That’s why it’s best to be proactive and intentional about setting up a mix of formal and informal one-on-one interactions between the new hire and other individuals. Additionally, it’s important to organize a mix of different group discussions so that the new hire can develop contextual understanding of team dynamics.

You also want them to be super specific, measurable, and time-bound. At 360Learning, we make use of the collaborative features on our learning platform to encourage interactions and collaboration. It’s impossible for them to know everything every new hire needs to know. Onboarding is the process of introducing your new hires to everything they need to know to do their jobs. It is especially helpful when buddies are from the same level of hierarchy within the organisation.

Step #5: Seek regular feedback – and refine processes as you go

These recruitment cohorts enable team members to bond as they make the journey through the onboarding process together. If you’re onboarding remote employees for a permanent offsite workforce, it might be time to hire a chief remote work officer. Odds are, then, that if you’re looking to hire in this market, you’re looking to hire remote employees, be it for the short-term or the long haul. But finding and hiring the best available talent also means providing the best possible onboarding experience. As we enter year three of the COVID-19 pandemic, recruiting, hiring and onboarding remote employees remains business-critical.

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. Ultimately, the benefits of remote onboarding and training seem to outweigh the flaws.

Continuous Engagement Helps

Have a new sales rep work with a marketer and a support team member throughout orientation so they later have contacts in other departments. Make an effort to digitize all existing employee documentation as well as information about company culture and stories about how your company came to be. Many companies use an intranet or internal wiki to maintain digital documentation of projects, successes, failures, and culture outside of day-to-day operations. For new hires, we organize a virtual lunch with their managers and HR. We send everyone a $20 Grubhub gift card and use this meeting to get to know each other outside of what was on the resume.

Forbes Human Resources Council offer leadership and management insights. People learn in different ways, so change up your remote onboarding best practices mediums to keep things interesting. For example, replace big blocks of text with high-quality videos and graphics.

First day

This will probably involve a series of video chats, including other relevant team members. Make sure the new employee has enough resources and information without overwhelming them. Here are some further tips to help improve your employee’s work-life balance. Expectations around scheduling, communication, and productivity could become a problem later on if not addressed right away. Getting off to a fast start to give your new colleague early comfort and confidence — making him or her feel welcome. Always make an effort to have your camera on to create a warm face to face feeling when giving the tour.

• Ship computers, phones, and any other equipment they’ll need so it arrives before onboarding begins.
• If your culture is social, schedule introduction calls, happy hours, or lunch-and-learns with new hires and employees from across departments.
• Use a new hire preparation project to coordinate and track all of the pre-work you need to do before onboarding begins.
• The dynamic nature of the workplace has seen some incredible changes in the past couple of years with the rise of remote teams.
• A good way to do this is to create sections for day one, week one, week two, week three, and so on.
• That’s because they are often in pole position to explain what the company stands for, what it’s all about, and what it’s like to work there.

Feel free to also check our blog HR for the sample onboarding plan for new employees. Those questions still need an answer, though, and setting up a shared doc is a great way to provide one.

tips for onboarding remote employees [with checklist]

So go ahead and explore what technology has to offer for your virtual onboarding process. Find out what the best employee onboarding software for your business is. To give you a head start, check out Freshteam, a modernized HR software that can help you hire, onboard, and manage your employees. “Resources are given to our managers before and after their new hire starts, addressing topics such as resiliency and adapting to change in order to support them as they adjust to leading remote teams.”