How digitising HR can help you recall employees after furlough and redundancy

How do you recall employees after furlough and redundancy? Although the worldwide pandemic COVID-19 continues, there's some hope that things are turning around as many physical offices start to open and some social distancing restrictions are relaxed.

Human Resources teams are beginning to design working environments without knowing exactly what their work might look like in a month or even in a year. Part of a healthy workplace is the addition of talent to fill gaps left by workforce reductions. For many, the logical solution is to rehire those who were furloughed or laid off. This change will be good for morale and productivity, but it does bring with it a unique set of challenges for the HR team.

Digitising HR offer letters and recalling employees after furlough

A streamlined digital workflow makes the whole hiring experience easier for both potential employees and organisations. Employees that have been furloughed for more than six months might need new hire paperwork that will need to be entirely refreshed.

One of the first steps to reincorporating employees into the workplace is by issuing a recall offer letter. This letter usually gives the employee a date by which to decide on their acceptance of the conditions in the letter. It will also outline another date for which the employee will no longer be on furlough and fully paid employment will begin again.

The HR team often need to complete several other processes quickly, like updating background checks and other documentation. The government have allowed for UK employees to be furloughed flexibly since the 1st July 2020. Quickly identifying the types of paperwork that need to be completed as part of the process is a vital step in getting employees back to work smoothly and rapidly.

In many cases, the new agreements will need to be completed while the physical office location isn't fully reopened.

Docusign eSignature offers an efficient and secure way for HR teams and employees to sign and complete those documents remotely. DocuSign's eSignature platform even offers customers a prebuilt template for this specific situation, to send recall offer letters faster and with fewer errors.

HR integrations and automation for better employee experience

Using Docusign eSignature is an easy way to improve efficiency, but the Docusign Agreement Cloud can help to streamline the entire hiring and onboarding process. Creating an HR technology stack that integrates with existing systems and automates parts of the hire and onboarding process can help organisations create a user-friendly experience.

HR automation makes workflows easier and more straightforward. It provides better experiences for employees after furlough and when rehiring.

Docusign has partnered with HR systems that are already in use such as Workday, SAP and Oracle HCM to integrate into existing experiences easily. Using the comprehensive features of DocuSign helps HR teams eliminate duplicate work and can help improve accuracy.

A positive onboarding process after furlough helps to signal to employees how committed an organisation is to its workforce.

Integrations with job applicant tracking systems like Greenhouse, JobVite and SmartRecruiter connect the recruiting workflow too. They offer HR teams the opportunity to build one connected digital workflow for all new hires or for rehiring previous employees.

When recruitment returns and the tens of millions of furloughed employees begin job hunting, the efficiency of the hiring process can be a crucial factor. It can allow you to attract the most talented employees by issuing offers quickly.

Preparing employees for success remotely

It's highly likely that many employees that are either returning to work or starting a new job will be working remotely initially. Remote working can create challenges regarding supplying equipment, internal communication and managing workflows. It's essential to position employees to succeed in this new environment.

HR leaders should build a system that enables the organisation to communicate with their entire workforce and distribute information effectively. Digitising documents and using bulk send features for employees to read and complete is crucial.

Learn more about the benefits of the Docusign Agreement Cloud for Human Resources in our Docusign Agreement Cloud for HR ebook. It demonstrates easy ways to maximise the value of your HR teams time and turn your employee experience into a competitive hiring advantage.