Onboarding Remote Employees: Overcoming Common Challenges and Best Practices

Onboarding remote employees should be instructive, thorough, structured, and seamless. Although this seems like a laundry list of items, doing so will ensure the integration of the employee into the company culture and make them feel included from the first day of work. And despite its challenges, a well-constructed plan should help new hires feel more acclimated to the organization. But remember that this should never feel like a one-and-done orientation to employees. Through a multi-pronged onboarding process, employers can reduce the anxiety and stress that can come along with a new remote position. While these individuals may require more time and attention, employers shouldn’t create a separate process for onboarding remote employees.

However, within the first few weeks of joining your organization, your new hire should have time allocated to have face-to-face meetings with their new colleagues through a video conferencing platform. We’ve highlighted some of the most indispensable elements to successfully onboard remote employees. Keep these in mind when creating your onboarding process, and you can set the stage for healthy, long-term professional relationships with all your new hires.

Effective communication in remote onboarding begins before an employee officially starts. From the very first interview to when an offer letter is sent, it’s crucial to have clear communication with new hires. Onboarding salespeople is a big undertaking, and doing so remotely presents its own set of challenges. However, the return on investment for properly training new sales employees is well worth the effort.

It’s essential that companies don’t just fall back on traditional onboarding practices. Instead, they should adapt and prepare their managers to meet current requirements. However, this isn’t always practical since remote employees usually work from various locations. If that’s the case at your organization, you can easily conduct a virtual gathering via a Zoom video conference. In a traditional office setting, a new hire’s first day would generally include a tour, teammate introductions, perhaps an orientation session, etc.

1. For those who are adjusting to a new work environment, these feelings could be amplified.
2. New hires need help connecting with other employees, and this is especially true in a remote setting, said Tracy Browne, vice president of HR at Salit Steel, based in Niagara Falls, Ont.
3. The Netherlands, however, is way ahead of other countries, with 65% of the population working remotely at least part of the time, while in, for instance, the UK, this is just over 15%.
4. It prepares employees to fully commit to performing well and exceeding expectations.
5. If the onboarding process for remote employees isn’t up to par, employers could risk losing hardworking talent.

Check-in on new hires frequently

Plus, they can also reach out to other colleagues and help get the handbook updated, or record a how-to video and create a resource that others might need. Networking events and opportunities will create an inclusive, collaborative environment that will support new hires during their first few months. For example, if your team typically communicates non-emergency out-of-office time 48 hours in advance and adds those dates to a team calendar, make sure your new team members are aware of this practice. Line managers will be the first point of contact for the new hire, and that’s why they should be organised when it comes to welcoming them. Andy is a technology & marketing leader who has delivered award-winning and world-first experiences.

Establish strong relationships across the organization.

If your current circumstances will allow it, organizing an in-person gathering of all your new remote workers can address the isolation issue and help create a sense of belonging for them. Additionally, how you supervise them during the onboarding phase will set the tone for their future work. Independent working is fundamental for remote workers, so fostering such skills is important. This is a key element of remote work positions as employees usually need to register and access a host of different communication, productivity, and other workplace tools. A hiring manager can ease employees into the position by sending across any company swag and addressing all IT needs a few days in advance, including software and security logins.

egularly review and update the onboarding process

Finally, and because getting to know everyone remotely can feel a bit daunting, redirect them to your HR software’s directory – this will be a good way to put a name on every face and understand who does what for more context. It’s a great opportunity to really drive home how valued your new employees are and can help retain your best workers. And as mentioned in the previous point, group employee onboarding can definitely help with this.

At Zappos, every hire also starts with taking phone calls to ensure all employees understand the customer and the company’s customer service philosophy. Another helpful practice used at HubSpot is the “how to work with me” document. Each employee has the option to document how they work best to communicate their working style. Check out this post for more examples of what to put in your “how to work with me” document and advice on setting expectations with a remote workforce.

By combining a welcome pack and employee handbook into a single document that’s given during the first days of employment, you can set your new hire and your company up for success. Fellow is the only all-in-one AI meeting transcription and management software for remote and hybrid organizations. Have fewer, more effective meetings with the help remote onboarding best practices of AI, productivity-driving features, and seamless integrations.

That was the experience of one HR leader who took a new job the same month COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. Even new hires in top managerial roles and with years of experience can find this new work reality challenging. Excel at your job by becoming more efficient, effective, and impactful in your day-to-day HR work. This information will vary depending on the job duties and roles of the employee. So use your best judgment to put together a living, breathing document and alter whenever necessary. See how leaders in 100+ countries are making meetings more productive and delightful.