‍

For years we have seen how remote work was making its way through the market to the extent that companies’ adaptation to the new modality organically increased, but since the outbreak of COVID-19, the way in which organizations worked and thought has changed. experienced a paradigm shift and were forced to adapt to the changes.

Remote work culture, which used to be offered as a benefit to Generation Z-oriented organizations, has now become a new normal that everyone from global HR departments to employees is learning to adapt to.

Among the changes that HR departments are going through, from screening employee presence to managing complaints and keeping them engaged, the most important is ensuring an effective remote onboarding process to ensure that each employee is appropriately welcomed into the team and in their culture. A survey by HR Daily Advisor states that onboarding was the second most important HR initiative for 2020, with 40% of HR leaders saying it was a top priority.

Considering the aforementioned importance of the said topic, here we have some ideas that you can implement for a better remote onboarding process.

‍

Before your new employee’s onboarding date, send them a welcome package with some company gifts, such as a backpack along with their employee business card, credentials from all their sources, a welcome note, and all their relevant devices.

‍

Think of a way to virtually recreate the office experience. Schedule a virtual team meeting for an icebreaker session. You can have a coffee session to introduce the new team member to their colleagues, so everyone can greet them directly. This personalized gesture will leave an incredible first impression along with a motivated team member ready to jump in on their first day.

‍

‍

Once your new teammate is introduced to the team, make sure there is a virtual space where they can easily access all their relevant documents. Whether it is the company portfolio, human resources documents or any glossary of work jargon. This makes the virtual orientation process smoother.

‍

‍

Unlike an internal office culture, a virtual onboarding process sometimes lacks the scope of social interactions and building connections on the first day. To ensure you close this gap, foster a community where your employees can interact, socialize, and build strong connections in their free time with their new teammates.

‍

‍

Last but not least, stay connected. According to a study by Digitate, 40% of new employees report receiving late responses to work-related queries. This leads to disengaged employees. Don’t abandon your worthy new employee after the first day. Stay up to date on their performance, the connections they are building, and if they are facing challenges of any kind. Most organizations fail to retain their employees because they do not follow up once their employee joins.

‍

‍

GitLab, ahead of its time, was already a fully remote company even before the pandemic. They had a well-established remote onboarding process. They held virtual coffee chats, assigned onboarding buddies, and provided extensive documentation and training resources to ensure new employees felt connected and supported.

EQRx used to send video emails along with personalized company gifts as a warm gesture before its employees joined. Apart from that, they used to host virtual sessions and internal podcast series for newbies to facilitate interactions.

Vistaprint, an e-commerce company, had recorded orientation sessions to give to its new employees. On top of that, they virtually have a social day for new employees, which helps them connect with other team members.

Adea company is on a mission to not only connect brilliance with opportunity for global organizations, but also to give your talent something extra: a vibrant community that provides mentorship, guidance and networking potential.

Since incorporation and beyond, Adea company offers its talent the opportunity to connect around the world through the latest communication and collaboration platforms and tools, using a strong community-based strategy, meetings, and content to share and help community members.

All of these companies reported improved workforce engagement, motivation, and retention due to their seamless remote onboarding processes.

Since remote work allows employers to see better productivity and motivation among employees, it has also brought with it challenges. Companies need more refined processes to maintain their systems.

With the rise of remote work, it is necessary to think beyond simple onboarding. According to research by CareerBuilder, poor onboarding affects employee morale and performance, resulting in resignation in 12% of cases.

Hiring a new employee requires a lot of effort and money. According to a Harvard Business School study, companies with a structured onboarding process have a retention rate of up to 50%. This means that an effective and smooth onboarding process is the most critical part of deciding whether it will be a success or all in vain.

We hope that implementing these suggested ideas helps you with your remote onboarding process.

Additionally, you should continue to evaluate and measure the effectiveness and success of your onboarding process, especially when interacting with colleagues remotely, where it is more difficult to measure human emotions, motivation, and performance behind screens. The best way to do this is to take into account your employees’ feedback about their experiences and continue to improve. You’ll be ready to go!

‍

Happy induction!