5 Tips for Remote Employee Onboarding
Remote onboarding is going to stick around.
Interest in working from home, at least partially, is particularly high right now and many companies have found that they can manage it better than they expected a few months ago.
Whether your workforce is fully remote, operating in a hybrid environment, or temporarily working from home, now is the time to figure out how you’ll onboard new employees when everyone can’t sit around the same conference table.
Our experience
We recently went through this process for the first time. The COVID-19 pandemic had begun but we were committed to welcoming our new team members as scheduled. Even if it was from their living rooms.
It was a vulnerable time, but I’m so glad we did it. In addition to bringing some great people into the business, it gave us new opportunities to learn and improve our processes. And, as a bonus, it reassured us that many of our systems were built on a solid foundation.
If your company is also going to onboard new employees remotely, here are 5 tips to create a successful program:
1 - Manage expectations
Explain things, give space to ask questions, then follow-up to reconfirm.
Ideally the first discussion is an interactive one - either by video or phone - and the follow-up is in written form. Give as many details and timelines as you can. Things always feel smoother when you know what’s going to happen next.
Keep in mind that some details may be missed or forgotten if the call catches your new team member by surprise or if they’re feeling some nervous excitement about their first day. Letting them know up front that you’ll be sending an email with all the details can help them focus on the discussion, rather than note-taking. And reassuring them that they can call or email with any questions, along with how to do that, will also take some of the pressure off.
In this situation, over-communication is a good thing. Confusion or the fear that they’ve missed something can put your new starter on an awkward footing. Ask yourself “am I setting this person up for success?”
Also consider your expectations for how long the onboarding program will take, what milestones or targets you expect new starters to achieve (and when), and how frequently you will catch-up with them to discuss their progress against this plan. The more transparent and consistent you are with this, the better.
And remember that it takes much more than a week or even a month to fully transition into a new job. Our timeline is 3-months with weekly catch-ups and targets are communicated within the first hour of beginning work. Decide what works best for your team and ensure that everyone is on the same page about what “up-to-speed” means for a new member.
2 - Make it easy to get online
Start by making sure new employees have any physical equipment they’ll need to do their job before day one.
Even with many resources online, there are probably some things that will need to be mailed to your new starters. In our case, it was a laptop, charger, and a printed copy of our Welcome Kit (for the folks who like to take notes on paper). Make sure you’ve communicated what’s coming and when you expect it to arrive. Set up an easy process for your colleague to let you know when they’ve received it.
Alongside that, come up with a plan for how to respond to technical issues remotely and what you will do if the equipment gets damaged along the way.
If there’s anything your new starters will be expected to prepare for themselves, communicate that as early and specifically as possible. This can be as big as a stable wifi connection and as small as a set of headphones with a built-in microphone.
Ensure that login details are sent in advance and that you send a separate message about how to troubleshoot any issues. For example, we put Zoom links in all of our calendar invites but just in case there was any trouble getting logged in, we also emailed the link for the 9 AM meeting to their personal address and explained who to contact (and how).
Schedule your intro-to-systems training as early in the day as possible - we do it immediately after the welcome meeting - so that your new starters can get online right away.
3 - Digitize everything you can
Even if your company doesn’t use an HRIS for onboarding, make a plan so that gathering electronic signatures is quick and easy. Other things to think about might include a secure way to share documents, collect bank information, fill in timesheets, verify expenses, or share payslips.
Create a place in your company’s intranet to share resources. Include your Welcome Kit or culture guides, along with training materials and templates that will help your new starter get up-to-speed quickly. Ideally, it will be easy for them to find anything they need, but be sure to include this in your training program and link back to appropriate resources throughout the onboarding process.
Find creative ways to move team activities online as well. Keep scheduled meetings even when the team is working remotely and make sure there are extra opportunities for colleagues to see each other - especially since there’s no chance to bump into someone at the coffee maker or in the elevator. Several of our teams meet for additional FaceTime when working remotely, even playing games or cooking lunch together online.
4 - Have a remote-first communication plan
If just one person is working remotely, we ask everyone to join the meeting (or training) on their own laptop with cameras on. This levels the playing field so that your remote employees are not left wondering who is speaking off-camera or struggling to hear what’s being said across the room. Being able to see each other also goes a long way in making communication clearer and connections stronger.
Work on building a culture where no one is waiting to discuss something in-person or saving a critical update for their next scheduled meeting. Slack has been a helpful tool for us in this regard. And even though we’ve used it for many years, we still had to consciously shift to communicating in more detail once the teams moved to remote work.
Remember that things like introductions or finding the right person for your question can be daunting for new starters, even when everyone is together in the office. When onboarding new colleagues remotely it’s essential to put extra thought into how this will work for your team. Consider setting up a Q&A channel or pairing your new starter with a buddy outside the team to help them build their network internally.
Be sure to include an explanation of your team’s approach in your training program. Then, over the next few months, continually check in for feedback and to see if there are any gaps you can help to fill.
5 - Build-in extra buffers between meetings
A lot has been said about how working from home can blur the line between work and life. The result is that people end up extending their hours or feeling like they’re “always on.”
Starting a new job is always an intense time and it’s natural to feel tired during a busy day, but the transition can be especially tough if your new starter is not used to working remotely. Efforts to stay connected can backfire if your team member feels they don’t have a minute in the day to take a break.
We made the mistake of sticking to our busy first-day schedule when onboarding remotely, without realizing how much more tiring it is to stare at a computer all day. What is typically a mix of orientation, office tours, meeting the team, moving between desk and meeting space, and lunch out with colleagues became 8 hours of Zoom.
One of the realities of working from home is that sometimes your doorbell rings or the dog needs to go out. Having the flexibility to incorporate a bit more “life” into your day is a benefit, but overscheduling can turn those little things into sources of stress.
The day can become a blur when we lose the transition times of commuting, going out for lunch, or walking around the office between meetings. Giving your team members more time between meetings allows them to take the breaks they need to stay fresh and focused for the rest of the day. And if this is the mindset you plan to take, remember to communicate it to your new starter very early on.
The feedback from employees about the importance of a positive onboarding experience is very telling. When you do it well, it can help with everything from retention to engagement. And when you don’t, it can result in discouraged team members who are looking to leave within the first few months.
You don’t have to rebuild your entire onboarding process in one go, but when preparing to bring new members into the team remotely, consider where you can make improvements in these five areas.
A combination of small adjustments can lead to big results.