How Can You Cultivate Relationships In A Virtual Environment?

70 percent of talent professionals surveyed by LinkedIn at the end of 2020 say that virtual hiring will become the new standard. This is due in large part to the associated time and cost savings. However, it is proven difficult to cultivate relationships in a virtual environment. 

Before the forced virtual world, a new employee would start work in an office surrounded by colleagues and company leadership. Scheduled meetings, trainings, and after work welcomes were enough for the new employee to start to assimilate to the culture and build relationships.

 If a new employee is starting mostly remote or in a half-empty office setting, then your usual scheduled onboarding meetings and training are not enough. Don’t fall into the business as usual mindset and encourage that of your new employees. You must think newly, and act differently to achieve unprecedented results for your new team members.

Intentionality is now, more than ever, required by leadership to ensure that time is allotted by their team to schedule meetings with new employees to specifically build relationships, understand their culture, and distinctions.

At Insigniam we have new hires schedule 10 “Conversation for Relationship” meetings in the first few weeks with colleagues. Despite meeting none of these people in person, I already felt as though I had built relationships with them during my partially virtual onboarding. Perhaps more importantly, these initial required conversations made me feel welcome and confident in reaching out to them and others for work-related questions right off the bat. Talk about productivity-increasing possibilities! 

Despite your clear intentional roadmap to successfully hire and onboard your new employees, there will be bumps in the road. It is imperative to acknowledge this early on. Discuss what barriers may get in the way. This will make the choice of your new hires to enroll in committing to your organization, and achieving results, much more likely. 

When I was interviewing with Insigniam, I was told what current work policies were and when they would be revisited. Openness and discussing what possible breakdowns this could cause helped me have an open mind and stay committed during my first few weeks at Insigniam. 

Hiring in a post-covid world has added some new challenges and focus points for leadership. Interviewing and onboarding candidates for your company was hard enough without the slew of virtual tools. Reveal what is limiting your possibilities, unhook from it, and boldly take action on the new hiring and onboarding future. 

What are some of your best practices to cultivate relationships in a virtual environment?