How to Onboard Employees When Working Remotely?

Successfully onboarding new hires is crucial to a company’s growth. But with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic forcing everyone to work remotely, taking on new employees also needs to be done virtually. You might take some time to get familiar with remote onboarding. But if done correctly, can be a fruitful experience.

So, if you are looking for remote onboarding help, we have got you covered. Take a look at some of the pointers that can help you manage remote onboarding with ease.

How to onboard employees when working remotely?

#1 Have a remote onboarding strategy in place

Putting in place a plan of action for remote onboarding is extremely important. Since meeting the recruits in person isn’t possible, a smart strategy is what you need for effective onboarding.

Create a structured plan that covers everything the new hires need to know about the organization. This could be a virtual meeting with the hiring team or sending them video links to understand the company policies. Help them understand the kind of projects they will be a part of and with whom they would be collaborating. This is a great way to get them started while also allowing them the chance to ask questions.

#2 Provide necessary IT support and training

To avoid chaos on the joining day, ensure that the employees have everything in hand that they need to get started. Ask your IT team to deliver a laptop to the new hires to begin work from home and grant them access to the database. Besides, make sure the recruits are often assistance with setup or a demo if need be. Confirm if your team can accomplish all this before the new employees start work.

#3 Complete HR paperwork beforehand

Executing the signing of the employment contracts and other necessary documentations can consume a lot of time. New employees can need clarification on certain aspects of the contract and hence may end up being a back-and-forth process.

To avoid making this process a hassle for you and the new hires, complete it ahead of time. Email the contract to the recruits and ask them to sign it digitally. This way you will avoid wasting much time and can have all the documents shared and stored in a secure environment.

#4 Make new recruits aware of your company culture

Your employees should be familiar with your company culture, irrespective of they being hired remotely or not. But since remote onboarding is a completely virtual process, putting across your company culture becomes all the more important. This ensures that you and the new hires are on the same page.

Help them understand your company culture by sharing the links to your online employee handbook. You can also promote the company culture via various digital platforms or tools that work for you. You should look for ways to help put across your company culture in a remote setup.

#5 Help new hires connect with the team members

Do not miss on introducing the new hires to the rest of the team. Try to keep the introduction fun and informal to make the recruits comfortable in the new work environment. Let them know how different teams work within the organization and how they can add value to the same. Create a sense of community to foster improved productivity.

#6 Get the new hires started with smaller projects

In the absence of in-person training, it is likely for the new hires to feel overwhelmed. Help them get a better understanding of the product via demos. Offer job training in the first couple of weeks and gradually assign them tasks on smaller projects. Also, encourage the recruits to clarify any issues if they have before getting started.

#7 Gather feedback from the new recruits

Remote onboarding is a relatively new process for most employers. Thus, it is likely that you may encounter minor issues during the process. So, it is best to gather feedback from the new hires to make any improvements. Ask them how well the remote onboarding process worked for them or what changes or additions they might want to make. This will prepare you and your team better for future hires.

While remote onboarding may seem challenging, the right approach and tools can make all the difference. Refer to the above-mentioned pointers to hire candidates in a virtual environment. Fall back on recruitment software or applicant tracking system to make the entire process enriching, for both you and your employees.

A recruitment software like Jobsoid offers easy collaboration and remote recruiting features. From setting up video interviews to tracking the complete recruitment status, Jobsoid offers this and much more. So, simply register for a free Jobsoid account to get started with a hassle-free remote onboarding experience.