A Guide to Managing Your Remote Employees: Onboarding

As more and more employees work from home during the COVID-19, transitioning to a new way of work is easier for some than it is for others. Last week's article was focused on key challenges organizations need to address to implement successful remote recruitment, and how to use it to gain a competitive talent edge.

Acclimating and integrating new employees to your company culture, way of work, and procedures is very challenging. Even before the events that pushed many old practices out of the door, researched showed that the majority of organizations failed to onboard successfully and use their potential to the fullest.

What exactly is onboarding and why is it important

SHRM defines new employee onboarding as the process of integrating a new employee with a company and its culture, as well as getting a new hire the tools and information needed to become a productive member of the team.

In practice, it refers to a process through which a new employee will acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviors that will make him or her an effective member of that organization. Recruitment should be the start of proper employee engagement and onboarding a natural continuation. During the onboarding period, besides a formal and structured process, adapts to the organization, understands the culture, meets new colleagues, and understands the often unwritten rules of the work environment. Work, and working with others is inherently a social situation, a successful onboarding process should result in a productive new employee, who is passionate about the work ahead and feels a connection with his new organization.

Main challenges of remote onboarding

Being there for the new hire from the start. After your new hire accepts the offers, it is important not to leave them waiting for an answer from your company, leaving him or her to wonder what are the next steps. Start by sending a follow up that goes beyond just acknowledging the acceptance. Congratulate the new employee and welcome them to your organization. Include the onboarding participants in the follow-up and introduce everyone. Explain the new hire, what to expect, and when each step is going to be. Before any contract or NDA has been signed, some companies are sharing employer branding material, into videos and manuals the employee can start working on.

Organize a smoothing paperwork procedure. During the pandemic, organizations were forced to change their paperwork procedures and adapt to social distancing. As long as you abide by the law and minimize risk for the organization and the employee it is a great idea to be flexible in how you handle the paperwork.

Ensuring that the technical parts of the onboarding are working. Check that all the supplies and equipment the new employee will use are ready for delivery or pickup. This means going beyond the goodie bag. Making sure that everything works and that the employees understand how to use equipment necessary for his work, guarantees a smooth start, and limits frustrations.

Have a kickoff meeting. After the administrative part is sorted out and the new employee starts working many organizations choose to have a kick-off call with the whole team. Everyone gets the chance to introduce themselves and explain their part in the onboarding process. Starting the onboarding as a project on a positive note helps the new colleague feel welcome and everyone to get a sense of ownership.

Setting expectations correctly. The first step of each onboarding should be a one on one call with the new employee and his manager (or onboarding manager). The goal of the first meeting should be to present the new hire with an agenda of the process and explanation of the goals for each step. Reviewing the job description, goals of the role, and how the role ties into the broader company strategy should be addressed at this meeting too. Setting clear expectations for the onboarding and the new employee responsibilities during the process lowers the change for surprises in the future and misunderstandings. This conversation should not be a one-way street, rather it is important for the manager to reach a consensus with the new hire and make sure he understands everything. Setting clear expectations and sharing the responsibilities should be done with every member of the team involved in the process. Working remotely sometimes blurs the line of understanding and responsibilities which could affect a new hire poorly.

Provide a mentor or work buddy. Organizations are increasingly, matching new employees with senior members or mentors who are tasked with helping the new employees. These experienced members of your team, often can answer many questions, see problems before they escalate, and help the new hire with the subtle fabric of the particular work environment and its culture. A good practice is to ask for volunteers for this important role. Many seniors feel motivated by the opportunity to give back and transfer knowledge. An important note is to only choose people who are knowledgeable and feel a positive engagement with the organizations. You want to minimize negative influences on your new hire as much as possible.

Check-in, often. Review the set expectations but go beyond it. Managers and HR should recognize the challenges of remote work and its effect on new hires. Schedule regulars video calls to check-in on your new hires and see how well they are doing. Managers should provide immediate feedback and offer clarification about the expected results and behaviors. Showing the new hires, that you care, answering their questions, and offering them additional training, builds trust and opens up the way for open and objective communication in the future.

Final word for managers

Having a good onboarding process directly affects the productivity and wellbeing of your team and directly influences retention in your organization. It should start with a well-structured plan and clear goals, but go beyond it. Remote work amplified the challenges of the process and introduced new difficulties to manage it successfully. Making sure that HR and Managers received proper training and that they understand aspects of remote work during this process, goes a long way. Be sure to recognize everyone's contribution during the onboarding and build trust. Ask for feedback and collect information about each step of the processing, making changes where needed to adjust for different challenges.