7 Best Remote Onboarding Practices You Need to Follow!

If Remote Onboarding Practices were a way of life right from the beginning, there wouldn’t be any Onboarding challenges even during the pandemic.

Remote work has become a necessity and so has the virtual Onboarding process for new hires.

After the Covid-19 crisis, Onboarding new employees took a different turn with everything going virtual. This is a different story that the struggle to get it right is still on.

Studies show that around 69% of employees stay with a company if they had a good Onboarding experience.

(Source – wsj.com)

Having said this, it’s important to know the objective of Remote Onboarding. It’s also essential to arm new hires with appropriate information, tools, and resources.

Let’s check out the best remote Onboarding practices that assure a happy and soulfully engaging working atmosphere for remote employees.

Best Remote Onboarding Practices you need to apply today!

1. Virtual Introductions

There’s a world of difference between remote employee Onboarding processes and on-site Onboarding.

Introductions provide a sturdy foundation for relationship building and work performance. It totally carves a basis for employee satisfaction.

It can be challenging for remote hires to adjust to a new environment online. They must be aware of a well-rounded company culture with its vision, mission, and values, and product knowledge.

Things to consider while introducing a new hire:

• Send a welcome email with a short introduction.
• Introduce them via internal messaging software with the company and coworkers.
• Assign an online “buddy” to every new hire, as they get acquainted with their new role.
• Introduce them to the company culture through online presentations.

After applying the basics of Onboarding remote employees, it’s time to move on to applying practices beneficial for Onboarding remote workers.

Apart from this, it’s important to communicate expectations upfront.

• Give them a clear picture of their responsibilities what can make them comfortable.
• Allot time for training, reviews, and check-ins.

This gives a break from the traditional shared workspace for employees.

Pro tip: Lighthearted prompts can work well with new hires during this virtual introductory session.

2. Welcome Guide

There’s nothing more satisfying than receiving surprises and freebies through snail mail. You can include free gifts as a part of your welcome package such as:

• The company handbook
• Company-related reading material
• Guide to Onboarding agenda
• Company culture brochure
• Important HR documents for signatures
• Something fun as an introduction line or paragraph

This type of introduction package can eliminate the first-day jitters and develop goodwill.

Create a document that informs new employees of the tools and software they’ll be using. This includes the security information and login details, a list of relevant team members’ contact information, and an orientation schedule.

Apart from your welcome packet, this agenda can be added to a Google Doc or a board in your Project Management tool shareable with your new hire.

3. Face-to-Face Connections

Had it been an on-site set-up, it would have been easier to gauge the body language of people.

To overcome this challenge remotely, Video Conferencing is the key. Consider adding a couple of virtual training sessions to your new hire’s schedule.

Google Slides are a great way to deliver training presentations, share internal training films, and send links to internet courses.

They will assist them in catching up on their own time.

Video conferencing on software like Zoom helps to maintain continual connections with all your remote team. It also helps you maintain eye contact that drives interpersonal communication.

Never forget, the main objective of virtual Onboarding is the comfort level of remote workers that ultimately drives remote work productivity.

Tip: Get employees in action with virtual walk-through. This will lessen the phases of isolating employees.

(Source – freepik.com)

4. Identify Milestones

Your remote Onboarding strategy should not only cover all areas of the Onboarding process but also include milestones for new hires to follow.

These milestones can also be used by managers to track an employee’s progress and how well they’re integrating into the team.

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Each new hire’s journey will be unique in the remote work process, but sketching out a general schedule for completing these milestones will help.

5. The Questions Space

Creating a question-and-answer space (like a Slack channel) is a wonderful method for new workers to get all of their questions answered in one spot.

Starting a new job can be nerve-wracking and perplexing. Keeping space for questions, big or small, is a terrific way to bring an Onboarding class together and foster camaraderie.

6. Assign Easy Tasks to Build Confidence and Ease

(Source – freepik.com)

Easy tasks assigned to employees make a positive start. To build confidence, prepare a few easy tasks for your newbie’s. Get them to watch a short video, fill out HR paperwork, set up their company email details/communication tools/Project Management software, profiles, etc.

Level up your Remote Onboarding Process

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