Let’s start by rewinding a few years.  

Most of our working week was spent in an office environment, supported by a team, mentored by managers. We worked together, socialised together (Friday beers, anyone?).  

Face-to-face communication was the norm: in meetings, at our desks, during impromptu water cooler gatherings. Informal networking during a cigarette break was a ‘thing’ back then. It was easier to build personal relationships with people because we physically met them (and met them regularly). 

Fast forward through the pandemic and the world of work looks very different. So, when startup founders come to us and say that they’d like to hire more grads and junior employees, but they’re concerned about how they’re going to support them in this post-COVID remote world, trust us when we say we get it. We really do.  

Hiring mistakes for startups can be costly, and the process of onboarding, training and developing a new hire is an entirely different ballgame in 2023.  

The more risk-adverse founders can be forgiven for reverting to “an experienced head” or “a steady pair of hands” (it’s a safe option, after all). But with their desire to learn and develop, and an adaptability that is vital to startup survival, we believe that you can successfully support a grad in your growing business – even if they’re working remotely. 

Here's how. 

Harnessing grad talent for startups 

Top graduates are hard to attract, and even harder to tie down. Even so, grads are a huge untapped talent market for tech startups willing to gamble on hiring junior employees.  

The current crop of Gen Z graduates and junior hires are a different breed to those coming out of university five or 10 years ago. They’re happy to take a leap of faith, to step off the path well-travelled to kick-start their career with a startup or small business that they believe in, and where they feel they can have an impact.  

They’re also inherently riskier, backing themselves to grow organically within a startup environment, rather than follow a prescribed trajectory in the corporate world.  

But with that unbridled enthusiasm comes a reality check: grads and juniors come with (comparably) little on-the-job experience. Their lack of experience makes them an unknown quantity. How much handholding will they need? What training will they require to do their job? Who will provide support? Can be relied upon to work productively from home with minimal supervision? 

All valid questions. So how do you support a grad or junior hire in a remote world?  

In practice: the virtual office 

For some, remote working has been liberating. It’s created opportunities and allowed us to strike a work-life balance that just a decade ago was unthinkable. For others though, it’s isolating.  

Unsurprisingly, Gen Z grad and junior hires have mixed feelings about remote working. It’s bittersweet. But it isn’t just the lack of formal onboarding that is the problem. For others it’s the lack of interaction, the limited capacity to learn from others, less hands-on support and an inability to form meaningful colleague relationships.  

For example, asking a simple question takes on a new dynamic when working from home – unlike in the office, when you could simply lean over to the person beside you. There’s no informal dialogue and raising a virtual hand on a Teams call when you want to interject doesn’t have the same thrust as when you’re speaking in person. Similarly, creative brainstorming sessions are unlikely to yield the same ideas, discussions and debates when delivered virtually.  

But given that UK tech founders won’t be reverting to the pre-pandemic, in-office meeting anytime soon (and it’s impossible to replicate the social, support and mentoring benefits of yesteryear in a virtual working environment), you need to put in place policies and procedures to ensure that grad and junior hires can thrive in a startup environment, such as yours.   

Practical steps to supporting grad and junior hires 

Graduates have been actively doing blended and remote learning for years whilst studying, so don’t underestimate their work readiness. But giving them the right tools and support is critical to making a virtual learning arrangement a success.  

Schedule structured calls – a combination of one-to-one, wider team calls and daily check-ins. Set expectations by establishing ‘terms of engagement’ for these calls, such as a camera-on policy, so that participants benefit from the visual cues and interactions that they would have if they were in a face-to-face meeting.  

Interactions don’t need to be solely work focused either. As a people manager, you should encourage social interactions and informal conversations about non-work topics. This could be as simple as setting aside 15 minutes at the start of a call for a catch-up (even if it’s just a round robin of weekend plans for everyone), or as complex as a virtual team quiz or social event. Whilst this won’t appeal to everyone, virtual events can help to reduce feelings of isolation, prompting a sense of belonging. 

Have a physical office? Use it. Encourage your staff to come in regularly, to meet face-to-face when they can. Organise regular all-company meetings that aren’t solely about work, but also offer encouragement and emotional support. You could also encourage your grads and junior employees to form their own informal network – one that can act as a sounding board; that understands their concerns, their struggles, their situation.  

Get in touch 

The best advice that we can give you is to listen. Start by asking the question “how are you doing?” and listen (carefully) to the answer. Because two-way communication, empathy, transparency, and a mutual understanding is key to any good relationship.  

Our specialist startup recruiters can help you secure both entry level and experienced hires for your UK tech startup.  

If you would like to have a chat about your options, or you’d like to speak to someone who understands remote working culture in UK tech firms, get in touch with our Co-founder & CEO, Alan Furley, on alan@isltalent.com or connect with him on LinkedIn.