Employee onboarding refers to the process of allowing new employees of a business or organization to know other employees and learn about the company’s values and attitudes. It is also an opportunity for these new employees to become familiar with their roles and responsibilities.
Remote employee onboarding follows the same process except that it is carried out remotely. When you hire new employees remotely, and all the tasks they will be carrying out will be done remotely, onboarding them in that same manner is important.
Employees pay attention to the onboarding process of the company or business because it helps them to appreciate and understand the work environment better. It helps employers integrate new team members into the team to drive the growth of the company.
To successfully onboard remote employees, companies and businesses should pay attention to these tips.
1. Develop a remote onboarding plan
A plan drives every successful onboarding process. The success or otherwise of your onboarding process is determined by the plan put in place.
To develop a comprehensive remote onboarding plan, you have to consider the type of business you run, the role of the employee, and the tools available for onboarding.
While there will be times where the onboarding process will appear similar for every employee, at other times, there will be some differences. The way you will onboard a marketer may be slightly different from how you will onboard an IT person.
You have to consider the peculiarities of the roles to be occupied by new employees when drafting an onboarding plan.
2. Prepare other team members for the process
Employee onboarding is a broad concept that involves the input of all team members. To provide a great environment for the new employee, you should ensure every other team member is prepared for the process.
To do this, providing everyone with clear details of their roles is vital. You can notify the HR team to prepare every detail needed to ensure the new employee is conversant with the company’s values. The finance team can be notified to get the new employee informed about the payment structure and payroll policies in the company.
3. Communicate company values and attitudes
There is no better time for a company to communicate its values and attitudes to new hires than during the onboarding process. This is as important when onboarding remotely as it is when hiring onsite employees.
Your company values and attitudes are what separates it from others and give it that unique identity. You will want every employee to be on the same page regarding these values and attitudes. The best way to do this is to communicate them to the new employees when onboarding remotely.
You also have to state the importance of maintaining these values even when they are working remotely.
4. Create a small project for the new employees
Onboarding remotely is not a one-time task. Rather, it is a continuous process that may take a while before new hires master the company’s operation. Since it can be quite the process, you should make it attractive to new hires.
You will have to create small projects for the new employees and watch how they respond to them. While carrying out these projects, you have to be attentive to the details of their work.
Some important factors to note when analyzing small projects given to new employees include:
- Their performance level on the job.
- Their punctuality with tasks considering they are working from home.
- Their time management skills.
5. Schedule regular physical meetings
When businesses hire remotely, they know that many of the activities that such employees will carry out will be done from home.
However, it is still necessary for you to consider scheduling regular physical meetings, especially during the onboarding stage. Yes, the employees will be working remotely, but for a better assessment of their character and conformity to the company’s values, physical meetings are essential.
The challenge with scheduling physical meetings happens when businesses are onboarding employees who work far away. For example, a company in the UK is trying to onboard an employee who resides in the US.
6. Provide detailed expectations and working details
The remote onboarding process should allow a company to provide detailed expectations of its employees. Every employee is integrated into a company to achieve a goal, which increases the company’s productivity level.
It is not right for any company to assume employees know their working details or the company’s expectations. The company has to state these details clearly during the onboarding process.
7. Seek feedback from new employees and existing team members
As mentioned earlier, onboarding remote employees is a process that takes a while. To measure the process and determine whether it is right or not, seeking feedback from new employees is vital.
At some point in the onboarding process, you can ask what they think about the process and how they are doing. From feedback, you can tell whether the onboarding process yields the desired results or changes need to be made.
Other than the new employees, you can also seek feedback from existing team members to determine the performance level of new hires.
8. Establish a personal connection with new employees
Even though you have remote employees who are out of sight doesn’t mean you should keep them out of mind. Of the many things that preoccupy your mind as a business owner, your new employees should be at the top of your mind.
During onboarding remotely, see to it that a good personal connection is established with your new employees. Allow them to have access to you when they need help about understanding anything regarding the business or their roles.
Employees who have good personal connections with their employers tend to perform better than those who don’t.
Conclusion
Onboarding remote employees the right way is vital for a healthy long-term relationship between the employees and their employer. While onboarding mode may vary from one business to another, ensuring the right steps are followed is necessary.
Considering that remote employees will be working from their homes with little or no physical contact with the business, you must ensure they are driven by the values and goals of the company.
About the Author
AbstractOps provides the operator and the operating system to help manage all your corporate functions. If you’re an early stage CEO, we will help you manage your remote employees and onboarding them via HR, finance, and legal ops. Don’t wait until you get frustrated. If you have any questions or need assistance, drop us an email at hello@abstractops.com. We’ll help you out to the best of our ability.
