Employee turnover is a fact of HR life. One way to reduce turnover is to improve the employee experience. With no office and a sea of remote workers to care for, how can HR keep its finger on the pulse and ensure people feel their best? 

We spoke to Samuel Ruiz, HR Manager at Optimity, Sophie Ward, People Manager at Amido, and Nirit Peled-Muntz, Chief People Officer at Hibob, who shared their best tips to help HR and managers navigate these strange times. 

Here’s what they had to say about employee mental health, onboarding while remote, and everyone’s favorite topic, Zoom fatigue.

1. How can you manage the mental health of employees remotely?

Mental health will always be a big concern. Our panelists stressed the importance of checking in, communicating, and trusting employees to work the way they want to work. 

• Send out surveys to check in on people. Ask if there’s anything you, as HR, can do to help. 
• Communicate to employees that it’s okay to unplug and go for a walk if you need it. 
• Allow employees to work flexibly and define their most productive hours.

2. How do you handle employee onboarding while remote? How do you make newcomers feel part of the team?

Onboarding is your first impression with a new employee, and first impressions are everything.

• Make sure all newcomers feel welcome and have confidence and clarity in their role. Assign a buddy to take care of new hires. 
• Work closely with managers to create structured processes for each role and department.
• Org charts are compelling in helping new hires understand their role, who they’ll need to work with, and how they fit into the organization. 
• Bring employees into the big picture from day one. Run onboarding sessions with C-levels to help new hires understand your company and its philosophy. Ask for their input and show them that their ideas are welcome.

3. How do you combat Zoom fatigue?

One year later, and we’re still desperate for new and creative tips to fight Zoom fatigue. Here’s what our panelists suggested:

• Delegate one day per week as a “no meetings” day.
• Don’t schedule meetings for the full 30 minutes or 1 hour. Instead, shorten meetings by 10 minutes and give yourself time to unwind between calls.
• Get people away from the computer screen and moving around with “walk and talk” meetings that are audio-only. 

Employee experience is crucial to maintaining a strong, productive workforce and avoiding turnover. The HR pros on our panel stressed that good communication and listening skills will help everyone stay aligned as we transition to returning to the office and are again forced to get used to a new way of work. 

To watch the full webinar, click here.

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