b'Onboarding New Employees During a PandemicWHEN ITS SAID,Our business is allof hours. Weve found that one-on-onecompany and their co-workers will ensure about relationships, its typically used tocalls work best. We aim to keep eachthey fit with the same cohesion that those describe the interaction between a busi- conversation to around 30 minutes. Keeppreviously hired do. ness and its customers. The best compa- the topics light and focus on learningBeing physically distance doesnt nies, however, also use it to describe theirabout each other in the beginning. Layermean you cant build relationships using internal culture.in job knowledge transfer in subsequenttechnology and frequent communication. Many of Gro Alliances clients arecalls. The new hire has a lot to absorb.It will take extra effort, but the reward is served from more than one of our fiveYour first priority should be aboutmaintaining a healthy and cohesive com-seed production locations with a combi- building internal relationships. pany culture!nation of seed corn, soybean and seed corn nursery activities. We maintain aContinued Follow Up is Keyconsistent client approach by emphasizingThere is much less personal inter-office frequent internal communication betweeninteraction as multiple employees may our account managers across our entirebe working remotely. Keep the video or network. phone call frequency high so the new Our new-hire onboarding process hademployee and existing employees con-been designed around face-to-face meet- tinue to build a relationship. Onboarding ings to build those internal relationshipsprocesses dont end after the first inter-quickly and involves folks from multipleaction. It takes even more discipline locations. This approach has not beento maintain that connection in the possible during the Stay at Home orders incurrent environment. The new many states. hires supervisor should establish Weve adjusted this process and othersa plan with 30, 60 and 90-day to sustain operational continuity whilemilestones to ensure the new maintaining social distancing. Below areemployee and company stay on a few best-practices weve learned alongtrack.the way.Its Still All About Develop a Deliberate Video Meet- Relationshipsand-Greet Process Properly onboarding a new team Our preference for face-to-facemember is just as important interactions meant we hadnt utilizedas hiring the right candidate. video calls for internal introductions.Making sure the new employees We are now able to introduce a newhired during this unprecedented employee to every location in a mattertime feel a real connection to the JIM SCHWEIGERT PRESIDENT, GRO ALLIANCE @jim_schweigertjim.schweigert@groalliance.comGroAlliance.comJUNE 2020SEEDWORLD.COM /23'