It’s safe to say that the pandemic has radically transformed how we function. Continuing to work during these testing times has been one of the more challenging tasks, especially for the employers and the professionals who serve as the most crucial link between the employees and the employer, the HR directors and managers. It’s never been an easy task to manage a remote workforce and a sudden shift to work from home has only added to the difficulty.
HR managers need to ensure employee engagement to sustain optimum productivity, consistent communication, focus on training and development, and preserve company culture— all while boosting employee satisfaction and happiness, given the trying times we live in. To add to that, the remote working culture is here to stay even as lockdowns are coming to an end.
There are plenty of online tools that can be leveraged by HR managers to do all of the above and more. Now, we will dive into different aspects of an HR manager’s work along with examples of relevant tools to achieve them.
Recruitment and Onboarding:
Recruiting new employees from multiple different locations adds to the difficulty of onboarding. Introducing new employees to their coworkers and the company is an uphill task in remote working conditions. Therefore, it becomes imperative to ensure the avoidance of any confusion or frustration for the new employees that can arise because of the remote nature of orientation.
There is no dearth of online tools that can help HR managers streamline the process of onboarding. These include the likes of HR Cloud, Gusto, Scoro, Basecamp, BambooHR, WorkBright, etc. All of these resources are specifically designed to assist HR managers in maintaining high standards of professionalism and a smooth onboarding experience for the new employees in remote working conditions.
Employee Engagement and Communication:
When employees are better engaged and interested in the work they do, the productivity of the company increases automatically. The impediments to the same may include feelings of disconnection amongst the employees towards the employers, and with their peers. These can be direct results of a disconnect from the working culture
Aforesaid issues can be overcome by ensuring effective and continuous communication with and between the employees. Tools such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, Asana, Zoom, etc. have proven to be boons for HR managers. The only caveat here is sticking to one such tool to avoid the spread of data across mediums, creating confusion and inefficiency.
Employee training:
Training employees is probably one of the most essential undertakings of an HR manager. Newer employees need the most assistance to get up to speed in their new work environment. Training new employees to the ways of a company and their job role, or imparting task-specific micro training(s) to existing ones — the common thread connecting the two is ‘effective learning’.
Designing, tracking and imparting training to remote employees can be a complex function. Learning Management Systems(LMS) step in here to provide a viable solution to this challenge. LMS such as Auzmor Learn simplify online training for remote employees with easy training creation options, real-time results, instant insights, and specific data analysis. Tools such as Auzmor, WizIQ, iSpring, Looop, etc. help HR managers to track the individual progress of new employees along with the overall performance of the team, through customized analytics.
Right training is the first step towards creating a coherent and high-yielding workforce. The aforesaid tools act as a blessing for HR managers in equipping remote workers to perform their day-to-day tasks effectively.
Conclusion
Work from home is here to stay. Therefore, the adoption of the latest resources to smoothen the working experience without compromising on the productivity of the company is the need of the hour. HR professionals have many interesting and effective tools available at their behest to make sure that remote working conditions don’t discourage the growth and functioning of a company. The only prerequisite is a healthy deliberation before choosing the right tools from a pool of many viable options.
