A Complete Guide On Virtual Hiring & Onboarding In Indonesia

Virtual hiring and onboarding in a hybrid era

Virtual hiring refers to any stage of the recruitment process that takes place remotely – replacing face-to-face interactions between candidates and their recruiter or hiring manager.

Virtual hiring has attained a new significance in a post-pandemic work environment as it helps employers access a global talent pool at an affordable cost. For employees, the benefits include increased flexibility, better work-life balance, lack of commute, and in many cases, better compensation.

But hiring is just the start of the employee journey. Onboarding is just as important, if not more.

A study by Gallup pointed out that only 12% of employees surveyed said their company did an excellent job with onboarding. Within that 12%, employees were three times more likely to have been satisfied with their current position.

Also, 71% of the people surveyed said they were not prepared to excel in their new role, thus leaving a lot of room for companies to improve.

Seven reasons why a great virtual hiring and onboarding experience matter

1. Reduces Employee Turnover
   

   The proper employee onboarding process can help reduce turnover by:

   • Showing new hires the relevance of being included in a team
   • Helping them get up to speed on company culture and policies
   • Providing a clear understanding of expectations and performance standards
   • Showing them how to contribute and be successful in their role

    

   Unsurprisingly, according to statistics compiled by Click Boarding, 69% of employees are more likely to stay with a company for three years if they experience great onboarding.

   Read more on how Pal – a fast food chain restaurant, uses a great onboarding experience to keep turnover at just 1.4 per cent >

2. Boosts employee engagement
   

   Onboarding ensures that the employees are familiar with the company’s goals, values, and culture. While this process can be time-consuming and challenging for employers and employees, employee engagement has been proven to correlate positively with onboarding effectiveness. The more effectively an employer engages their new hire, the more likely they will be satisfied by their work experience.

   An effective onboarding experience also allows the company to boost employee engagement by creating a nurturing environment between the new hire and the management.

3. Enhances proficiency
   

   Onboarding can improve work proficiency by helping employees get up to speed on how to use the company’s software, equipment, and systems.

   Good orientation with the help of peers can help employees become more proficient in their work down the lane by giving them a head start on various aspects of the job, such as processes and tools.

4. Reduces costs
   

   Good onboarding is essential in reducing the cost of hiring and retaining employees. An article in ‘Inc.” states that the costs to replace an employee can be as much as 150 per cent of the annual salary. Costs that can be measured include money paid to recruiters for interviewing and hiring new candidates, onboarding costs, etc.

   Apart from the visible costs, there are also many intangibles that must be considered that result in lower morale or productivity.

5. Ensures a positive candidate experience
   

   The candidate’s experience is the employee journey’s first and most important touchpoint. It is when a potential employee can learn about your organization, meet your team, and get a feel of working for you. A positive candidate experience is crucial to forging a solid employer brand. A positive candidate experience is also the key to converting your best candidates into employees, while a poor candidate experience can prevent them from dropping out of your hiring process.

   An example of a good candidate experience is DigitalOcean.

   In an era where recruiters are opaque about their dealing with candidates, they prioritize transparency at every stage of the candidate experience. This establishes trust and builds a strong relationship between the recruiting team and the candidates they’re in contact with.

   Apart from transparency, they have created a knowledge hub especially to handle questions from candidates throughout the interview process.

   Steps like these show candidates that you care about their experience and save time for recruiters and help them attract more candidates, thanks to positive reviews on sites such as Glassdoor.

    

   

   (Source: Digital Ocean)

6. Enhances your Company Culture
   

   By cultivating culture from the beginning, a good onboarding experience helps your new hires understand company culture, fit in, and be more likely to succeed in their new role Employees that relate to and believe in their company’s mission and value will not only be happier, but more productive as well.

   Getting off on the right foot with culture-focused onboarding is not only about discussing values and missions but also an opportunity to set clear expectations, foster engagement, and open communication lines — from the start.

7. Increases productivity and boosts retention
   

   New hires typically need time to come up to speed to reach the required output on productivity, sometimes up to a year from getting hired, as getting to know an organization and building relationships takes time. Proper onboarding reduces this time, helps new hires quickly acclimate to the organization, and facilitates employee relationship-building. According to SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management), organizations with a standard onboarding process experience 50% greater new-hire productivity.

Best Practices when it comes to virtual hiring and onboarding

• Preboarding

  • Hire for company culture and skills, not location
  • Mail information to the employee – about the organization’s structure, benefits, hierarchy, vision, and so on
  • Send an onboarding kit to the employee. This might include company-branded t-shirts, notebooks, and other company merchandise
  • Match the new employee with a buddy who helps the new hire acquaint themselves with the company, team, and so on

• Technology

  • Ensure the employee has all it takes when it comes to IT hardware and other miscellaneous items, such as furniture, to comfortably work from home
  • Identify and procure software that will enable employees to conduct and/or participate in virtual meetings and help them succeed in remote work. This includes Zoom, WebEx, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and other collaborative software
  • In addition to hardware and software needs, create digital versions of documents such as benefit enrollment forms, employee handbooks, etc., for faster onboarding

• Orientation

  • Create a series of short videos/ppts on training topics that can be sent to the new hire daily to complement virtual sessions.
  • Clearly align the expectations with the employee on the number of hours, role, and so on
  • Sort out documentation before the employees officially start
  • Introduce them to as many team members as possible and get the team involved in the process as well so that both the candidate and the team members can get acquainted with each other
  • Offer training and learning opportunities in your LMS (Learning Management System) software to help them succeed in their role

• Engagement

  • Use gamification during onboarding to engage new hires
  • Encourage coworkers to join virtual meetings with video to allow new employees to put faces to names.
  • Organizing virtual happy hours where employees can interact with new hires in an informal and relaxed environment

• Metrics

  Use metrics to effectively measure your hiring and onboarding strategy. The metrics to track include and are not limited to:

  • Time-to-productivity – Time taken for a new hire to get up-to-speed and contribute positively to the organization
  • Turnover/retention rates – Measure turnover/retention rates to improve your onboarding program
  • Retention threshold – Track the point at which most new employees tend to exit the organization
  • New-hire surveys
  • Employee satisfaction and engagement
  • Informal feedback