business are looking forward to welcoming them onboard. These small gestures of communication will show you’re genuinely interested, making the individual feel like they’re already a valued member of the team.

4. Virtual set up

You’ve now made an offer and have a new employee due to start the business soon – what can you do to make their first day run as smoothly as possible?

Create an onboarding checklist. If your new employee requires any technology such as laptops and phones or work tools including a uniform for their first day on site, think about getting these sent out to them sooner rather than later to avoid any postal delays.

What more could you do to make them feel prepared? As a nice ‘xtra’ touch, we at RRTALKS send our newly placed candidates a box of goodies including items such as branded stationery so that they prepared for their first day at work but also excited by the little surprise gift.

This may also be a great time for you to introduce your newest employee to the rest of the team. Host a video call where you can introduce key members of your team and explain their role within the business. Incorporate some fun facts about your colleagues as small ice breakers – this is a great way to introduce your company culture and soften the tone of the call to an informal meeting. 

5. Create a memorable first week

We all remember our first day at a new job, so it’s important to think ahead and put together a plan for your new employee’s first day and week. Can you create a virtual company induction? Will they need to be introduced to the business’s stakeholders? Will they require training? Do they need to spend time with other team members to understand more about their roles and the business? What projects / tasks can be set for them to work on alone and break up their days? How can you make their week interactive? These are the type of questions you need to consider when scheduling a plan.

As they won’t be able to wonder around the office and meet their colleagues, make them feel welcomed and part of the team by setting up plenty of induction video calls with their new work colleagues. Introduce a ‘virtual work buddy’, pairing your newest employee with someone in the team who’s been within the business for a while. This will allow them to start forming new working relationships as well as have someone else to offer support.

6. Keep in touch

To ease your newest employee into the business, you may want to schedule informal morning catch up video calls where you can collaborate and go through the daily plan – not forgetting a coffee! This is also your opportunity to set work tasks as well as ‘check-in’ and identify if they require extra support such as training or other resources.

Create social interactions by scheduling a team video call at the end of the week where colleagues can get together for a team quiz or catch up to see what they’ve got planned for the weekend ahead. Although most are working remotely, video calls don’t always need to be formal meetings. Creating social interaction is an opportunity for your new employees to get to know more about their work colleagues and their interests.

7. Room for personal development?

As your newest worker settles into the job, you’ll start picking up on where they need support, identifying what learning and development training they require to grow. Don’t forget they are new to the business and will need nurturing from time to time.

According to Psychology Today, 33% of employees quit their job within the first 90 days of employment, with 32% stating company culture was one of the reasons why they decided to leave. Bearing this in mind, think carefully about your current hiring and onboarding experience and the different elements to consider during the first 90 days so that your new employees feel welcome and engaged.