Remote Onboarding Tips for Employers and Employees
Over the last five years, the number of remote workers has grown by 44%. Working from home bears great benefits, but certainly isn't without its challenges. For both employees and employers, the ability to onboard a remote employee can be difficult.
Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, many people have found themselves onboarding remotely for the first time. We want to share some tips for employers and employees to tackle a remote onboarding process like a champ.
Remote Onboarding as an Employer
Hiring great employees is hard enough, but now you're probably wondering how to retain them when your onboarding process has been curtailed a bit. How you treat and prepare your employees should be a direct reflection of your overall office culture. Here are some tips to set your new remote employees up for success.
Provide them with everything they need
Prepare these things in advance by putting together a list of necessities for your employee to carry out their job. On top of technology and hardware needed, this includes user manuals as well. Additionally, have clear expectations set and communicated to them.
Send them a welcome package
Make them feel welcome with branded merchandise. This is not only great advertising for your company, but it gives your employees a sense of belonging. This is especially important when an employee isn’t able to connect on a face-to-face level at the office. Feeling connected to your company is important for retention and morale.
Go digital
Invest in a group messaging tool like Slack, video conferencing software like Zoom, and an e-signature tool like DocuSign. Once you do this, make sure your new employee is all set up and understands how to use each.
On top of tools, make sure to send all essential paperwork digitally, including HR documents and the employee handbook.
Introduce them to key team members
Help your employee familiarize themselves with their role on their team and who their key points of contact are. This will help them with collaboration and make that initial introduction easier with your help.
Additionally, you should coordinate with those team members to put together role-specific training sessions to further assist your new employee with their responsibilities. We suggest holding these types of sessions over a video conference where you can share your screen.
Check in on them
Schedule calls with them to do consistent check-ups, such as after their first day, first week, first month, and so on. This will show them you care, keep them on track, and give you an opportunity to see if there are ways to improve your onboarding process in the future. You’ll be able to identify any pain points and positive interactions to keep in mind moving forward.
Meet in person when possible
Whenever this step is able to be completed, we always recommend getting face-to-face interaction. This can be a one-on-one meeting or having everyone get together for a retreat, happy hour, event, etc.
Remote Onboarding as a New Employee
So you've found yourself with the perfect new job, but it's your first time working in a remote position. You may be wondering how to make a great first impression and go through the onboarding process when you aren't able to meet everyone and go through the steps in person. We have some ideas to share. We also have some tips for those of you who are hired as contract employees looking to move to full-time employment.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions
If your boss leaves you with unanswered questions, ask them right away. When you work remote, it’s not as easy as just stopping by their office to ask a question. Look out for yourself by making sure you have everything you think you need. Above all, don’t be afraid to fail so that you can fail forward.
Don’t rely on the managers to socialize you
Ask your boss/hiring manager if there is someone else going through this process or if there is a good point of contact for asking questions and making sure you’re on the right track. Also, don’t be afraid to reach out to your teammates and other employees to introduce yourself. Once you feel comfortable with it, schedule zoom meetings with each coworker to just sit down and get to know them and let them get to know you. This will help with collaboration and comradery.
Become indispensable as quickly as possible
It’s intimidating enough starting a new job, but starting one in the midst of such uncertain times makes it even more daunting. The trick is to demonstrate confidence, tackle hard tasks quickly, and become indispensable. One way to do this is to offer help when needed, even if it’s outside of your immediate role. This will leave a great impression and mark you as the dependable employee willing to go above and beyond. You can also focus on professional development. Consider developing new skills, such as soft skills to set you apart.
Meet in person when possible
Just as we recommend for employers, getting face-to-face interaction is essential when possible. Ask your boss for a one-on-one meeting and ask to meet up with your coworkers for coffee or lunch one day.
Conclusion
Whether you are an employer or an employee, these are important tips to consider when navigating through the remote onboarding process. If Who Staffing can help you in any way with building a process that allows you to win the war on talent, please feel free to reach out to start a conversation or go here for more information about us.
