At Slack, the remote onboarding process starts weeks before an employee’s start date. Two weeks before starting their new job, employees get early access to a special workspace created just for new hires, where they’re encouraged to ask questions. If your on-site HR team is swamped or if you don’t have one, this dedicated professional could save you loads of time and stress during the onboarding process. The following tips for onboarding remote employees into your company culture are just a few programs we used to tangibly help employees get to know one another better on a personal level. Creating an ideal onboarding process for your remote employees is only one of many steps in building a world-class distributed company.

The company’s management and its maturity may also influence how long this process will take.
Without the usual office tour and face-to-face meetings, remote employees may miss out on any sort of organized welcome or induction process.
ERG programs, a.k.a. Employee Resource Groups, can help build community from day one.
Check out the following software options as additional tools to enhance your onboarding process and remote work environment, in general.
Besides, it’s not that easy to test both positive and negative verification scenarios without representative ID sampling.
Clearly communicating expectations around your new team member’s statement of work is especially important for those working remotely.
Now, when I say over-communication, I don’t mean going overboard and sharing what could be considered TMI.
Assign a current member of your team to be their buddy or mentor who can serve as their go-to for questions and support so they don’t feel lost or unsure where to go for guidance.

That being said … don’t overdo things or push too hard, or it will feel like work and won’t accomplish the objective of helping people get to know one another. Most people would prefer to start their weekend at 4 pm on Friday afternoon rather than attend a Zoom happy hour. The final of the three review meetings conducted during the onboarding process marks the end of onboarding.

Employee Engagement Survey Software

You can also use an employee engagement survey to regularly poll your people on how they’re feeling. Some folks may be struggling to connect to their work and team members while working remotely — if your employees are feeling disconnected or alienated, you want to catch it before it becomes too big of a problem. A project management platform helps managers track their direct reports’ progress through the onboarding program. For your talent team, it provides a high-level overview of where new hires are getting stuck so you can optimize the process and smooth out wrinkles. Onboarding software can be set up so that the process is triggered the second the candidate accepts the job offer.

remote onboarding

This can sometimes slip through the cracks if a team member is working remotely. In addition to conducting video interviews, you need a video conferencing platform to connect with new hires face-to-face during training sessions and introduce them to the rest of the team. Here you’ll get the eight steps necessary to adjust your existing onboarding strategy into a remote sequence, as well as the tools you need to make a successful transition.

Goal 1 – Make new employees feel like part of the team

The success of an employee’s performance and engagement starts with the onboarding. 80% of new hires who receive poor onboarding plan to quit – especially if they are remote workers. Many of our tips have to do with integrating your new remote employees into your company culture. You can make your onboarding plan inclusive by understanding that different people learn in different ways. At this point, you’re probably ready to get started on building a https://remotemode.net/ program.

Many of the engagement and compliance activities that usually occur in week one can be completed before the candidate starts work – saving time, keeping the candidate engaged, and helping them get productive sooner. Luckily, dozens of onboarding and induction software options are available to choose from, with more entering the market every year. These products bring remote onboarding best practices workflow efficiency to employee onboarding by automating everything from candidate messaging, video meeting bookings, reminders to IT to set up system access, and more. To start, a new hire Slack channel is always a great idea for everyone to get to know one another, but fun channels can include a place to talk about pets, movies, TV shows, music, and more.

Remote Onboarding Examples

Every week, ask everyone on the team how they’re doing with their tasks, especially those new hires. You’ll be promoting general feedback with the whole team, as well as a feeling of empathy toward recent members. Feedback will allow you to improve the process for future hires continuously. The best way to know how onboarding went and if new hires are feeling comfortable is by directly asking them. Establish a schedule for virtual check-ins, especially during the first weeks, so you can assess their comfort level and address concerns. Let’s explore the key aspects to building a foundation that fosters productivity, engagement, and sense of belonging right from day one.

These types of problems give new employees a bad perception of the organization, but they can be easily avoided with deliberate, repeatable steps to onboard new workers to the platforms and software applications your company uses. And as the statistics noted in the intro show, a positive onboarding experience is the kickstart to a virtuous cycle of success for both the employee and the organization. Without proper communication, a remote employee may feel like their progress is stunted, leaving managers frustrated. Proactively schedule meetings not only with the people the new hire will be working closely with, but also people who they wouldn’t get to interact with in their day-to-day.