We invest a lot in new hires. Generally in business, we tend to wait as long as we possibly can manage to post that job ad, and then we hold out for the perfect candidate to join our digital workforce and blend with our team. Larger organisations may have the flexibility to move faster, but they still shoulder a large cost-per-hire. Of course we want to snag the perfect candidate, but what else can we do to make sure the intimidating task is optimal?
Bringing on a new team member is a good time to take stock of your on-boarding experience and how your teams work. Whatever the case, first impressions are lasting. Lets focus on how you enable your digital workforce to get their jobs done.
You may think this one is obvious, but you would be surprised the number of organisations that don’t allow employees to access their emails from home, or on their own devices. Whether access has not been set up yet, or company policy doesn’t allow for it, it’s a common problem in the digital workforce impacting positive employee engagement. Enabling people to get back to team members, clients, partners, or members is critical in the modern age. Email is also a common storage location for notes and decision points on projects. There are many ways to control security even with BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policies, so this concern can be easily mitigated with the right tools and implementation plans.
To enable people to be effective from home or on the go, working files need to be available across any device. Dialing in to the office network via a VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a burden on employees, and unnecessary when files can live within a modern intranet, or OneDrive, Teams, SharePoint, DropBox or Box. All of these services are available anywhere in a secure fashion with apps for PC’s, tablets and mobiles.
In ‘the good old days’ many people would say that nothing beats a face to face conversation. And we agree. Gauging reactions, body language, and tone can be difficult online. In saying that, without the digital workforce being activated with video conferencing, business could have almost completely shut down during long lock down periods. So while it may not always be our first preference, it’s more than just better than nothing. Video conferencing helps make availability simple, anywhere, anytime, and from almost any device. It also helps resolves the common concentration problem many of us face when we are on a group phone call. And that is not something we want to turn our noses up at.
There are plenty of options for video call software, so invest in something that suits your requirements for cost, call quality, in-call features, and security.
Training can be a difficult hurdle to overcome. Onboarding may include reading up on HR policies, on the go system learning, task based training, and any other number of subject matters specific to your business. And you may need modified types of training for each individual role type within your organisation.
We acknowledge what an intimidating task this is. Depending on the size of the organisation, you may need a dedicated trainer/onboarding person, or to outsource your training. As such, this is a point to deliberate on, not race off an implement with the first ideas that come to mind. But you will need to deal with training eventually. It will pay off, making management and employee life so much easier when it comes to new starters.
Have you thought about providing a mobile phone or phone allowance? If we set an expectation that the digital workforce always be contactable during working hours, it may be the only fair course. Particularly important for employee communication for sales people, consultants, frontline workers, and anyone who may be on the road, the last thing we want is to put an unfair burden on our people.
If your teams work primarily on desktop computers, such as in a public service environment, providing a tablet or laptop will keep employees productive even when on the move.
We all want to give our employees the best possible first impression, as well as lasting experience with our company. Work satisfaction leads to greater productivity, and enabling staff with the right tools for the job is instrumental to achieving this.
Most importantly, be genuine. We’ve all seen the LinkedIn posts where employers shower new employees with great kit. And that is fantastic – it’s great to know you’re cared for as an individual when you’re new to a team. But all the swag in the world won’t make up for a disappointing employee experience. So make sure you start as you intend to go on.
You can also get in touch with us for an obligation free discussion on ways to implement change across your business.
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