Hiring didn’t stop just because of the pandemic, but how can we make new employees feel included when most of their co-workers and even their supervisors are working remotely? Our new hires that started during the pandemic were feeling disconnected from the rest of the organization and missing interaction other than emails and Zoom meetings. We needed to take a step back and design an onboarding experience that worked online, without losing the human touch. 

In this case study session, find out how the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) changed their onboarding program by focusing on online experiences that build connections. You’ll explore how the team designed a brain-friendly experience, designed to combat Zoom fatigue, with a minimal budget. You’ll learn how to conduct networking experiences online using low-cost tools and how to build experiences that allow attendees to share their passions with others. You’ll then learn techniques for running online scavenger hunts that connect new hires with each other and also with organizational resources. Finally, you’ll investigate how to make your onboarding program work in a hybrid work environment, preparing for a partial return to in-person activities. You’ll leave this session with ideas to ignite your onboarding process and ensure your new hires know they made the right choice in working for your organization.

In this session you will learn:

• How to structure an online onboarding program so that it reduces Zoom fatigue
• How to create online networking activities that your new hires actually want to participate in
• Techniques that can encourage new employees to explore organizational resources without spending a lot of time, money, or aggravation
• How to plan ahead to have a robust onboarding experience that works in a hybrid work environment

Technology discussed:

Gather.town, Zoom, Sli.do, Kahoot, Articulate Storyline, Articulate Rise, Audacity, Microsoft PowerPoint