“I feel like a new starter again,” said someone I was coaching recently. “I have colleagues I have never met, and there are people I haven’t had a non-work conversation with for the best part of 18 months! I am feeling anxious about returning to the office for all sorts of reasons, but this is one of them.”

She isn’t alone in feeling new to a company she has worked at for years. The upheaval wrought by covid means that even long-term employees returning to the office for at least a couple of days a week may now feel they are starting from scratch. And then there are the new starters, many of whom were recruited and on-boarded remotely. They may never have met their colleagues in person, or even been to their physical office.

This, coupled with continuing uncertainly both around the ongoing pandemic and how the transition back to the office or to some form of hybrid working will impact on individuals and teams, presents employers with several challenges. The one thing that is clear is that employers who take a ‘business as usual’ approach are likely to lose out – whether that is measured in terms of staff well-being, productivity, or churn.

Right now, everyone may benefit from re-onboarding. Here are a few things you can do to get the new term off to a good start.

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