But onboarding — or rather, successful onboarding — is critical to business success. And when they do, there’s a good chance the new hire will start their job working remotely. It may also hinder them from experiencing your workplace culture firsthand. Hence, new employees might not feel that they fit in with the rest of the company.
Helping new hires feel connected to the team and understand the pecking order is key to creating a sense of belonging. Make introductions to the immediate supervisor, other members of the new hire’s working group and likely collaborators in other departments. A quick video call with the CEO or another top leader also helps drive home the feeling of inclusion and the importance of the work. Consistency is key during this time, and making sure new employees have access to company tools, protocols and resources places them in a position for success, she said.
L’Oréal CEO claims remote workers lack passion and creativity
In practice, many organizations mix and match these approaches to arrive at something that suits their business and their employees. This is why your HR team must help new remote employees understand how their work responsibilities fit into the larger success of your company. A hiring manager can achieve this by sharing key communications and presentations from the leadership team during the onboarding process. Onboarding is that critical juncture of the employee journey when a new hire connects with other members of the team, learns the ins and outs of the job, and has a chance to feel and embrace the company culture.
With the right strategies and tools, remote onboarding can be just as effective as traditional onboarding. More than half of Americans (58%) are able to work remotely at least once a week, meaning that now is the perfect time to optimize your remote onboarding process if you haven’t already. When onboarding remote employees, note that they may get overwhelmed with all the new information and names that they’re going to hear, particularly as they haven’t anchored them to faces yet. Consider providing useful resources that they can revisit to refresh their memory about who is who. Write down your activities and onboarding tasks so you can prepare everything before the new hire’s first day at work. You can download our free remote employee onboarding checklist to use as a starting point.
Why Remote Employee Onboarding Matters Today
You often need to work a bit harder to get your team to connect––but it’s especially important when you have new hires. Also, give them thorough instructions on what apps they will need to download, what tools they should plan on using, and how they can learn each one. Create their email or other important business accounts and make sure they’re running properly before the new hire needs them. If you want to take it one step further, create onboarding videos to go along with each document. These might be explainers on what each item is, or even a video reading some of the content.
The new hire can complete and turn in the scavenger hunt for a prize, such as credit to the company store or a gift card. However, you want to find a balance between efficiently checking in with your new hire and avoiding micromanaging. https://remotemode.net/ If it seems like they’re doing well and you can do with fewer check-ins, tone them back. Finally, make sure to add them to any email chains, mailing lists, or other communication channels so they never miss an important message.
Who are remote employees, and what is onboarding?
Usually, remote onboarding plans last for at least a month but could stretch to three months or more, depending on the complexity of the new hire’s role and the results they achieve. The company’s management and its maturity may also influence how long this process will take. Remote onboarding is the process of integrating and orienting virtual employees into a company’s culture, workflow, and expectations. Happy hours and online social events are popular ways to build camaraderie, but you can meaningfully support team-building in the flow of work, too.