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Your essential guide to successful remote onboarding

Due to the accelerated digital shift in the past couple of years, businesses need to be able to adapt to the fast-evolving landscape, where remote work and hybrid setups are a part of the norm.

“Remote onboarding is about giving your new recruit a great experience that makes them feel welcome, connected, and valued.”

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Due to the accelerated digital shift in the past couple of years, businesses need to be able to adapt to the fast-evolving landscape, where remote work and hybrid setups are a part of the norm.

If you’re recruiting staff, it is time to alter traditional processes so you can cater to a wider pool of new hires working from home. Sounds complicated?

Don’t worry, we are here to guide you. Let’s find out the key essentials for onboarding new staff effectively without ever meeting your recruit in person.

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The importance of effective remote onboarding

Remote onboarding should be a key part of every company’s recruitment and retention strategy. If this can be done efficiently and effectively, you can achieve:

Enhanced employee engagement

This will motivate your recruits so they can give 100% to your company from the get-go, which improves engagement and promotes loyalty.

Increased productivity

Having a streamlined onboarding process and integrating recruits into your organisation rapidly enables new staff a chance to be more productive.

Higher employee retention

It reduces the risk of the dreaded remote revolving door, with your recruit leaving the job within weeks. All that great work by your recruitment team will have been wasted and you’ll get hit by more recruitment costs.

Better brand reputation

Effective onboarding can boost your brand reputation. You’ll have more talented people eager to be a part of your organisation.

So, what does it take to ensure successful remote onboarding?

Remote onboarding is all about giving your new recruit a great experience. The aim is to make them feel informed, connected, and valued. It’s about providing the tools, knowledge, and support to facilitate them to do their job to the best of their ability.

Doing all this remotely is undoubtedly more challenging than a standard in- office onboarding process, but it is achievable. To achieve this, team effort is essential! As it’s all remote, this means that your onboarding team - HR, IT, line manager, and colleagues - need to work more efficiently and better, together.

When you have a fleet of remote workers and recruits, it’s important to have and preserve these key elements:

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1. Communication

Clear communication within your organisation is vital. You can do this by ensuring you have the right resources and people in the right places.

2. Connection

Establish connections within and amongst teams. Having a shared strategy and a structure that keeps everyone connected psychologically, will reduce the risk of isolation and keep up the energy.

3. Clarity

Set clear guidelines. Ensure your recruits understand their role, what’s expected of them, and what the working culture is like. For instance, are you expecting them to reply to emails 24/7? (We hope not!)

4. Support

Provide straightforward access to IT and HR support. Make sure your recruits can easily find the information and support they need to do their job.

Remote onboarding: what to do and when to do it

The trick to effective remote onboarding is understanding that it is not just a one-day experience, but as a three-part process that starts before the first day of work.

Phase 1: The Warm Welcome

This period is from when the recruits accept your offer, to their first day of work. Here’s what to do:

  • Send them a welcome email as soon as they’ve accepted your offer. This would be a good time for their line manager and maybe even their team members to send them welcome messages too.
  • Consider sending them a welcome pack with fun, useful things: a company mug, stationery, chocolate - whatever reflects your culture.
  • Make sure they have the right equipment for their job. Don’t forget to include step-by-step instructions for setting up any equipment coming from you.
  • Assign them a buddy or mentor for support. Make “buddying” a part of your company’s development goals.
  • Give them access to a suite of online welcome videos which includes your organisation’s mission, vision statements, and organisational structure. What’s particularly useful is a virtual head office tour that allows the new team member to get to know your people, culture, and work routine, adequately. Informal videos of staff introducing themselves, telling the recruits what help they can offer, and sharing their own experiences will help your recruits feel more comfortable and confident as they prepare to join your team.
  • Have a checklist of any formalities they need to complete (online, of course!). Use digital signature software if you need signatures.
  • Share information about what to expect on their first day and beyond.
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Phase 2: The First Day of Work

On their first day at work, it is important to make the newcomers feel that they are welcome and that they belong without overwhelming them. The onboarding groundwork you’ve done should already be working its magic. Here’s what to have in place for your new hires’ first day:

1. Schedule video conferences so recruits can:

  • Meet their line manager and their new team. Think of a creative ‘title’ for these meetings to make them less intimidating. For instance, calling them Team Meet-up or Team Coffee sounds more fun than Weekly Team Briefing.
  • Allocate time for a more personal chat session to let your recruits casually ‘settle in’ with their new colleagues.
  • Meet their buddy or mentor. Buddies are especially important in remote onboarding.

2. Give them the time to complete any pending requirements and to familiarise themselves with the tech and collaboration tools you use like Slack or Basecamp.

3. Reiterate work requirements and expectations for clarity: roles, hours of work, accountability, and workload management.

4. If they’re down for training, make sure they have their training timetable and login credentials.

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Phase 3: Easing into The System

Your recruits will need support during their first few days and weeks at work. Be available and ready to help, and remember not to overwhelm them. Allow them to gain confidence and competence in their new job. Here’s how to manage your ‘support system’ efficiently:

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  • Schedule regular virtual meetups and touchpoints. Consider weekly virtual team socials to promote bonding and make work more fun and interactive.
  • Get feedback from your recruits about their onboarding experience: ask them what worked well and what you could do better. This will allow you to improve your processes if necessary to strengthen your retention strategy.
  • Give your recruits a roadmap to success and have periodic pitstops to monitor their progress. Remind them what they need to accomplish (i.e. tasks, compliance requirements, training, etc.). When they’re clear on what they’re doing and why, they’ll be able to work more effectively on their own.
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The Golden Rules of Onboarding

1. Remote onboarding is a team effort.
Make sure everyone is aware of the new hire to ease the transition for the recruits.

2. Connection is key.
Find creative ways to make recruits feel connected to your people and your workplace.

3. Set clear expectations.
Avoid confusions. Make sure roles and responsibilities are laid out clearly from the beginning.

4. Make onboarding a positive experience.
First impressions do last. Give your new hires a memorable start that motivates them to stay for the long haul.

Not only does efficient remote onboarding work in favour of your new recruit, but for your organisation also. If you have the right equipment, team and strategy in place, you’ll create the best experience for your recruits, and grow your business.

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