In this new era, when working remotely is the new normal, welcoming new employees at a distance and making them feel included in a virtual team can be a challenge. However, there are ways to do it, just be creative!
There are several ways to onboarding an element that has just arrived at the company: whether through a welcome package with funny objects, information about the company and the team, organizing a team activity, or even an integration lunch in a more casual environment. However, in a virtual team, it can be a little more difficult.
At distance, receiving a new employee is a task that takes on even more importance, so that he/she feels included in the team as soon as possible. Although this reception is easier to do in person, remotely, it isn’t an impossible task! Nowadays, with technology advances and remote work platforms – Teleperformance Portugal has created a platform where it is possible to carry out 100% of the work in a remote environment – new employees can begin to meet their virtual team from the first day, no matter how far away they are.
We leave you some suggestions on how to welcome new employees into a virtual team.
Video call with the whole team
There is a big difference between seeing people’s faces and knowing their email addresses. To start, schedule a video call with the entire virtual team, where the new employee can introduce himself and speak to all his colleagues. This allows the new employee to associate a face and personality with the names, which is important when starting a new job.
If scheduling a video call with the entire virtual team is complicated, if there are many elements, schedule smaller team calls so that the new employee can be introduced to all relevant colleagues with whom he will work more regularly or directly. Small gestures like this can help a lot to make a new employee feel part of the community, even if in a virtual way.
Invite him to social media
Most teams, whether they are on remote work or not, use various social platforms to interact and software to work remotely. Many of these teams have channels dedicated to topics more or less related to work, such as Whatsapp, Slack or Microsoft Teams. Invite the new employees to these channels as soon as possible, so that they feel integrated. If your virtual team does not yet have any social channels configured, it is a good idea to do so. Allowing employees to have a space to talk about non-work-related issues will help to create a feeling of camaraderie in the office, despite a virtual setting.
Organize team activities regularly
Whatever the business area, the move to remote work can transform a work environment, which can be complicated. Employees need to interact with each other to work to their highest potential possible. One way to increase the morale of a virtual team and bring its members closer together is to organize group activities virtually and regularly. For example, ask each team member to “disguise” themselves as a famous personality and allow others to guess who they are. Or ask each team member to submit two truths and a lie and ask others to guess what the lie is. This will help to create internal jokes and a warm and friendly atmosphere in a virtual team. Teleperformance has a dedicated team – TP Club – to carry out activities for the integration and interaction of the company’s employees: The “Nations Days” initiative celebrates, through games and fun challenges, the nationalities and culture of each of the employees.
Schedule “Coffee calls”
Organize a video call to drink coffee and where will not be allowed to talk about work. Here, the conversation must remain social, preventing employees from talking about work and, instead, keeping them talking about themselves. The conversation can include topics like family, travel, hobbies, etc. Another practice may be to set up these calls between alternate employees weekly. Thus, there is more knowledge of the elements of the virtual team. The integration of a new employee through some calls for “coffee” will be a good integration solution in the beginning.
Don’t forget the company culture
The company’s culture is important to integrate day-to-day responsibilities. It gives the employee more information about the company and other less concrete details. Associate the new employee with a specific colleague with whom they can ask questions in this area and who they can ask for help more closely. It is easy to forget the culture of mutual work in a virtual team.
Don’t forget that an effective onboarding process increases productivity, engagement and retention, and almost 70% of employees are likely to remain in the company for three years if the integration is done memorably.
Despite these troubled times, not all companies stopped their recruitment processes, as certain functions can be essential to sustain and grow businesses in times of uncertainty. For some sectors, hiring remains essential, as is the case with Teleperformance, which continues to have several vacancies available.
If you are looking for a job, visit our site.
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