Virtual Onboarding

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies are now onboarding remote new hires completely online. Learn how to adjust your processes and put the employee experience at the centre for successful virtual onboarding.

Here are some top tips that we are currently offering to our clients to support them through the virtual onboarding process.

1. Every step of the onboarding process will need extra attention with remote workers.

2. Humanise your meetings. Before diving in to work, start with a couple of minutes of informal chat.

3. Ensure that the new employee has the technology they need as soon as they start and the support available to them to help them set up.

4. Provide clarity and avoid uncertainty by creating clear, shared expectations between the new hire and their manager.

5. Encourage networking with other employees. Have existing employees meet up with the new team member for a casual one-on-one virtual coffee break to get to know each other.

6. Remote new hires will not pick up the company culture as easily so use every step of onboarding as an opportunity to reinforce company culture, values and mission.

7. Break responsibilities into different parts and introduce them in steps. Allow enough time for each stage to be embedded before moving on.

8. It is easier for things to slip through the net with remote workers. Be very organised, document processes and have a plan to ensure that things are not missed.

9. Allocate the new starter a buddy and ask them to get in contact before the new employee joins and provide opportunities for new hires to connect with other employees.

 10. It’s important to clearly articulate your expectations and goals as a new remote worker will not pick up nuances so easily.

11. Provide your new employee with resources so they can fill spare moments finding out more about the company; lists of people, contact details, training documents, company literature.

12. Provide some variety in the activities you are planning for your new employee, to prevent too much time on video calls.

13. Reflect, evaluate and measure progress so that you can tweak and improve the experience for future recruits.

 14. You cannot really ever over communicate! Communications should cover the practical (this is what is happening today and how you do it) and also opportunities to socially engage.

If you’d like to hear more or our top tips on the Onboarding and Induction process, download our FREE ‘Onboarding & Induction’ ebook here.