Usually, you welcome a new employee in your office by introducing them to everyone and showing them around before settling them on their desk. Remote onboarding is a whole different world with a different set of rules. You need to ensure that the new employee is assimilated into your company and fits in the culture with very minimal physical contact. How do you ensure this is done? We have come up with the ultimate remote onboarding checklist to help you with this. Check it out;
Table of Contents
Order and Deliver the Necessary IT Equipment
Deliver the hardware they require to work remotely. For Instance, hardware like a computer and its accessories like mouse, and keyboard and any other that may be specific to your company. Depending on your hiring budget, you may opt to send them laptops for mobility and ease of operation considering that desktops require a constant connection to power.
If you do not have the equipment in your firm already, order early in advance before they get to start. Also, consider asking your IT team to help them set up.
Send a Welcome Gift
Your new member of staff is settling in their home office to kick off their first day in your company today. You have probably lined up a couple of online orientation sessions with various departments throughout the day. You can, however, add a personal touch to the first-day introduction by sending them a welcome package. It could be anything from branded company merchandise like travel mugs for their coffee as they work, water bottle to help them stay hydrated, to breakfast or lunch delivery. This says “Welcome, you are now a part of us” more than just saying it.
Offer Assistance in Completion of Necessary Paperwork
Regardless of where they will be stationed, new members of staff have to fill HR-related forms and sign legal documentation. As such, you should ensure that the employees have a smooth running doing so. For example, you can have the HR team prepare all the necessary papers and bind them together to be delivered alongside the work equipment. Ensure that they clearly understand what is required of them and hold calls with them to clarify where in doubt.
They may be working remotely but they are part of the company. Every organization has its own culture. Bring them up to speed on how your company operates and any policies you have as a company. Moreover, send them a digital copy of your employee handbook or your firm’s operation manual.
Introduce Them to Everyone
One of the major downsides of remote working is the sheer absence of collaboration or lack of camaraderie among staff. The situation is worse when staff have never physically met. Therefore, online interactions have to be fostered and your job as an employer or hiring manager is too ensure the new member of the team is properly introduced to the team. Also, advise team members to specify in the bios of collaboration tools like Slack or Skype their roles and department and have their profile pictures up. This will help new joiners quickly find people when need be.
Clarify on Your Company’s Modes of Communication
Since they will be working remotely, you need to establish how you will be communicating with the new hire. Ensure they get access to the communication and collaboration tools you normally use in your company or new ones if working remotely requires them. For example, tools for web conferencing or company chat groups both general and departmental groups.
Involve them in Co-curricular Activities
You need to ensure you keep remote employees engaged to avoid silos and creation of islands of isolation within departments. You can do this by organizing social interactions online like virtual hangouts, virtual home tours of online games where employees interact socially after a day’s work. Involve your new hires in these social interactions with the rest of the team and help the navigate the social space.
Conduct Training Sessions
Induction of an employee is a critical process of onboarding. While skills assessments might have proved suitability of the candidate, they still need to understand how your company works and how their role feeds into the larger company strategy. Conduct online training and ensure every line manager takes the recruit through the required induction. Check in daily with the new employee during induction to confirm whether they have completed the set training for the day and if they are facing any challenges that require your assistance.
Follow Up and Stay Connected
The onboarding process in a company determines whether or not a new member of staff is productive and whether they stay in your company. Research shows that 5% of all recruits quit after a bad first day and 20% of recruits leave within the probation period. To ensure that your remote onboarding process is robust and effective, you need to ensure that the new employees are engaged, satisfied and performing. To be sure of this, you need to stay connected and check up on them regularly. Be available to answer their questions and offer assistance where needed.
At BrighterMonday, we wish you a happy onboarding process for all the new recruits you hire during these challenging times. If you are hiring, you can post your job listing for free on BrighterMonday and access industry-based skills assessments to help you get the right talent that your company needs right now.
