This year has been a challenge for many small business owners. One of the greatest struggles is hiring new employees. Some companies are bringing on new employees to fill the void of employees that have left due to COVID-19.
This has been an element of confusion and fear with the onboarding process and talent acquisition to help new employees feel confident and comfortable with their new job.
Many employees are still working remotely after seven months of restrictions. Hiring managers or owners should ask questions about the candidate’s resourcefulness, autonomy, self-motivation, proactive collaboration, and written and verbal communication skills. These will be skills that are essential when working remotely.
Physical Contact Concerns
Even as restrictions continue to be eased throughout many states, many employees are going to be concerned about physical proximity during the work day. New candidates may also be concerned about physical contact or proximity during the interview process. We all have had to adopt new habits as handshaking was customary, but now is frowned upon.
Get on-board with alternative interviewing methods. Many companies can get started with platforms like Zoom or Microsoft Teams for the interview process of new candidates.
When interviewing in person, make sure their is adequate social distancing during the interview and throughout the building.
Hiring Pace
Your onboarding process is going to look different this year. On-boarding normally is done in person, but this year remote onboarding can be very helpful for you in hiring new employees. Take steps to ensure that your company culture is properly conveyed during your virtual meeting.
Safety Is Important
Safety is on the minds of most people today. Levels of concern will vary as this year continues with its COVID-19 struggles. Employers today need to be focused on easing fears for employees and protecting employees health information. Maintaining the privacy of medical information is still a mandate and you may have to outsource that human resources service to stay compliant.
Employers who are conducting screenings should think through how to protect employees and the results from screenings. These results can cause harm to the employee and others if not handled with care. When you perform screenings, you should go to a private area, that way if there are any symptoms, it is kept private.
Employers should also be cautious about how they communicate information pertaining to screenings and positive test results to employees. Refrain from identifying potentially infected employees to others. That information needs to be shared with public health officials and not around the office.
