Many businesses still remain hesitant to hire employees remotely due to new factors at play. Challenges such as the lack of face-to-face interactions and different working environments can affect the effectiveness and efficiency of your selection and onboarding processes. But with the right tools, you can overcome the challenges of recruiting remotely and finding the best people for your teams.
Nowadays, there are numerous tools you can use, such as application tracking systems, video conferencing tools for interviews, and HR software to streamline the process.
A study by Statista shows that 92% of businesses use software solutions to hire new employees. Meanwhile, almost 76% of them use software during onboarding.
Challenges of Virtual Recruitment or Onboarding and How Software Solutions Can Help Your Business.
- Effective Communication
- Different Working Environments
- Risks of Isolation and Alienation
- Accessing Onboarding Materials
- Understanding Work Culture
1. Effective Communication
The lack of face-to-face interactions can take away many elements of effective communication. For one, it will not be easy to decipher non-verbal cues during interviews with applicants and interactions with new hires. As a result, many nuanced impressions and messages can be lost in the process.
Avoid these misunderstandings by investing in reliable and accessible communication software for your business. One must-have tool would be a video conferencing solution that will allow you to see your applicants’ faces during interviews. This can simulate the same setting as that of a traditional face-to-face sit-down interview.
Other tools you should also consider investing in are learning management systems, helpdesk software, and recruitment management software. These tools can streamline communication during recruitment and onboarding. Akrivia HCM, for one, offers all these features in one platform.
2. Different Working Environments
Recruiting and onboarding outside the office means your new hires will be working within different environments. There are numerous uncontrollable factors that can affect their performance during the process that can hinder some new hires from showcasing their full potential. Likewise, it can create an uneven playing field, especially for those hoping to gain a spot in your company.
Fortunately, you can invest in software solutions that can provide personalized recruitment and onboarding processes for your new hires. You can also conduct satisfaction surveys using software solutions to find out what works and what doesn’t during your recruitment and onboarding process. It will then analyse the various challenges that your remote employees face at home and their respective preferences to create a more conducive process for everyone.
3. Risks of Isolation and Alienation
The first days in the office are usually special. This is the time when you get to meet your teammates and bond with them. Hence, one of the challenges in the onboarding process is the risk of alienating and isolating new hires from their colleagues. The lack of human connection during remote work can hinder them from feeling welcomed.
Software solutions can reduce this sense of isolation and alienation among your remote employees by providing dynamic and interactive elements to your onboarding process. Akrivia, for one, can immediately connect your new remote employees with their teams upon hiring. This will allow them to get to know their teammates and engage with them during their virtual onboarding.
4. Accessing Onboarding Materials
One of the challenges of virtual onboarding is that all materials need to be digitized. Fortunately, there are many ways to minimize paperwork without limiting your new hire’s access to onboarding materials.
By uploading your onboarding materials and training manuals into an accessible platform, your new hires can start learning from their respective homes. Moreover, various learning materials on online course platforms are easily available for new hires and even old employees to access. With just a single click, they can start downloading the materials needed for their onboarding.
Human Resources Management System or HRMS software solutions like Akrivia HCM even provide a checklist to help new employees keep track of their progress and inform them of the requirements they need to meet during the process.
5. Understanding Work Culture
From recruitment to onboarding, your new remote employee might not have the opportunity to experience your workplace’s culture firsthand. This makes it difficult to gauge if they are the right fit for the company. Hence, this is one of the remote onboarding challenges you must overcome to have a successful hire.
Using software solutions, you can create virtual hubs where new hires can engage with other employees within your company. Having a centralized dashboard, for one, can encourage real-time interactions and sharing of experiences within the workplace. This can also simulate the atmosphere of working in an office with fellow employees. You can also invest in a virtual help desk that can provide insights into your company’s core values, goals, and culture to new hires.
Embracing Virtual Recruiting and Onboarding
At first glance, virtual recruiting and onboarding might not be as effective as the traditional hiring process. But with the right tools and strategies, you can successfully recruit and onboard new remote workers for your company. You can check out Akrivia HCM to see for yourself how software solutions can help streamline your processes.
