An engaging onboarding program is a critical way to help new employees learn the basics of their jobs, understand company culture and ensure they have the necessary tools to be successful.
As companies around the world continue to work remotely, its important onboarding is a smooth and seamless experience. Here are our top tips to help you successfully onboard new employees remotely.
Work from home equipment pack
When an employee starts a new job they are typically shown to their desk, chair and computer. Now that new starters are joining remotely they may not have a home office set up and usually require the company to provide them with the equipment they will need for their job.
Consider setting a starter budget for each remote worker to set up their home office. It could be helpful to provide a list of office essentials to give to new employees so they know what they need. If you opt for sending equipment, like laptop and monitors make sure it arrives before the employees first day so that they can set up their working station in advance.
You may also choose to provide employees with an ongoing allowance to use toward electricity, internet, phone, and supplies.
Create and onboarding checklist and time plan
An onboarding checklist and time plan is a great way to simplify the onboarding process for both new employees and managers. A checklist acts as a reminder to employees to fill out any essential paperwork and all the tedious first-week tasks.
Create an onboarding time plan for new joiners so they have a clear agenda ahead of them. It’s important to set expectations and when remote workers know what’s expected, they’re more inclined to give themselves room to recharge and fully take part.
Design a time plan that includes lives sessions with the new hires to highlight company values, culture, product and services information and any other key information. As well as this, create different exercises for new joiners to meet their teammates in a social way.
Mentor/buddy
While an equipment pack and an onboarding list and timeline is a great kickstart for employees onboarding, it’s also helpful to assign a buddy to help new hires get to grips with their new role and company. A manager should remain an essential part of the new joiners onboarding but a buddy can give a more human guidance and advice for situations and questions the new employee may need help with.
It is so important to keep up that human interaction as employees work remotely.
Over-communicate and over engage
The worst thing that could happen the week a new joiner starts is that they feel isolated and alone. Their first-week of onboarding will set a tone for what they can expect life to be like at their new job. By over-communicating, the employee is feeling supported and at ease. Those little office interactions of meeting people in the hall or popping by desks are gone so be sure to schedule daily check-ins to make sure new joiners are processing all the onboarding information.
It will be a busy week for them so by simply asking them how they are doing will allow the new hire to be their full self. Having a supportive environment is essential to a successful onboarding experience. Going that extra mile really helps.
Ask for feedback
If you want to constantly improve your onboarding process, employee feedback is critical. Create a feedback survey employees can take confidently. HR teams can then review all feedback which will help them learn what they’ve done well and what they can improve on for future remote onboarders.
To learn more about how to build your employer brand, contact our team.
