05. Onboarding Process Changing to the New Normal - 2019/20

NethmeeSW

The past few years have been like a bad dream for all of us in the whole world. COVID-19 virus which was detected in China in December 2019 spread all around the globe. Now this is what we call the negative impacts of Globalization. We were exchanging things from one country to another. Traveling to each and every corner of the world made things worst. The unseen virus already spread everywhere like the wind blows even though it was tested and found that it won't spread in the air. However, there is so much research done by now trying to figure out the ways of spreading, what countries overcame first, how and why. 

How did the Pandemic affect the Workplace?

The usual routine of people reporting to work went down with the virus spreading among everyone. People were too sick to work. Some countries executed lockdowns to avoid keeping contact with society which we also call "social distancing" in this new normal. 

According to Jebril (2020), Coronavirus is an infectious disease which was difficult to control through quarantine efforts and to use a vaccine as a protocol to maintain the spread of it. The World Health Organization came up with general guidelines and then authorized the vaccine as the only prevention method for the virus to be spread.  

Health authorities suggested,

1. Wash your hands - It is the easiest way to get into your body through touch.
2. Keep distance - To avoid contact.
3. Take care if detected as "Positive".
4. COVID-19 Vaccine - To reduce the spread of the virus

                                                                            as the general guidelines for all. 

In the Da, et al. (2022) article, it states that the option of working from home has been affecting employee life “changed” or “not changed” due to several reasons. Satisfaction with remote work is due to the reduction of transport costs, hassle-free engagement with work and technological support. However, the drawbacks were isolation, lack of control over employees, decrease in relationships between the team members, reachability and many more. 

Further, Ancillo, et al. (2021) conclude that reinvention, technology and safety are the main areas for the transformation process after the pandemic situation. The businesses having issues and weaknesses for a long time faced difficulties in facing this situation. For example, organizations that did not digitize processes had to wait until the workers report to work or they had to start investing in technology after the quarantine period. Employees who were not comfortable and did not know how to use the technology had to face complications in new working systems. Moreover, the benefits of remote working have been included in this report as advantageous for both employer and employee. Geographical existence did not impact hiring for some job roles such as data entry, content writing and managing social media. 

According to Rueda-Garrido, et al. (2020), an employee should stay home if identified with symptoms similar to covid. The contact of employees with another third party can reach up to a lot in number and the proposed framework recommends regardless of using masks, precautions and following other guidelines. The research was carried out referring to 180 publications related to work after the pandemic situation. The following “return to work” strategies were suggested.

 

Figure 1: Return to work guideline for higher-risk workers with COVID-19

Source: (Rueda-Garrido, et al., 2020)

Likewise, the research proposed lower-risk workers and close COVID-19 contacts. It states that the return to work guidelines will depend on these three conditions. The testing was reduced generally as it was a painful process in some parts of the country. Further, the equipment and availability will also decide on the number of testing done to an employee. My friend who worked at Ceylon Biscuit Limited (CBL) told me that every weekend they tested the employees conducting the PCR test. Later on, it was reduced to once a fortnight and then gradually they stopped after vaccinating all of them.  

Covid and Onboarding - How did they manage?

The new normal was about social distancing and remote work for employees using technology for convenience. All the HR processes were also done through online methods including the onboarding process. I, myself faced telephone interviews at first in my previous UK company. Then they fixed a google meet session, a demonstration and finally an onboarding meeting for all those who got selected. We had 3 weeks of training sessions where we had to learn all about the company processes, tutoring, platforms we use and teaching techniques. My job was to teach UK students from Sri Lanka, online. It was very convenient to do everything online. We used slack to communicate team members and the supervisor. All of us had our own team to work with. It was actually, fun!

However, Carlos & Muralles (2022) conducted research to find the onboarding process during the pandemic situation. The method of finding was by exploring a librarian in an academic institution through personal experiences; autoethnographic method. The traditional method of onboarding at the institute was introducing a mentor in the library, and provide stationery and work station needed. Mandatory training, orientation with platforms, spreadsheets and peer lunch out organized. Then they meet others in different departments. Moreover, the research proposed after considering the new practices at the institute after the covid pandemic situation. It was concluded as follows.

1. Schedule and reflective practices are recommended.
2. Seek feedback from the supervisor, mentor and colleagues when possible.
3. Regular meetings to brainstorm, opportunities to process, collaborate, and build relationships.
4. Acknowledge the difficult situations and make sure that you support to overcome them.

Conclusion

The situation of COVID pandemic and the seriousness were identified by the employers. All the organizations tried to take care of their employees first. Some of the organizations sponsored many tests, and treatments and provided convenient working processes to overcome this situation. Further, they made their own “return to work” policies apart from all the guidelines provided by the respective authorities. Additionally, they made their own ways of new onboarding processes which is the focus of my article. The literature I referred to has explained all of them really well. The distant relationships should be sustained through regular meetings and emotional intelligence. This will increase the trust between the employee and the employer as mentioned in the above literature by Carlos & Muralles. Therefore, the best practices recommended can be used in times like this even in the future. 

References

Ancillo, A. d. L., Nunez, M. T. d. V. & Gavrila, S. G., 2021. Workplace change within the COVID-19 context: a grounded theory approach. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, 34(1), pp. 2297-2316.
Available at: https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/434773
[Accessed 11 August 2023].

Carlos, . A. R. & Muralles, D. C., 2022. Onboarding in the age of COVID-19. International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, 48(1), pp. 33-40.
Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/03400352211035413
[Accessed 416August 2023].

Da, S. et al., 2022. To Change or Not to Change: A Study of Workplace Change during the COVID-19 Pandemic. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(4), p. 1982.
Available at: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/4/1982
[Accessed 18 August 2023].

Jebril, N., 2020. World Health Organization Declared a Pandemic Public Health Menace: A Systematic Review of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 “COVID-19”. SSRN, Issue 3566298.
Available at: https://europepmc.org/article/ppr/ppr245298
[Accessed 12 August 2023].

Rueda-Garrido, J. C. et al., 2020. Return to work guidelines for the COVID-19 pandemic. Occupational Medicine , 70(5), pp. 300-305.
Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7313801/
[Accessed 15 August 2023].