You can solve issues of time-intensive onboarding by decoupling the need for synchronous work. This is called asynchronous working, and it’s something we practice at Remote. Be sure to add software where needed to speed processes and provide the required legal or audit trails.
Just because remote employees don’t come into the office doesn’t mean you don’t need to outfit it with the right video conferencing hardware. It’s important that this informal mentor be a different person from the person’s manager, so that the new employee feels comfortable asking any question, large or small. Any new employee will and should have endless questions, and the last thing you want is having them feel uncertain remote onboarding best practices about who to ask. Ideally, the onboarding liaison will proactively reach out to the new employee prior to the first day and establish themselves as the new individual’s go-to person. You can certainly take creative approaches to a remote employee grand entrance as well. For instance, perhaps you ask the employee to record a short 80’s-dating-video-style reel by answering virtual team building questions.
Useful Tips for Effective Remote Onboarding
A well-organized onboarding process engaging your new hires early on will help you do the trick. Work with your current team to develop specific training sessions for each job and employee. Make sure your new hires have access to resources or materials that can make those sessions easier to follow, understand, and refer back to. When preparing a training plan, start with prioritizing what is important to learn for each hire.
- But even so, with the right attention to detail, you can engage your new remote employees even before they start working for your company.
- Once you’ve ensured you’re fully legal and compliant, you can set an appointment for them at a state-certified lab that conducts the drug screening process.
- You can curate customized care packages with contributions from the rest of the team and mail the package.
- The ability to have meetings no matter where the participants are is transformative to an organization.
One of the best remote onboarding tips is to provide your new team member with an online organizational chart on day one. This tactic ensures that your new teammate can focus on bonding with coworkers instead of dedicating time to memorizing basic facts. Team members will need equipment to be shipped to their homes, and will possibly even have a guided setup session with someone from the IT department. They also may need help setting up their office, or a 101 primer to help them be truly productive in their own space.
Always start with a live meeting
Consider providing a list of helpful bookmarks or setting up an onboarding-specific page with direct links to relevant content. Limit “required” content to the absolute essentials and some cultural flavor. Short Loom videos from other employees are a great way to make a positive first impression. Helping new hires feel connected to the team and understand the pecking order is key to creating a sense of belonging.
You can create open channels for feedback, both from the new employee and the onboarding team. This is the best way to improve and refine your current remote onboarding process. Teams with remote employees will often be spread across multiple time zones, making it more challenging to coordinate meetings, deadlines, and other time-sensitive workplace activities.
Consult your People teams
That’s why you should dedicate the first onboarding days to showing the culture and company norms to the new hires. According to Gallup, people who have a positive onboarding experience are almost three times as likely to feel prepared and supported in their role. This boosts their confidence, their productivity, and their ability to seamlessly become a member of the team. Onsite onboarding may still incorporate the use of some digital tools, but relies on in-person meetings and training sessions, so it can only take place if the employee is physically present at their workplace. But just because new hires aren’t meeting face-to-face doesn’t mean you can’t — or shouldn’t — facilitate opportunities for human connection. By designing an onboarding experience that brings teams together virtually, you can build emotional momentum and employee happiness to keep new hires engaged for many years to come.
With Deel, you don’t have to worry about gathering tax information from your new employees or generating their employment contracts. The employment process gets handled by remote hiring experts, so you can focus on building your best business. Communicate your workplace culture, communication, and behavior expectations verbally or through written documentation.