7 Tips For Onboarding New Remote Employees During the Pandemic

Ever since the COVID-19 outbreak, many employers are forced to alter how they run their business, including the onboarding process. Managers are now relying on remote onboarding, not a very popular option before, having no other choice to hire and train new employees.

If you are a manager or positioned in the hiring team, you must be finding it difficult (like many others) to get accustomed to the new onboarding process. Remote onboarding doesn’t make it easy to nurture a long-lasting relationship while developing a sense of belongingness and an affirmation of making the correct choice.

To help you out while getting new members on board, here are seven tips you can follow. The mentioned tips will remove confusion and help you conduct an organized onboarding process.

How to Manage Remote Onboarding Employees

Outline and document your onboarding practices

If you recollect how you have been conducting the onboarding process, you will realize that there are several informal practices that you have followed to bring in interns or new employees to speed during their initial days on the job.

It is the right time to document the details of the onboarding experience. Whether it is posting the job offer or documenting the process of the employee’s first day in the office, record it so that you can repeat the cycle.

Amy Garza, from Venture for America, who is also a project manager for Dura Software, says that they have been successfully doing it for their Dura Software company. They arrange meetings for the new employee’s first day, and they hand out an onboarding timeline with milestones to achieve.

Shift your company culture to the virtual world

Some of the employees you hire will be starting their career working remotely, posing you a challenge.

Make them feel like they are part of your company culture by:

• Providing them with the staff handbook
• Having a conversation about your company’s values and expectations
• Providing them with a copy of their Job Description
• Revising their responsibilities
• Letting them know how the provisional and appraisal periods are conducted, and so on

To make your new employees feel welcome, send a welcome email and let your hiring manager introduce him/her to the entire company by sending an email to everyone.

You can also do something thoughtful like shipping your new employees a gift along with a thank you note. If you are an e-commerce business, you can send them your company’s products.

See that your new employees have the hardware, software, and other essential office supplies 

Make a list of all the necessary office supplies, including desktop, hardware, and software, and ensure that your employees have them before you ask them to start working.

Here are some things to consider while you are at it. Is your company going to provide the resources? If yes, order everything ahead of their start date.

Confirm the delivery and ensure they have set up all essential equipment. If the employees have to provide their own resources, you can refer them to your company’s IT experts to ensure everything is set up correctly.

Invest in superior employee training software

Investing in employee training software is crucial as you won’t be able to meet your employees in person to conduct training sessions.

Get in a credible employee training software to ease your workload and increase employee productivity.

Take Whatfix, for instance:

Innovative training tools, as such, can engage your employees, save their time spent in looking for information, and reduce errors as well.

You will also need a tool that easily integrates with your LMS while creating structured in-app interactive guides and training programs. Whatfix is perfect for this.

Utilize online communication tools

Without effective communication, your company will lack organization, teamwork, and productivity. Your employees will also lose their voice. Use software for your business like communication tools to pass on information, share ideas, answer queries, or discuss different areas of work. Be selective while obtaining the tools and keep it to a minimum so that messages are not missed, or your employees are not overwhelmed.

To effectively structure your communication flow, consider using chat apps, like Slack, for queries and side conversations. This tool can help you keep your conversations organized as it offers dedicated spaces called channels.

If you have formal requests or action-related items to send, using email can be your best bet. To provide status updates, a project management tool will come in handy. Tools such as Trello are popularly used; as it allows you to work more collaboratively and help your team stay organized.

Find a remote mentor for your new hire

Finding a mentor for your new hire will help them not only be more accountable for their success but also help in building relationships in their department. Having a mentor helps them have someone to go to if they have questions and concerns. It will also help mentors to develop confidence and pride in their jobs.

Check-in with new Employees Daily

You can assign the mentor for this task or ask a different person to schedule daily calls or video chats to help new employees feel like part of the team. It will also give them the chance to voice out their concerns.

Moreover, working from home can be isolating, and if your new employees are working from home for the first time, they will need plenty of support and motivation.

Wrapping-Up

Work from home during the pandemic has become the new normal, but it is not easy for all to adjust. It is especially difficult when it comes to remote onboarding, as not being able to meet each other in person can make both parties feel less attached.

Making new employees feel like they are a part of the company culture is quite a task. It is tough to train them, communicate, and manage workflow.

However, when you have the right strategy and tools, working from home can be productive. Follow the seven essential tips mentioned above to conduct a seamless onboarding process and see productivity at work.