By prioritizing purpose and well-being, organizations can mitigate disconnection risks while capitalizing on remote work’s productivity gains. By prioritizing these principles, leaders can cultivate a strong, engaged, and high-performing remote team. Get it right, and you accelerate productivity, build trust, and reduce early attrition. Get it wrong, and new hires may feel disconnected before they’ve even started. No matter how well your onboarding plan is designed, it won't work without the right tech stack.
This is especially important during the onboarding process because it offers yet another way of building a strong team-oriented culture, even if the employees do not work together on the same premises. We’ve already seen the benefits of an effective employee onboarding programme on company culture, and communication is key here. Use the onboarding process to clearly outline your company values and mission statement, and maybe even arrange a meet and greet with senior management to reinforce leadership support.
Onboarding remotely can mirror that amount or be as long or as short as your employee needs. Consistency in the presentation of its content, such as skills, processes, and other information, is ensured by using manuals of this type. The handbook guarantees that duties are executed consistently and in the same way each time. Use checklists of onboarding activities and don't be afraid to give employees a little nudge to keep them on track. Depending on your onboarding procedures, you can modify this template for shorter or longer periods of time, or rework it to indicate steps in a promotion process. Here some remote onboarding templates from Visme to help you get started on the right track.
Training refers to specific courses or modules dedicated to the new hire’s learning and development. Training could focus on behaviors, tools, products, compliance, and security. At this point, the employee should be focusing on completing the necessary training and onboarding materials while getting used to their new environment.
It’s important that this informal mentor be a different person from the person’s manager, so that the new employee feels comfortable asking any question, large or small. Any new employee will and should have endless questions, and the last thing you want is having them feel uncertain about who to ask. Ideally, the onboarding liaison will proactively reach out to the new employee prior to the first day and establish themselves as the new individual’s go-to person. Effective employee onboarding helps new team members feel like a critical part of your organization and increases their engagement and retention. When more workers were on-site, onboarding could happen more organically and through informal interactions. Some researchers recommend extending the onboarding process to at least a year.
Remote onboarding can last from a few weeks to 6 months, depending on the nature of the job and experience of the new hire. For Remote onboarding best practices, most companies usually aim to complete the initial training within two weeks, bringing an end to the process. You should, therefore, make them feel comfortable by establishing personal connections. Before the new remote employee’s first day, you should begin the remote pre-onboarding or “preboarding” process. This window of time is an excellent opportunity to get tedious administrative tasks and paperwork out of the way.
Make it a habit to share constructive feedback regularly in those early days. This doesn’t mean micromanaging or criticizing every move; it means highlighting wins and gently correcting course where needed. One often overlooked aspect of onboarding is explaining how PTO works within your organization. Vacation and sick days might not be the first thing on a manager’s mind when a new person joins, but clearly outlining your leave policies from the get-go helps avoid confusion and frustration down the line.
And thanks to advancements in HR technology, these onboarding processes have become considerably easier over time. Since the start of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, remote work has risen and become a mainstream operating structure for businesses. According to a study from Pew Research, as of January 2022, 69% of workers whose jobs can be done remotely are working from home all or most of the time. For your new remote team members, this may be the first time they’re starting a remote role at a distributed company. Provide them with a world-class welcome by following remote onboarding best practices.
The fact that virtual onboarding saves time means managers and supervisors have more time to spend on other core tasks. It also cuts down costs on in-person interviews and meetings, travel, accommodation, etc. There are a few steps you can take to make sure your onboarding process is a successful one for remote workers.
Modern PTO tracking tools come with features that specifically address onboarding scenarios, making life easier for HR and ensuring new hires are set up correctly. Your new hire will have a learning curve, no matter how experienced they are, because every organization does things a little differently. Ready to start streamlining your onboarding process for long-term success? Here’s an actionable list of five best practices you can implement to get your new hires off to the best possible start.
Understanding how a company operates is critical to any employee’s success. Having this information in an easy-to-access location can be helpful for both in-office and remote employees alike. During this critical time, you don’t want to overwhelm them with video conferences and fact-based materials that they are forced to master, stifling innovative thinking. To prevent this, incorporate onboarding activities where new hires can share ideas and feedback to make the process a two-way experience. Ask them to share best practices from their prior workplaces, or brainstorm ways to improve processes to better satisfy customers.
In this article, we’ll walk you through five best practices to help you transform onboarding from an afterthought into a strategic advantage. Let us explain how you can flexibly and cost-efficiently grow your team. Since they’ve just experienced the process, they’re in the best position to point out what worked and what didn’t. You should be aware of these challenges so you can deal with them effectively. And one thing you should always try is to set clear goals with deadlines to help new hires. So, I've realized that creating a customized plan for each new hire is really important.
A study by HBR found that new hires with a buddy were 23% happier after their first week. By using video calls, online tools, and digital resources, you can help new employees feel welcomed, and supported. Therefore, your employees feel ready to start working remote onboarding best practices effectively, when they're working remotely. Provide documented guidelines that include clear, written policies outlining expectations, processes, and company standards.
Employees should work semi-independently within the first week while continuing to learn and grow throughout the first few months. As flexible work continues to grow, remote onboarding will become even more important. Tools like Apploye can help you track progress and offer the right support. That’s why I always make it a priority to communicate exactly what’s expected right from the start.
