Try these 7 best practices to recruit and onboard a hybrid workforce

From making work from home a necessity to introducing the hybrid workplace concept to businesses, COVID-19 has changed the way businesses functioned. 

While many organisations still continue to work from home, others have favoured hybrid working arrangements. A hybrid workplace arrangement offers employees the chance to work from home as well as from the office. According to a study by Stanford, 55 percent of respondents want to spend some time in the office and some time at home. 

On one hand, this transition is making it easy for businesses to operate; on the other, it’s making things quite difficult for people leaders or HR leaders. Managing a hybrid workforce is a challenge in itself and on top of that, remote hiring is complicating things for HR managers. Hiring a hybrid workplace comes with its own set of challenges, including conducting the interviews in one sitting, technology issues, time zone differences, an overwhelming onboarding process.

However, with the right approach and tools, one can navigate through this sea of recruitment challenges. Here are some of the best practices to recruit and onboard a hybrid workforce. 

Automate your hiring

Technology has made it extremely easy to recruit candidates from anywhere. Automation of mundane hiring activities, especially data collection and onboarding, makes the hiring process more effective and streamlined.

An applicant tracking system makes it easy for recruiters to source, screen, and shortlist candidates. It also enables automated interview scheduling, which avoids frustration among candidates and improves the candidate experience. One can also list jobs on various platforms in one go.

Generally, an ATS is integrated with multiple job sites, which makes it really easy for recruiters to reach a wider talent pool. 

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Enable transparent communication

As physical interaction is not possible in remote working environments, communicating effectively with the candidate should be your top priority. Several tools such as Zoom and Google Meet make it easy for you to communicate with potential hires.

Use these tools to conduct one-on-ones, interviews, and keep in touch with your new hires. When you communicate effectively, there is less confusion and more collaboration.

So focus on communication, not only during the hiring process but also after your candidate has been turned into a full-time employee. This helps in driving engagement and improving onboarding experiences. 

Explore different job platforms 

It’s time to bid adieu to old-school methods of hiring where the HR asks employees to refer someone to fill in a post in the company. Today, technology is giving you many opportunities to connect with many great talents.

Don’t just limit your job ads to a single platform. Instead, list your jobs on multiple platforms and reach the best candidates. You can do so with the help of an applicant tracking system, where you just have to create a job and it would be posted on various platform, including job sites and social media. What makes it more exciting is the fact that you can do all this with the touch of a button. 

Widen the hiring net

Don't limit your talent pool to your immediate local geographic area. Your organisation should be open to hiring people from all walks of life. This type of hiring strategy helps you attract a more diverse group and hire the right people.

This not only adds to your culture or diversity, but also strengthens your brand image. When you have people from different backgrounds both you and your teams learn a lot of different and new things. This creates a healthy work environment, even if it’s a remote one. 

Create structure 

Don’t embarrass yourself in front of your new hire by making last-minute arrangements. Always be prepared to welcome your new hire. Create a well-defined structure for your new team member for the first couple of weeks.

Share all necessary information, introduce them to their teams and company policies, make them familiar with the rules and work ethics, and if they can come to the office for a couple of days so that they can have all the necessary information to thrive in their new role. 

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Be clear on what you expect

When employees don’t have clarity on what is expected of them, there tends to be chaos and bad experiences. These experiences might lead to a high turnover rate. Therefore, always communicate plans and expectations with as much clarity as possible.

A recruiter must always focus on creating a clear and detailed job description. The right job description must clearly reflect the duties and responsibilities of the position.

You can also set clear KPIs and align those with OKRs to ensure that the candidates are clear on their job responsibilities. This helps candidates know if they are eligible for the position or not. Even after they are hired, it’s a good idea to regularly explain to new hires how their contributions are going to impact the company’s growth. 

Help foster internal team relationships

Remote working can make an employee feel alienated. No matter how much technology has evolved, nothing that can beat the importance of human connection or touch. However, as ensuring employees’ safety is the topmost priority for business right now, physical team interaction might not be a good idea.

Therefore, you must work on enhancing your virtual team networking experiences. Ask team leaders to hold regular one-on-ones, introduce the new team member to other employees in the organisation, ask the new hires to participate in virtual team activities, and always keep your communication channels open. 

These are some of the strategies you can use to nurture your hybrid workforce. Along with these practices, businesses must reinvent their technology strategies to make sure every function is running smoothly, every employee is engaged, and every process is streamlined. You can build a diverse, skilled, and high-performing team with the use of the right technology, practices, and approach. It’s possible; it’s always been possible.