How to Onboard New Hires Remotely

Companies worldwide have switched to a majority remote workforce, which means that personnel management actions like hiring, training, and onboarding are all done online. This can be a significant shift for any company and, while many businesses spent 2020 “making it work,” it’s time to officially create processes for remote onboarding.

Remote Onboarding

Trying to use your old, in-person onboarding processes will not cut it as we continue to work remotely. Here are five actions you need to take now to make the onboarding process smooth and straightforward for everyone involved:

1. Think about your goals.

Before you start any new project, it is vital to consider the goal of that project. In the instance of onboarding a new hire, it’s all well and good to say you want them “oriented within the company.” But what does that mean? Does it mean that you want to be sure they have met every employee – or is meeting the team leads sufficient? Do you want them to have access to all materials needed for every job – or do they need to focus on their position narrowly?

Consider the goals you need to achieve with your remote onboarding process before getting started.

2. Create a process for remote onboarding.

Your process should map out how to get your new employee from “just hired” to “oriented within the company.” As you know, there are many steps needed to get a new hire established and ready to work. These steps may include:

An introduction to the company as a whole, including defining core values and company culture.
An introduction to the various parts of the company, along with meeting the leadership of the various departments.
Getting set up with the technology and contacts the new hire needs to do his or her job.
Getting set up with any physical technology like laptops, headsets, a company phone, and more so that the new employee can go about their day.
Job training.
Understanding how to access the databases and knowledge centers needed to do their job effectively.
Understanding where/to whom to go if there is a problem.
Welcoming them to the team.
Getting the new hire integrated into the workflow.

This is a broad overview. From here, you will need to create procedures.

3. Set up procedures.

Step-by-step procedures are vital to creating a manageable hiring process that doesn’t miss anything. Additionally, setting up procedural checklists allows you to see any holes in the overall process. For example, when you did onboarding in person, a team lead or departmental head likely took the new hire and their coworkers out for a celebratory lunch or coffee. How does one do this remotely?

Another aspect of remote onboarding is the inability to tour a new hire around the company, ensuring they meet their coworkers in each department, creating personal connections. This can still happen, just by video. For example, part of your checklist could be the HR manager setting up 10-minute back-to-back Zoom meetings with each department head.

The nitty-gritty parts of onboarding can be worked out to achieve your goals and ensure new hires feel ready to start doing the work required of them.

4. Test the processes and procedures.

Before implementing a new process or procedure, it’s vital to test it out. Be sure to run through the onboarding process with another employee as your “new hire” and work out the kinks in advance – well before you run an actual new employee through the process.

5. Coordinate.

It’s essential to recognize that more coordination is needed for anything we do online. Onboarding is no exception. Take the time to coordinate with those team members who will be involved in the onboarding process, share the goals, processes, and procedures with them. Not only will this allow for meaningful feedback, but it will also prepare any involved team members to actively participate in their role.

Does this sound nice – but you know that it will fall by the wayside? Establishing and implementing effective processes and procedures is what we do here at Business Success Consulting Group. Get in touch and let us know what goals you want to accomplish within your business. We are here to help!