I started a new job during circuit breaker and it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be

"Wow. It must be interesting to start a new job during circuit breaker." This was the most common remark I got when Singapore's circuit breaker was announced. At that point, my start date here at AsiaOne had already been confirmed.

Concern from friends and family poured in, but I just brushed them aside. After all, I had already been working from home for close to three weeks by then, without stepping out of my house at all.

In fact, I find myself able to concentrate better with complete control over my workspace and environment. Which means no colleagues coming up to you randomly and breaking your train of thought, and blasting music that I personally can't write with — think thumping techno beats.

It's also not the first time I'm joining a new company, so as my start date approached, other than the usual first day jitters, I slept well, as working from home wouldn't faze me, or so I thought.

In a virtual land with no body language and non-verbal cues

So how did my first day go? Well, certainly not the way I expected.

The usual first day routine typically goes as such: settling into your workspace, getting introduced face to face to a bunch of names that you will forget, and being able to observe the ebb and flow of things, all while finding your place in the organisation's system.

Now, I have a much deeper appreciation of being able to observe body language and pick up on things simply through the conversations that colleagues have around you.

In a virtual workplace, while you have message notifications popping up all the time, it doesn't come with the tone and nuances that you get when speaking to someone in person or even over a call. Emojis are really not a good enough substitute, especially when you are new and speaking to people who are essentially still strangers.

With everyone busy pushing out the articles that you read on this site, I couldn't help but feel like I was disturbing the peace and order if I just went about asking questions about how things work.

So on my first day at AsiaOne, I did the only other thing I knew how to do — pitch and write stories.

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Of course, I'm hardly the first person in the world to start work remotely; it's a practice that many companies around the world employ.

However, this is not really the norm for companies in Singapore. For myself and fellow circuit breaker job starters in Singapore, most of us, under normal circumstances, would be headed to the office for physical orientation and integration with our new colleagues.

But during this time, many companies in Singapore and beyond have had to figure out how to welcome new joiners who are working remotely for the very first time.

Here are some tips that I and other fellow circuit breaker new starters whom I spoke to have acquired from our experiences.

Have a proper onboarding plan and schedule

As it is, HR studies show that 20 per cent of new hires resign within 45 days of employment. Hence when done virtually, it is even more critical to get the onboarding process right and keep new employees in the know of what to expect.

Fear of the unknown is not uncommon and even more so when you can't rely on unspoken cues to get a better understanding of how things work.

For account manager Vanessa Lee, being armed with a schedule of what to expect during her first two weeks even before she joined helped her feel at ease about her then-impending new role.

"My boss also took time to communicate with me regularly even before I started and this was a sign that they were ready to have me on board, despite the Covid-19 disruption," she shares.

Turn on the cameras

While some of us are camera shy, myself included, having face-to-face video calls, and even lunch, certainly helped me feel more at ease and comfortable around my new colleagues, and let me gain a certain sense of belonging though we had not yet seen one another in the flesh.

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Like me, Vanessa feels the same way. "My first meeting in the company was done in Microsoft Teams with everyone's camera turned on. For existing employees, it may not be a big deal, but as someone new, it made a difference to be able to see the faces of the people that I would be working with."

Having several face-to-face personal conversations with her new colleagues over video call before the cameras were turned off helped Andrea Ng, another new job starter, feel more settled into her new organisation.

The 35-year-old says, "It was really nice that different colleagues made it a point to talk to me via video call and have quick personal conversations."

Think of it this way. When someone new joins, we usually bring them out for lunch, where the usual socialising in an office happens. Making deliberate efforts to replicate this virtually can pay dividends in helping a new colleague to not feel too isolated.

Make deliberate efforts to build connections

For me, messaging colleagues I don't really know is an intimidating thought, especially when a lot can be lost in translation, and phone and video calls don't seem to be the norm for office communications.

In this respect, I wish I was more like Vanessa. Upon knowing her start date was now during circuit breaker, the 28-year-old took the initiative to find her soon-to-be new colleagues on Linkedin. "This way they could view my profile and know who I am too," she shares.

Recruitment specialist Robert Half advises new remote employees to find ways to bond with their new colleagues both professionally and on a personal level as this helps build on esprit de corps that is important when you join a new organisation.

Using some of the tips that they've shared on how to build relationships while working from a distance can also be helpful.

Feeling the heat

With every new job comes the inevitable feeling of needing to prove yourself socially and professionally. And with lockdown measures thrown into the mix, the feeling is compounded as other new joiners around the world have found.

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On this, I can concur, and this is so especially when you don't know what the expectations are, so you tend to give yourself even more pressure to perform.

Harvard Business Review suggests that managers should establish structured daily check-ins for remote employees, giving them a forum to know that they can consult you and that their questions and concerns would be heard.

When I was assured that there was someone I could turn to and who wouldn't find me a bother with the many questions I had (and I had and still have many), there was less anxiety, and it definitely hastened the process of me feeling more at ease in my new workplace.

The sense of belonging

Employees feeling like they belong reaps many benefits for companies — it's linked to a 56 per cent increase in job performance. But on a more basic level, social belonging is hardwired into our DNA.

And it isn't too hard for everyone to play a part. Taking the initiative to slide a DM to introduce yourself to a new joiner can infinitely change the game for them, and even more so if you periodically check in to see how they are doing.

That said, no matter how friendly people are, getting to know your colleagues in real life will still be the game changer. After all, there are just some interactions that even the best technology will never be able to replicate.

But for now, as we all tread through uncharted waters of having entire organisations work from home, for my still new-to-me colleagues, I only have one question to ask: Anybody up for a round of Houseparty?

kailun@asiaone.com