As the global pandemic continues, and workplaces remain fully remote, new hires are being brought onto teams without ever having the chance to meet their colleagues in person. Financial Times interviews Human Capital Management Interim Academic Director Steve Safier, PhD in the article, "How Is the Virtual Recruitment Experiment Going?"
"A recent pulse report from PwC reveals only 26% of chief finance officers are now concerned about losing productivity due to remote work, compared with 63% at the outset of the pandemic," writes Patrick Mulholland. The article discusses how remote leadership can make new team members feel welcome and set them up to be productive from the outset.
One employee interviewed, Diana Del Campo, was hired as a senior analyst at The Home Depot. On her first day, she was surprised to find a FedEx box on her doorstep. The box contained her tech equipment and a welcome packet, including a branded water bottle and backpack.
New hires must be reliable, but leaders must also care for the wellbeing of the team and its constituent members. Without these qualities, it is difficult to build up trust and grant the necessary autonomy to make remote working productive and successful.
— Steve Safier, PhD, Interim Academic Director, Human Capital Management
The online workplace can be tricky to navigate, with employees experiencing "Zoom fatigue" and missing out on conversations that might have happened during a coffee break.
“Everything that needs to be done now is more intentional,” adds Dr. Safier. "It’s like dancing to an instruction manual as opposed to just dancing, and that takes more mental energy."
Read the full article in Financial Times, and learn more about the M.S. in Human Capital Management at Columbia University's School of Professional Studies.
