Is it Time to Reonboard Existing Employees?

Last Updated on

March 29, 2022

Alicja King

We've made it clear on our blog just how much we believe in good quality onboarding of our new hires. Even the myskillcamp platform recently rolled out a new way to onboard your new hires using personalised learning paths.

But what about onboarding existing team members?

'Why would they need to be onboarded?' We hear you ask.

Well, think about the year and a half we've just lived through. Is the way you work now the same as how you were working 18 months ago?

With new ways of working, new software, new hires, different job requirements, even the veterans within your company could be feeling lost right now.

Which is why reonboarding is a necessary step to take in your company.

Thank yous

Just as usual onboarding starts with welcoming someone to the company, it's time to take stock in those who weathered the storm with you. Thank them for their work and ensure they realise that you noticed their contributions. After all, feeling under appreciated is one of the main reasons why people leave a company, so a little recognition can go a long way.

Who are yous

Chances are, in the past 18 months you've seen people come and go. Whether it's redundancies, early retirements, maternity/paternity leave or new people needed for new processes and demands. That means there are a lot of new faces in the office in the video calls. they may not know each other, what they do, or how they work. Nightmare! So just as you would introduce a new hire to everyone, update and share your new organisational chart. Complete with roles, tasks, perhaps followed up with a 'casual breakfast meeting' to get to know everyone. Not only does something like this put people at ease, but knowing who does what in the company makes day to day processes quicker for everyone and will save unnecessary stress.

What you dos

If your existing employees had to take on new tasks while the world was busy burning around us, then do they need to be reonboarded for those new tasks? Sure, they've been doing them for a while, but that doesn't mean they're doing them correctly or efficiently. After all, when stressed and overworked, people tend to pick up bad habits. So having a training course to ensure they're doing their new tasks correctly will only be a good thing, especially if you aren't looking to hire a new person to take over that task any time soon.

Office moves

Just as you show new employees what systems the company uses, you will have to do the same with your existing employees. This is due to the changing ways of working that was probably adopted in the last year and a half. Whether it was to due to home working, new systems, new team structures, or even the fact you're all starting to come back to the office, these changes in the way you work will need to be communicated and taught to everyone. This promotes autonomy with new systems you've implemented, encourages everyone to adhere to a way of working, and gets people used to the changes. Whether it's an office-wide webinar on how to use a new tool, or a quick video course on 'hot-desking' it's all relevant.

What we dos

Just as a new employee would like to know the benefits available in their new role, it's worth reiterating them to existing employees. With burnout at an all time high, it's important to show employees how their company will take care of them. What is the company stance on sick leave, stress-related worries, the plan if the pandemic returns. Your employees need to feel safe and protected so they will stay with you and be able to work well. Courses on well-being, yoga, stress-management and conflict resolution may be a good addition to your reonboarding plan.

Reonboarding cues

It doesn't have to take days, it doesn't have to be expensive, but companies need to take some time to settle their employees into the new normal of their working lives. Communication, company information, and short training courses can make a positive impact to your workforce and if you don't know where to start, myskillcamp has you covered.

Members can build onboarding/reonboarding learning paths quickly, with expert content available on the platform, and external content you can import. Similarly, you can contact us if you'd like to use some ready-made learning paths, created by our professional content curators.

Discover how we can help you by booking a demo or even a free trial of our LXP.