You have managed all the different virtual interviews and assessments and finally found your next employee, but how do you onboard them remotely?
Onboarding new employees isn’t such an easy job as you have to think about coordinating various people, schedules and multiple moving parts but it’s vital to get right so your new employee feels welcomed and supported. You will also be expected to make this whole process feel effortless and seamless for the new hires. This is a hard enough job to do even when all the staff are in the same office, so having a distributed company can make things slightly more complicated.
We are going to go through each step to ensure that your new employees receive a thoughtful and positive onboarding experience.
1. Create a four- week plan
Remote workers may take longer to onboard because they aren’t in the office. To prevent any stress or anxiety that your new employee may have, creating a four-week plan will help.
Make sure that the plan includes meetings with agendas, training video links, the setting of probation objectives and introductions to the team. Giving the new employee this information will make them feel reassured and not so anxious and it demonstrates that you have thought carefully about them joining you.
2. Equipment
Before your new employee commences work, ensure that the IT department know there is a new starter and that they will need to be set up on all systems and that their logins and passwords are ready for them.
You will need to order computers and other hardware the remote workers need well ahead of their start date. Confirm with them before they start that they have all the equipment necessary for their work. Book them in for a virtual meeting with the IT department to go through the systems, software and data policies as part of their onboarding.
3. Paperwork
Having your new hires sign employment contracts and other legal documents can be time consuming if they need to print, scan and then email all copies or send them via post. To speed this process up, you may want to consider an e-signature tool so that your employees can add their signatures digitally and share contracts with you in a secure environment.
4. Start with a small project
Collaborate on developing a clear plan for the new hire, first 30, 60 and 90 days so you and your new employee are aligned with what is to be expected for the role.
Give them a project or an exercise for the first couple of weeks that requires cross-team collaboration to introduce them to the other team members and information at the company. It’s important to create opportunities for them to interact with their team members and understand the team culture. Always think about innovative ways you can facilitate this.
5. Creating personal connections
Hold one-on-one meetings with the new remote employee as you would do in the office, to see how they are getting on and if they have any questions. Not only should you do this, but you should encourage your team to reach out to the new hire and introduce themselves and start building relationships. Also think about creating get-togethers with the whole team, inviting the new employee to spend some time at your office and suggesting a social outing like going for a group lunch.
The invitation is a gesture that will make them feel more a part of the team.
6. Ask for feedback
If you’re not experienced in running a remote team, then there is a good chance you might experience some obstacles along the way. Ask the new remote employee to pay close attention to the process and tell you what worked and what didn’t. This will give you the feedback you need to improve the processes for your future hires.
If you need any help with remote onboarding, please do get in touch with me.