I’m new, how do I get to know you?: onboarding in a pandemic

I’m new, how do I get to know you?: onboarding in a pandemic

Changing jobs is stressful. The first few weeks are for orientation in the new workplace, wandering corridors and tea rooms to make acquaintances. Ongoing support is provided to ensure that the new staff member understands their new role. Onboarding is the official term for this experience. It is a process that is used to inculcate new staff with organisational culture, provide them opportunities to meet people, establish their identity and take on the new role with oversight by managers (Keisling & Laning, 2016). Onboarding can be difficult to do and requires good management practices.
This year, I started a new job at USQ in the middle of Covid-19 lockdown. I have been getting to know my job, my colleagues, and the staff and students that I will support, but all online. At the end of my first weeks with USQ I can see benefits and issues for having commenced in this manner. I feel tied to my desk during work hours as there is no physical workspace where I could meet my colleagues. Which is very different to being at work, where I would have met with people in their space. This paper will discuss from a user perspective some of the disadvantages and advantages of entering a new position when all introductions to processes and people can only be conducted via online methods.