Irish based HR professionals share their remote onboarding process. The following, is largely a product of real interviews and frank conversations about tangible means to navigate through the uncertainty of Covid-19 whilst maintaining the delivery of hiring needs in growing organisations

1. Irish based HR professionals
share their remote
onboarding process
www.itsearch.ie
March 2020
HR & RECRUITMENT ADAPTATION IN THE
FACE OF COVID-19

2. WELCOME
DAVID SHANAHAN
DIRECTOR - IT SEARCH
INFO@ITSEARCH.IE +353 (0) 1507 9276
"It’s a strange and stressful time for people across the country. Its
been well reported that unemployment numbers are set to
spike drastically with the hospitality, childcare and travel sectors
most effected.
Across IT Search’s client base, we are finding that approximately 30%
of open job roles are being put on hold for the next number of weeks,
until things stabilise somewhat. We spoke to Niall Kelly, founder of
leading technology jobs portal ComputerJobs.ie, to get his sense of
the impact of Covid-19 on the local market. He has reported a 23%
drop in new jobs advertised so far in March compared to February.
For those businesses that need to push ahead with critical hires, we
felt it may be useful to hear how other human resources leaders are
coping with their hiring and onboarding process in these most
unusual market conditions.
The following, is largely a product of real interviews and frank
conversations about tangible means to navigate through the
uncertainty of Covid-19 whilst maintaining the delivery of hiring
needs in growing organisations".

3. Case 1
HR Manager in an Irish owned E-Commerce product house with c. 120
employees in Ireland and smaller international offices:
Have you remotely on-boarded anyone – what’s your process & what did you provide
candidates with?
"These are crazy times, HR is a pretty fast-paced environment at the moment. At present we are
conducting a Google Hangout with HR initially. We cover employee induction and go through all the
contractual paperwork to make sure everything is in order. As we use Google Hangouts for the
induction, we can share our screen with the new hire to share documents with them and then send
a copy to their company email. They receive a contract pack (if not already received), induction
slides and their onboarding plan. This would give an outline of their first week. The first few days
are all about getting the person settled in & comfortable. Each person is different so depending on
how they are adapting, we would slowly start passing work over to them".
What is the communication guideline for the first few weeks?
"Once we have completed the induction we check in with the new hire and their manager separately
to see how everything is going, we do this after week 1 and on week 3. We check in with them
informally as well when we have the opportunity.
The company is fairly fluid communication-wise so we have pretty open lines of communication and
should they run into problems they can easily reach out to their manager or HR".
Have you identified any pitfalls or positives yet?
"In terms of pitfalls, most are based upon relationship building and culture. That's not to suggest
that these facets can't be built remotely however it simply takes more time. The positives include a
further reach to the talent pool and greater flexibility in terms of utilising existing team and HR
resources".
Do you have any advice to give to the SME market?
"In terms of advice, depending on the business, remote working is the way of the future so the
bigger the shift to remote working the more remote onboarding you are going to be comfortable in
doing. Get ahead of the curve and invest time now in building the processes. I would also advise on
keeping it simple to begin with. Sometimes onboarding can become over-complicated and
consequently harder to deliver".
INFO@ITSEARCH.IE +353 (0) 1507 9276

4. Case 2
Senior HR Business Partner with an ICT Service business employing c.200
staff locally. This business provides full cycle ICT services to a global
brand with c.10k user base:
Have you remotely on boarded anyone – what’s the process and what did you provide to the
candidate?
"Yes, we have successfully remotely onboarded a number of people recently and followed the below
process:
New starters are required to work on their own computer / devices and we are not allowing
people to go to the office. We don’t provide laptops for 100% of our employees or contractors.
A welcome letter is sent to the new employee via personal e-mail
I call them via WhatsApp video and help them to download Citrix receiver and google
authenticator.
As soon as they are logged in, I share my screen with them and deliver our onboarding training
materials.
100% of the HR documents such as contract, policies etc. are sent via DocuSign.
After this their manager video calls them, and initiates the department specific training for the
position
All training is currently being delivered by sharing screen and/or phone call".
What is the communication guideline for the first few weeks?
"They are added to the Staff group e-mails. The manager is responsible for this person and is
responsible to ensure that they are being assisted appropriately. We work with the teams to ensure
that they are helping to train new employees. I keep in close contact with the new employee to
gauge and ensure that they are receiving the assistance they need. I encourage the new starters to
avoid being shy and to approach people via Skype or e-mail as various needs arise".
Have you identified any pitfalls or positives yet?
"It's hard to set someone up completely remotely, particularly with initial training so I believe the
learning curve is higher. On a positive note however, we are able work fully remotely and set people
up remotely. We strive to ensure positive first impressions and show that the business is doing its
best to keep business continuity. There is a certain confidence that new starters feel from this
approach".
Do you have any advice to give to the SME market?
"Be patient Ensure clear set up processes are in existing employee's hands to avoid
miscommunication. Ensure that new access privileges (email, tools, licenses) work before the are
granted. Make it clear to the new starters that the first 2 weeks will be slow, and that they don’t need
to worry if this approach seems abnormal for them. Make it clear to new starters that you are doing
yo best to welcome and integrate them to ensure business continuity".
INFO@ITSEARCH.IE +353 (0) 1507 9276

5. Case 3
Head of HR for Irish owned software product house (RegTech). C.80
people in Ireland with international satellite offices:
Have you remotely on-boarded anyone – what’s the process and what did you provide to the
candidate?
"Yes, we shipped laptop devices directly to their homes. We sent them their IT logins in advance of
start date. We creayed a detailed, structured week 1 programme and sent their onboarding schedule
in advance of start date. Their onboarding sessions were inputted to their Gmail calendar before they
started".
What is the communication guideline for the first few weeks?
"We scheduled in all onboarding sessions virtually with all relevant stakeholders using Google Hang-
Outs where you can video chat and share screens/slide-decks etc. We organised a 'virtual new
starters lunch' with their teams on their first day. Managers then performed an end of week check-in
to assess the knowledge the new starter absorbed that week".
Have you identified any pitfalls or positives yet?
"There are some technical issues with people based outside of Ireland (e.g. working at home from
India) currently trying to gain VPN access to client environments in different continents which are
restricted".
Do you have any advice to give to the SME market?
"Think outside of the box as to how you can capitalise and change offering to adapt to new market
place".
INFO@ITSEARCH.IE +353 (0) 1507 9276

6. Remote Working Resources
There are many tools to assist in remote onboarding. Some popular tools
are listed below with their capability.
INFO@ITSEARCH.IE +353 (0) 1507 9276

7. INFO@ITSEARCH.IE +353 (0) 1507 9276
PEOPLE
ENVIRONMENT
OPPORTUNITY
IT Search is committed to supporting our clients & candidate partners at this time. Should you have any
comments, suggestions or insights to share- we'd like to hear from you with a view to releasing more
information for the benefit of the the HR, talent & business community.
Contact:
E.:
P.:
David Shanahan, Director - IT Search
david.shanahan@itsearch.ie
+353 (0)1507 9276 +353 (0) 871647625
W. www.itsearch.ie