four Ideas To Efficiently Reboard Staff
What is reboarding and why is it important?
Reboarding, also known as re-onboarding, brings an employee who was previously on leave, laid off or removed back into their role in their company. In general, reboarding helps returning employees get used to their role and workplace by setting out expectations of their position.
While reboarding looks different from company to company, this process typically involves the following steps:
- Familiarize the employee with the expectations of their role
- Keep the employee informed of current standards, guidelines, and guidelines that may have changed during their absence
- Get the employee used to their new team cultures, relationships and projects
Reboarding is important for an employee’s productivity and emotional stability. Upon reintroduction to their company, employees will better understand the expectations of their role, which is critical to achieving high levels of efficiency, trust, and success. In addition, reboarding helps employees feel more welcome and more engaged with their colleagues, the work environment and the organization as a whole.
Without reboarding, companies risk wasting their time and resources while potentially causing disruption [1] among their co-workers.
4 tips for successful reboarding of employees
1. Outline a return to work plan
When employees return to work, they can experience a mixture of emotions such as nervousness and fear. To alleviate these feelings, companies should designate a team to create a return to work plan that will ease the stress. Every company has its own return to work plan, but the end goal remains the same: to help employees get used to their regular duties in a given time frame.
By bringing together a mix of employees [2] from HR and other departments, your company can develop, implement, and track a return to work plan that is agile and takes your people into account. In this way, your company’s return plan builds trust with your employees and prepares them for their return.
2. Distribute support resources
As part of your organization’s return plan, you should designate a team to help create and distribute support resources to employees once they are back in the office. These support resources can include:
- Updated policy documents (e.g., payroll information, updated employee directory, seating plan, and organizational chart)
- Relevant safety information (e.g. location of emergency exits, emergency logs)
- Frequently Asked Questions Sheets
- Mental health resource list
These support resources help employees transition back into their roles while demonstrating your organization’s commitment to their professional and emotional wellbeing.
3. Create a role-specific training activity
For some returning employees, it may be months or even over a year since they completed their regular duties. With role-specific training activities, your company can equip your employees with the knowledge and skills they need to perform their duties efficiently.
A modern way to train employees through safe, hands-on activities is to use future learning technologies, including Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). Consider the following examples:
- AR activity for equipment training
Using their mobile device or tablet, learners simply scan a flat surface in front of them and tap their screen to place a digital device model. Once placed, learners can explore each part, fix problems, and practice using the object through interactive exercises. - VR activity for Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) training
Use VR to teach employees updated D&I guidelines and develop their soft skills like communication and empathy. Through a headset, mobile device or desktop, learners will witness a discriminatory comment during a meeting and must decide how to proactively respond according to the expectations of their organization.
These activities are an appealing opportunity to test the existing knowledge of an employee and to develop additional soft and hard skills that benefit his work performance.
4. Clarify goals and responsibilities
When employees return to work, your organization should ensure that your goals and responsibilities are clear for each employee, especially if their roles have changed. Through honest, consistent communication, your company can give each employee an overview of their responsibilities and show how their work corresponds to these goals.
Your organization can clarify goals and responsibilities through weekly emails, digital newsletters, and video messaging between teams. Your HR team, department heads, and marketing team can work together to outline these goals and bring them home with content that will grab your employees’ attention. When employees receive this content, they are more likely to feel encouraged to raise questions and concerns that managers can adequately address.
Ready, set, reboard!
Now that you know the basics of reboarding, are you ready to successfully bring your employees back up to speed? We hope you follow our 4 tips to ensure your reboarding program supports more efficient, productive, and confident employees.
References:
[1] 5 tips for getting employees back on board after a vacation
[2] IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS IN DEVELOPING A RETURN TO WORK PLAN
Round table learning
At Roundtable Learning, we work with clients to bridge the gap between existing training strategies and the future of learning through technology-enabled blended learning solutions.
