6 Tips for Remote Onboarding

Businesses are being forced to reinvent their onboarding processes due to the current coronavirus pandemic and subsequent stay at home directions.  

I decided to head out, ‘virtually’ of course, to find out what has changed.  I interviewed some new starters during the pandemic to see how well businesses are currently doing in transitioning to remote onboarding.

I also interviewed expert HR consultant, Tanya Williams of Connected HR, for some tips on how they could be doing it better.

Tip 1: Get your processes in order

Ensuring your businesses policies, processes and procedures are well documented will drastically improve a businesses’ ability to onboard a new starter.

“Re-designing your onboarding process for remote working is mandatory for anyone (lucky enough to be) hiring new staff right now” Tanya – Connected HR.

It was a mixed answer from my interviewees. Lorna, who started a new position in an accounting firm indicated there was limited procedural documentation available when she commenced her new role. Dave, who was a recent new starter at an engineering firm felt satisfied with the level of documentation provided on day one. Kylie, however who was a new starter at a different engineering firm didn’t feel she got the required support from her team.

“I mainly had to work it out myself which would be normal if in an office and surrounded by people who you can ask questions all the time. When you’re working from home and you don’t know who to ask, it’s much harder to get the information you need”. Kylie – Engineer

If you need to document your onboarding processes the following applications can help get your information in order:
– Lucid Chart or Microsoft Visio – great for visualising processes and procedures
– Microsoft Teams, Sharepoint, or Atlassian’s Confluence – store important documentation in a centralised location

Tip 2: Get creative and use technology

Some organisations are only just starting to understand how much technology they already have at their fingertips to succeed in a remote working environment. The most obvious technology is video calls, however you’d be surprised at how many users are not turning on their videos when engaging with their teams.

Lorna told us when she started remotely in the finance team no one ever showed their faces in meetings.

“I’ve since moved to a different team and everyone turns on their video in this team. It makes such a difference to my day and to feeling engaged seeing their faces”. Lorna – Accountant.

Kylie and Dave had a similar experience both commenting that they found their colleagues have become more accustomed to showing their faces on camera during team calls as time has passed.

Tanya suggests getting creative with your onboarding.

“Get the CEO or a senior member to record a personal video message to make them feel welcome and valued from day one.” Tanya – Connected HR

Chat features in apps such as MS Teams, Slack and Skype for Business are great ways for a new starter to ask ad hoc questions they may have on the fly.

Apps for digital adoption, change and transformation such as Guidethrough are immensely useful in training new staff in digital procedures on any cloud based application.

Tip 3: Get personal

Getting personal helps with integrating the new starter into the office culture, makes them feel supported and valued.

 “It makes sense from a retention perspective. These are unique times and ways you previously may have gotten to know your work colleagues in an office environment are no longer possible. You need to get to know them on a personal level. Keep it casual, ask about their interests. You want the employee to know they’ve made the right decision in taking the position.” Tanya – Connected HR

Kylie said her new place of employment has a standing virtual coffee session every morning from 10.30 until 11 am for anyone who wants to join and just have a chat. As a new starter she found this a great way to connect with her new colleagues.

Tip 4: Give them ‘hands on’ experience with your products and services

This may involve touching the product your business is selling. It may involve talking directly with your customers or clients to better understand your product or service, even if their role doesn’t interact with customers.

“It’s important for the new employee to get close to your customers, there needs to be that link.”  Tanya – Connected HR

Tip 5: Assess employee at-home tools, resources & OHS

Does your new starter have viable internet? In our online interactions with clients it has become apparent that many people do not have fast enough home internet speeds to cope with the technology needs of working from home.

What resources does your new starter already have and what is missing? A desk? A laptop or computer?

“It is important to see where they will be working on a daily basis”. Tanya – Connected HR

How compliant to OHS is their setup? Do they need a sit down/stand up desk? Laptop stand and wireless keyboard and mouse? All these things and more need to be considered by the manager when onboarding remotely.

Tip 6: Adapt your leadership style

Tanya believes adapting your leadership style is crucial to successful onboarding remotely. Things that might not have been as important to a manager in the past are touchpoints and employee wellbeing. Empathy is now an essential ingredient to being an effective manager in this virtual world.

Tanya provides the following touchpoint considerations:

• How many touchpoints will there be?
• What will those touchpoints look like?
• Phone call, message chat or video calls?
• Will they be scheduled meetings or impromptu?
• Will they be daily or weekly?

Tanya recommends daily touchpoints in the first few weeks and then tapering off at intervals.

Tanya also suggests that managers should ask new starters on their first day how they would like to be managed? Would they prefer autonomy or have tasks and deadlines?

“Not everyone works the same way and I think it’s a really powerful question for managers to ask………many studies have shown employee wellbeing has a direct impact on productivity, so it is so important for a manager to have employee wellbeing at the forefront of their mind at all times”. Tanya- Connected HR

Applications exist that can gather analytics to measure performance in relation to employee wellbeing. One such application is Everperform. Clarit-e has been using Everperform for several years and have found the scheduled ‘pulses’ with a series of wellbeing questions to be a fantastic way of making a meaningful connection with your leader on a weekly basis.

Happy workers from the start

With these tips to successful onboarding you can ensure your new employee feels valued and part of the team from day one. They can have the tools to access the right information or approach the right team members when they get stuck. It doesn’t have to be a frustrating and lonely experience just because we are all miles apart!

To learn more about Guidethrough or Everperform contact us.