COVID-19 changed the way we do business. For businesses that were able to stay open, working remotely became a requirement rather than a luxury or an experiment. Many companies struggled to adapt, as all business processes had to be adapted to fit the new reality. Many other businesses had already begun the shift to a paperless, cloud-based workflow. As the pandemic continues, and after it is over, all companies will have to decide how to future proof their business should lockdowns and social distancing strike us unexpectedly again. In this post, we’ll talk about some essential tools to keep the HR side of your business, particularly the hiring and onboarding of new employees, operating smoothly even when person-to-person meetings aren’t possible. 

Introducing the Onboarding Wizard

Perhaps the most difficult aspect of the traditional hiring process to do remotely is employee onboarding. While forms can be filled out and submitted electronically, most workplaces still rely on manual paperwork and in-person training. Thankfully, the technology to move past those limitations and into a fully digital, remote work friendly, cloud-based solution is available now. Let’s have a look at how the onboarding solution in our suite of HR products can benefit your business:

• Go Paperless — Going paperless and storing all of your documents in the cloud makes them easy to find and is better for the environment. It also means that all of your paperwork can be completed remotely. With our HR tools, all the forms you need to manage your employees are available in digital format. They will be available in a single, easy to search database.
• Use I9 and E-Verify — Internal business documents aren’t the only thing that will benefit from digital versions. You’ll also be able to utilize I9 and E-Verify to handle key interactions with the government without anyone needing to fill out a paper form. 
• Improve Efficiency — Traditional processes often rely on multiple databases spread across multiple software programs and typically require manual entry for some of the data. Bringing everything into one unified, digital platform, means that data is entered once and then propagated to every system that needs it. The result is a process that is more efficient, less prone to human error, and easy for new hires to use without ever having to make an in-person visit to your offices.
• Remain Compliant — Another big advantage of having all your forms stored in one, digitally searchable database is that it makes compliance much easier. If your company is audited and you need to prove an employee’s eligibility to work, you’ll be able to quickly pull up that information. Workflow automation will ensure that all the forms you need to have completed have been submitted and stored, eliminating the risk of costly oversights. 
• New Hire Checklist — There can be a lot for a new employee to remember when they start a new job. There are forms to fill out, training to take, meetings to attend, and other onboarding processes that can be hard to keep track of. With our onboarding system, new hires will have a simple way to check which tasks they’ve completed and which still need to be done. 
• Online Learning — Speaking of training, it’s still one of the things that most companies do in-person. But the same type of technology that allows college students to attend class remotely can be used to power your onboarding education needs. Right from their new hire checklist, employees will be able to navigate to tutorials, video lessons, and supporting documents that will provide them all the information they need to do their jobs effectively. 

Remote Talent Acquisition Made Easy

You can’t onboard a new employee until you’ve hired one. After hiring a top-notch employee, you must do your best to retain them, so they are not lured away by a competitor offering a better deal. Our powerful cloud-based HR tools include tools that aid in the process of finding, and keeping, the perfect employees to fill your available positions. 

Most companies are already using online job boards to find talent. Often though, these job postings are managed manually. After a potential employee responds to one, interviews must be set up. With our tool, hiring managers will have a single access point from which to create job postings across multiple job boards and manage applicants and interviews. Powerful analytics will allow you to determine which job sites perform better and analyze your job postings so that you can maximize your job search costs just as you would your ad spends.

Applicant’s lives will be made easier as well, with easy-to-use, digital tools for submitting their resume or signing up for a job fair, right from the comfort of their home or wherever they have access to a mobile device. By utilizing the same suite of tools for their application process as their other interactions with HR, such as the onboarding process discussed above, you will improve your employer branding and make yourself look more professional in the eyes of your new hire.

The final piece of the puzzle is successfully managing your new hires and retaining your top talent. This is made especially difficult in a remote work environment, because face-to-face interactions, often relied upon to gauge an employee’s performance and attitude, are missing. Analytics come to the rescue here as well, providing the transparency needed to respond to employee needs. Combine that with intelligent algorithms and you’ll be well positioned to forecast the success or failure of each job, giving you the ability to identify and troubleshoot problem areas before they cost you an employee. 

Conclusion

With remote work becoming more common, and in some cases, necessary, relying on in-person HR technologies creates a problem. Even in times when everyone is back at work and in-person meetings are feasible, a cloud-based HR solution takes pressure off of staff and gives management tools to more effectively do their jobs. To see how our tools can help your business, we invite you to check out our demos. Whether you are interested in our onboarding solution, the talent acquisition tools, or one of our other great HR-related products, you’ll find easy to use demonstrations on our website.

ABOUT PLATINUM GROUP

Platinum Group is a full service human capital management (HCM) resource that allows businesses to manage their payroll and benefits compliance, track time and attendance, and conduct other human resources functions in a way that maximizes efficiency and eliminates redundancies. This is made possible by means of our platform, iSolved. For more information about Platinum Group, or to schedule a demo of iSolved, please visit our website.