5 min
Head of the Customer Relations Department BDO Unicon Outsourcing
When the lockdown began in Russia, all business processes, including the hiring and the onboarding of staff, stopped to be carried out at the office.
During the forced remote working mode, BDO Unicon Outsourcing’s Customer Service Department carried out 15 interviews and found three employees. Yulia Barnatovich, Head of the Department, shares her new experience in searching for the employees and tells what changes one needs to be prepared for.
MAKE UP YOUR MIND TO NEW CIRCUMSTANCES
Today, many experts say that the job seeker’s market has turned into the employer’s market, but this is not quite correct. Indeed, during the pandemic, companies reduced their costs, attempted to automate their processes and tracked duplicate functions more closely. However, they were in no hurry to part with their key employees. Therefore, we can hardly say that a lot of highly qualified professionals have come in the market during the crisis. I advise the employers to be aware of the need to additionally train newcomers to the team and not to entertain the illusion that it is possible to find cool professionals who have found themselves in a hopeless situation for less money during the crisis.
UPDATE YOUR RECRUITMENT CHECKLISTS
After the restrictions have been lifted, not all companies are in a hurry to go back to the office: some of them are expecting a new surge of the coronavirus infection and others have identified benefits of remote work and decided to abandon the office forever. In any case, the approach to staff recruitment has changed, albeit not greatly. Therefore, I recommend revising your approach to the staff recruitment.
We decided to give up a part of our office spaces, and therefore many of our employees began to work remotely. Although the current transfer to the so-called remote work has turned out to be a least-evil solution for the employees, nevertheless, we would like to know that our new team members have already prepared to the new circumstances. In addition to the usual questions that we asked at the interview earlier, now we clarify whether the professional’s workplace is suitable for this type of work, how comfortable he/she will be with the new working mode.
We began to take a closer look at how the job seeker copes with challenges. E.g., we ask him/her to imagine that a customer calls him and shouts that his/her workmates have once again made a lot of mistakes and this must be brought to a stop. In the remote work environment, one cannot quickly approach the department employees and find out what could have happened the day before, but one needs to respond to the allegations as quick as lightning.
One more important issue should be noted: as in the case of our employees, we saw that it was difficult for someone to commence work in the new format. Crisis situations are always stress, and as it has turned out, not everyone is ready to it. Therefore, now we are looking for anti-fragility and self-organization in addition to customer focus and other important skills that a customer service professional must have.
REVISE YOUR SELECTION CRITERIA
In addition to the appearance and the ability to answer questions correctly that are appreciated at conventional face-to-face interviews, preparation of the job seeker for the interview has always been important. Now we began to pay more attention to other aspects, in addition to whether the potential employee has learned something about the company, whether he/she has carefully read the job opportunity text. The place that the job seeker has chosen, to what extent he/she is prepared technically, speaks a lot. E.g., one of the job seekers connected to an interview from a shopping mall. People walked around, there was music, and the emergency evacuation began in the shopping mall. We stopped that interview 15 minutes after it started and were not willing to continue it.
We pay attention as well whether the job seeker has connected in advance to check the sound and connection quality or he/she has begun to adjust the location of his/her camera and to try solving technical issues after the start of the interview.
DON’T FORGET ABOUT THE ONBOARDING PROCESS
If you decide to hire an employee, do not forget that, despite the comfortable home environment, he/she needs the same onboarding in the team as a person who comes to the office. On the first working day, I write a letter to all department employees to welcome a new team member, and later, when it is convenient for everyone, we meet in Teams, Skype or Zoom with video connection to learn more about each other. Though today we cannot walk the employee through the office and introduce him/her to the employees of other departments, but we understand that the newcomer still needs onboarding and help at the first stages of his/her work. The new employees of our department note that the support of workmates that they have in the course of onboarding is very important. The words “workmates will always help, advise, support” that are said at the final call with an HR representative after 3 months of work have a deep meaning.
We have transferred our onboarding workshop to the online format as well. Now, a representative of the HR Department and Heads of other Departments meet with the newcomers in Zoom-е and talk in more detail about the company’s work. We try to make the participation as comfortable as possible, so participants can ask questions by turning on their microphones and cameras. This is how we imitate face-to-face contact.
Do not forget to solve the equipment issue in advance. In the context of remote work, the employee will have to independently provide himself/herself with high-speed Internet and a desk, but the device to work must be provided by the employer. Make sure that the remote access to the necessary resources has been granted to the newcomer and all necessary software has been installed on his/her device. Do not forget to send a list of phone numbers and e-mail addresses that the newcomer may need without delay, i.e.: the IT Service, Administrative Department, HR Department, etc.
Despite the lifting of restrictions, it will hardly be possible to return to the usual pace of life. The pandemic has materially changed the business processes, among other things, the work of Human Resources Departments. Therefore, I recommend that companies take a closer look at their approaches to searching, hiring and onboarding their employees and adjust them subject to the current requirements.
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