Lantern speaks to Creative Boom about helping young blood feel welcome when WFH
The Covid-19 crisis has been challenging for everyone. The creative industries, like many others, have taken a battering. But we mustn't overlook how impactful it has been for those just starting in their careers. We spoke to Creative Boom about onboarding new recruits in a time of crisis.
Written by Katy Cowan
Originally published on Creative Boom
It's those fresh, bright-eyed graduates who bring a new lease of life, energy, and creative spark to agencies. The excitement and thirst for learning and adapting are infectious and allows for new ideas to be born.
Nurturing that curiosity and buzz was so much easier eight months ago, when you could invite a recruit into the studio, introduce them to the team, set up their workspace, and allow them to soak up the culture and learn, hands-on, what makes your agency unique. So how can we care for "young blood" in a remote-working situation?
Lantern’s Founder and Director, Ryan Tym, spoke to Creative Boom, one of the UK's leading platforms dedicated to the creative community, to discuss techniques for onboarding a new designer and maintaining a creative culture when WFH.
Investing in time as well as people
“WFH means that the process of onboarding a new team member will take longer, so be prepared to invest more time into it. Make allowances for more of the team to meet recruits during the interview stage than you ordinarily would. Having the opportunity to build bonds and gain consensus on a new hire from the outset will help to create the space for someone new.
Once onboard, productivity will likely slow with a new hire, as they get up to speed on things, but that's the short term. Creating the right induction will soon have them integrated into the business, resulting in long term gains. Set up working channels in Slack to enable quick sharing of work between team members, so new starters can get regular feedback on their progress and have access to reference points. Maintain learning opportunities through virtual visits from printers, typographers and photographers that will help to build a young designer's professional network and skill set.
Remember that WFH is a bit like Marmite – some love it, some hate it. So it's important to shift the conversation away from work at times, to relieve stress and tension. Having weekly events in the calendar is good for team morale. A monthly team lunch (via Deliveroo) or beers and wine delivered to team homes on a Thursday afternoon, for sharing in a virtual pub are easy ways to do this.
The perk of a small agency is that it may fit within the rule of six, so external social situations are still possible. Host them when and where it's safe to do so, to cement in-person bonding”.