Philippe Gomes discusses how innovative new technology from Powell Software can help businesses meaningfully onboard and connect remote employees, immersing them within the company and its culture in just three clicks

Despite continuing challenging conditions across many business sectors, there are green shoots. LinkedIn reported how hiring had returned to pre-pandemic levels with the most in demand vacancies for Project Managers, Customer Service and Software Engineers. Employment in the UK Tech Sector is also on the rise while Covid and the move to remote working has meant companies are no longer limited by location when recruiting the best talent for their business.

While being able to widen the geographical talent pool is great news for organisations seeking skills for their future workplace, the shift to a remote or hybrid office since the global pandemic has meant many new employees across multiple sectors are now being onboarded virtually.

But how do you do this effectively and efficiently? How do you immerse a remote worker within the company culture, and emotionally connect them with their managers, mentors and colleagues when they've never physically met or been to the office? These and many more challenges are facing business owners, recruiters and HR leaders today operating in a world that's shifted to remote everything or hybrid working.

Pre pandemic, the typical onboarding process started in the office, where employees are shown to their desk, introduced to their team and given induction training. But today, the computer is now the main route to effectively onboarding the virtual worker.

And it's never been more important to get it right. According to data from the Human Capital Institute, 20% of new hires leave a job within the first 45 days after a bad onboarding experience.

Simplifying the onboarding experience

To help HR and businesses swiftly and effectively onboard new recruits, Powell Software, a company creating digital solutions built on Microsoft 365 and tools for the Digital Workplace, has launched new Onboarding Templates.

The new solution creates personalised and powerful onboarding environments for employees in minutes, accessed through the company intranet and Teams. It enables them to be immersed into the company culture quickly while meaningfully connecting them with managers, mentors and colleagues, all from a distance.

With Powell's new Onboarding Templates, employers can create the following ‘personal' spaces for new employees in just three clicks of their mouse, enabling them to communicate in private, connect to a buddy and manager, and to access the specific documents they need to get started:

  • A customised intranet page with a dedicated onboarding section that includes materials such as key documents, company contact information, welcome messages, tips to get started, corporate information, training documents and more.
  • A personal Teams space that includes a 30-day plan, dedicated channels for communicating with specific managers, colleagues and access to all department-specific materials.

When a remote employee logs onto their computer they will be greeted with these dedicated spaces and for new joiners, they'll have all the information they need to get started on the job. The Teams channel further allows them to connect with their manager and HR, asking questions not covered elsewhere.

Optimising governance

Adhering to IT governance is critical. Powell's Onboarding Templates cut the time-consuming process of creating Teams and intranet pages to align with the organisation's established governance and naming conventions, down to minutes. Less time is spent setting employees up in the digital workplace, allowing them to focus on building meaningful internal relationships and acclimatise faster.

The future digital workplace

The hybrid workplace looks set to be the future and as companies continue to expand and grow, onboarding employees remotely will need to rival in-person onboarding. Powell Software's new onboarding templates make the process straightforward and simple. First impressions matter, and ensuring new employees have a good start is essential to keeping them connected, engaged and highly productive for the future benefit of your business.

Philippe Gomes is UK and Ireland Country Manager at Powell Software
Please click here to learn more about Powell Software's Onboarding Templates