How to nail the hybrid hiring and onboarding process…

The hiring process hasn’t been stunted by the pandemic for early-stage tech startups. Today, we’ll walk you through the ins and outs of hiring and onboarding new employees as your teams continue to grow. We’ll cover:

1. How to manage the interview process..
2. How to streamline the process with software…
3. How to effectively onboard new hires…

Let’s jump in!

How to manage the interview process…

• Decide on the format. Make sure the type of interview, either remote or in-person, is sufficiently communicated to your candidates beforehand. This will help them plan ahead, for instance, is their internet connection stable at home? Or what is their transportation plan for coming into the office?
• Share your hybrid philosophy with candidates. If you have a hybrid guidebook, share it with candidates so they can get a feel for your process and daily operations. It’s just as important that they feel connected to the team and culture as you feel about how they’ll fit in.
• Additionally, ask how they’ll want to function on your hybrid team. Do they want to work remotely? In the office? Or both?
• Decide on how you’ll decide. What will serve you best: discussing candidates in-person or over video? There is no right answer — what works best for you team?
• Hire for hybrid. Look for candidates that will thrive in a hybrid culture: accountable, strong communicators, responsible, and adaptable.

RELATED: How to Prevent ‘Us Versus Them’ Culture for Hybrid Teams

How to streamline the process with software…

• If onboarding remotely, utilize software. We recommend checking out Lessonly. Not a fit for you? What about Coassemble or TalentLMS? All three of these resources are great for onboarding and as an added bonus, are focused on team building and company culture.
• Don’t skimp on company culture resources. Culture is one of the easiest things to lose sight of on remote and hybrid teams and takes genuine effort to maintain. Try out Culture HQ, Hey Taco!, Bonusly, or Donut. These tools will help you spur inclusivity, celebration, and connection among your team.

How to effectively onboard new hires…

• Focus on relationships. If possible, make it live and onboard as many new team members at once, cohort-style. By making it social right off the bat, you’ll instill company culture, make new members feel at-ease and welcomed, and provide a solid building block for their first few weeks.
• Ask the leadership team to join. Onboarding should be a time to focus on culture, mission-vision-values, and community. Remember, the content is key and you’ll set the right tone by having leadership present.
• Give everyone the same experience. New hires across all teams should have a similar onboarding process to spur inclusion, fairness, and consistency. Decide on a program first and then determine where the best setting will be — whether remote or in-person.
• The startup Atlassian, flies in all new hires and their immediate teams to spend their first week of onboarding together Over the week, they do onboarding activities, social events and planning/education sessions with the team. While the new hire is busy with logistics, the other teammates use it as a time to collaborate in-person. This is a great example of hybrid work — that is, in a post-vaccine world.
• Consider the buddy system. Assign each new hire a buddy [think: a seasoned member of the team]. Ask that they check-in with one another monthly. Even better, assign cross-team buddies. Who knows? This could help with cross-team problem solving and collaboration down the road!
• Nail the technical onboarding. Plan ahead and come prepared. Again, in a post-vaccine world, this is best accomplished in person.