Onboarding is a crucial step in any company’s talent acquisition process. But how do you do that remotely? Yes, video conferencing plays a big role but what else can you do to successfully onboard a remote employee and make them feel at home? Here are 6 factors of virtual onboarding that can help you create a smooth process:
1. Prepare your tech in advance. For your new hire, it’s nicer to have everything set up on day one, rather than leaving it to them to try and sort it out themselves with IT, particularly for larger companies who might have overloaded IT teams at the moment.
2. Plan training documents in advance. Arrange to have the employee handbook and other useful tools delivered before the new employee’s first day. This also gives you the opportunity to throw in a little something extra like branded stationery.
3. Structure training sessions. People learn by doing, not by watching a video or listening to a podcast. On the first day, it’s always easy to get overloaded with information, it’s better to plan activities over time and invest in virtual remote learning. Check out these virtual reality tools.
4. Touch on culture and values. Set up some time to introduce the new team member to your mission statement and key aspects of your culture events. This will make them much more comfortable at remote team building sessions or virtual hangouts.
5. Encourage face-to-face meetings, even if it’s through a webcam, so your new employee doesn’t feel disconnected or isolated. Encourage everyone in the team or department to set up an intro meeting to chat and share stories.
6. Acknowledge the strangeness. Even the best onboarding program might feel a little awkward. Lean into the weirdness and talk about it, that will give your new hire a chance to share their side of the remote story.
Here’s to teams who make the best of remote onboarding!
