Remote Onboarding Process
Achieve an Effective Integration Online
A remote onboarding process refers to integrating a new hire into a company fully via online tools. Onboarding is a critical part of your work journey of employees with an organisation. It is the first step in getting you acquainted with the company, and ready to be proficient.
This article will discuss the remote onboarding process. We will address the question of how to design a remote onboarding process, what is a virtual employee onboarding process, and what are some key strategic objectives that should shape any virtual employee onboarding process. These will help craft the best virtual onboarding experiences for new hires.
If you are interested in a more specific onboarding process, we have drafted an article discussing a software developer onboarding process.
What is a Remote Employee Onboarding Process?
A remote employee onboarding process refers to integrating a new hire into the new company. During this virtual process, the company provides online all the tools and information necessary for the new hire. For example, the HR department prepares remotely virtual tools, such as video conferencing tools, online resources and webinars.
However, it would be a mistake for employers to simply assume that a virtual employee onboarding process is simply a “one-and-done” video session or phone call. Onboarding virtually should not present an inferior value proposition to employees when compared to onboarding on-site.
5 Key Advantages of a Virtual Onboarding Process
An effective virtual onboarding process ensures a smooth transition of online workers into their job roles. However, many organisations struggle to get online employees fully engaged. In the following paragraphs we discuss some advantages presented by a virtual onboarding process.
1. Tools Ensure Better Engagement
2. A Straightforward Point of Reference
3. Assignment of Buddy Onboarding
4. Introduction to Tools
5. Frequent Progress Tracking
6 Key Goals of an Onboarding Process for Remote Employees
The onboarding process for remote employees should have specific goals, which should be intimately in sync with the challenges of onboarding new employees remotely.
Let’s review these key goals that we believe should lay at the core of any onboarding process for remote employees.
1. Gain a Full Understanding of Your New Job
Unlike the traditional HR onboarding process, remote onboarding is fully planned and executed with digital tools. Furthermore, a remote onboarding process impacts you with the information and training you need for attaining full productivity. Additionally, a remote onboarding process facilitates your understanding of your employer’s culture and business goals.
2. Engage You as Early as Possible
The onboarding process for remote employees also has to help new hires build the right engagement with their job and achieve job satisfaction. 69% of employees are more likely to stay with a company for three years if they experienced great onboarding. It is essential for business organisations to have an innovative remote onboarding process to engage remote workers early on.
3. Address the Isolation of Being Remote
The remote onboarding process is always devoid of in-person communication. Thus, the onboarding process for remote employees should provide an opportunity to address the challenges of isolation and loneliness. We will detail later in the article the ways of achieving this.
4. Build Remote Relationship
Relationship building might be even more important than role specific training for remote workers. Any new employee is a piece to a larger puzzle. Your activities, actions, decisions are meaningful for the success of the entire team and even overall organisation. So, it is essential for you to trust and effectively collaborate and communicate with your new coworkers and vice-versa.
5. Clarify Expectations and Metrics
It is essential for you to know from the get-go what is expected from you when starting a new job.
- Are you 100% clear on your new job role and responsibilities?
- Do you understand all the stages on your employee journey map?
- What is the review process for your progress and performance?
- How will your company measure your success in the new role?
- What are the expected milestones for your journey?
6. Become Fully Proficient as Soon as Possible
Your virtual onboarding must take notice of all your needs in order to become fully proficient at your new job as soon as possible. “Virtual onboarding should never be a “one-and-done” video session or phone call. It needs to be conducted over multiple, interactive video sessions. It incorporates meetings with managers, team members and even business leaders like the CEO”. These insights are provided by Sally Stetson, co-founder and principal at Salveson Stetson Group.
Remote Onboarding Process Insights
69% of employees are more likely to stay with a company for three years if they experienced great onboarding.
—SHRM, Don’t Underestimate the Importance of Good Onboarding.
7 Steps to a Successful Remote Onboarding Process
Incorporating these steps will that will aid the integration of new employees into their roles. Moreover, it will help you achieve an onboarding process for remote employees.
Step 1: Start Strongly with Preboarding
Preboarding is the process that happens from the job acceptance and contract signing until day 1 on the job. Preboarding is a great way for removing some of the administrative burden for the first days on the job. You don’t want an onboarding day focused on paperwork.
Step 2: Build a Collaborative Process
Collaboration plays a crucial role in onboarding an online workforce. Firstly, this refers to the collaboration for planning your remote onboarding process. Secondly, this refers to your personal remote onboarding journey as a collaborative process. Moreover, your feedback can provide valuable insights that will influence future remote staff onboarding.
Step 3: Tailor the Remote Onboarding Experience
Not all new hires need exactly the same knowledge and training. Different employees have to receive different training to help them understand their roles properly. The advantage of an automated onboarding, is that creating custom journeys is easy and fast.
Step 4: Use of Onboarding Checklists
Onboarding checklists will help keep the online employees focused and engaged during the entire staff onboarding process. You can access a remote onboarding checklist on our blog HR.
Step 5: Measure the Success
Employee onboarding metrics are an essential component of your journey. Having clear indicators for success help you understand the progress of your integration. When you have clear targets and milestones, you can assess yourself your progress.
Step 6: Include Feedback
Feedback helps in identifying the shortfalls that require addressing and improvements. As briefly mentioned before, feedback refers both to how you feel about the remote onboarding process, and the feedback from your employer.
Step 7: Apply a Structured IT Onboarding
A structured IT Onboarding Process is of utmost importance for any new hire to start working. After all, how will you start productive work without access to work tools? And this is even more important for remote workers.
Remote Onboarding Process Insights
Everyone has benefited from Preboarding. It gives you that kind of awareness before you start.
—Nikolai Willer Svendsen, Fleet & Commercial Support at PNO.
Remote Onboarding Process: Conclusions
An online workforce needs knowledge, skills, learning opportunities and socialisation activities. Companies should ensure that the remote onboarding process is painstakingly planned to achieve proper integration of the online employees. A tool like introdus, employee onboarding software, will arm the online workforce with the relevant information they need to perform optimally in their roles. Also, it boosts the social interactions of the new hires and aiding them in building the right engagement with their jobs.