Will Onboarding Be Forever Changed?
Cassie Brown • April 13, 2020
Onboarding has changed a lot in the past month, will that continue in our new normal?
Since so many people around the world have been moved to a quarantine/shelter in place
status over the past month, many companies who are still hiring have created a new onboarding process, and it has been great to see. Even the Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency of USCIS, has eased up a little on I-9 requirements, is now allowing 'any person', including a family member or household member, to verify I-9 documents within three days of being hired. Typically companies with remote workers rely on attorneys, local workforce agencies or notaries, which comes with a fee for services. Although, USCIS did add that the company is still liable for any violations that happen as part of the verification process. BUT, what's been most interesting to me is HOW employees are being onboarded while quarantined.
I have worked in HR for over 18 years and have always been a proponent of personalized onboarding. That the handoff between the talent acquisition (TA) team and the HR business partner/hiring manager be very personal and very high-touch. If I was the hiring manager, after someone accepted an offer (that I would call to make, not the TA team), I would send a hand-written "welcome to the team' note with some company-branded items. I would also ensure that their desk was set up with all the essentials on their first day, have an org chart ready and other relevant information, meetings scheduled with other team members, and plan to have lunch with them that day as well. As the HRBP for a new hire, I would schedule time with them on their first day, go over all the required day-one activities (including I-9 verification listed above) and schedule a lunch with them for about 30 days out. I used this time as a check in to see how things were going, how the job that was described when they were hired measured up to expectations, any obstacles, etc. Very rarely did I see this type of behavior in other areas of the business, sure it was there sometimes, but never consistently. I also haven't heard that this was the norm from many of you who have shared stories with me about your onboarding experiences.
Now, what we are seeing is over and above any of these things, although remotely. The stories I've seen shared on LinkedIn and personally put a smile on my face, on everyone's face, even though it took a pandemic for some people to get to this place. CEO's who hadn't ever thought about onboarding are now invested and empathetic to that experience, to all of the employee experiences, and that is one area where HR can shine, where we have added additional value, where we can create lifelong ambassadors for our company, where we can help form the culture in an organization. I guess Maya Angelou had it right all along when she said, "People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel." How do your actions and decisions make people feel? I hope that this remains our new normal when we are all back in the office, don't you?
Thankful. In this year filled with so many unknowns and changes to the way we have to “be” with one another, it is perplexing to some to think about the things we are thankful for this year. I, however, didn’t seem to have any issue coming up with things I am thankful for in 2020. For the first time since my children were very young, (a time in our lives when everything was chaos most of the time with school, homework, after school activities, etc.), we sat around a table with each other and enjoyed dinner and “adult” conversation. My two college-aged sons came home for Spring Break in March and didn’t leave, moving to 100% remote learning and 100% in our refrigerator and pantry. We played games, had movie nights, worked on puzzles, told stories, found old home movies from when they were babies, and gained new appreciation for each other. I am thankful for this time with them. My husband and I both expanded our businesses, and while I became an expert on all things COVID, he became PMP certified. I worked on expanding my network, continuous learning, learning new industries, and mentoring others in the HR community. I am thankful that we are both working, supporting each other and supporting local businesses. We had powerful conversations with each other, with family and friends, with those who think like us and those who do not, with people we love, as our world stood divided over politics and racism. I am thankful for those who engage in respectful dialogue on these topics, who seek to understand, learn and share. We miss our friends and family we don’t get to see, and the “normal” we had been accustomed to all these years. I am thankful for the work we do to keep all of us safe, knowing that we will see one another soon, that this too shall pass. We are flexible and resilient, hopeful and compassionate, and most of all, thankful for the ability to choose how we show up every day. This week I choose to be thankful.
Don't tell me what you think/believe, show me.
As employers consider if they will need to furlough employees, lay them off, or are contemplating a reduction in force, here are some things to consider for planning purposes.