Remote Worker Experience
The biggest challenge I have faced and actually is the challenge that I still face is the lack of social interaction.
—Antonio, Video Editor & Motion Graphics Animator.
Remote Onboarding Experience
Antonio Expresses The Benefits Of His Remote Employee Integration
Onboarding Remote Employees
Strategic employee integration is becoming a key focus to numerous companies, especially due to the growth of remote workers. This online workforce needs to gain knowledge, skills, learning opportunities and participate in social activities virtually. For remote workers, connection is through the web, which means it can be tricky to deliver a successful remote onboarding experience. This is why companies must ensure that the remote onboarding process is planned and structured to achieve proper integration of the remote employees.
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.
One thing we can say is that you can tell a lot about a company on the way they welcome their new hires. Antonio shares his experiences.
“My name is Antonio. I’m from Portugal. I am a video editor and the motion graphics animator for a company here in Copenhagen. I started working on this company on April of 2022. When I signed the contract, I was really happy. I was going to start working a week after remotely in Portugal. During that week, they set up my email and set up my accounts on the platforms that I was going to use that tells me the work I have to do. Basically, they were setting up all the accounts so I was ready for my first day of work.
I also have two colleagues that are helping me and they have provided me with everything the I need to start my work.”
NEW HIRE EXPERIENCE OF A MOTION GRAPHICS ANIMATOR
I have always felt this connection with my team from day 1 because they have always received me with open arms.
—Antonio, Video Editor & Motion Graphics Animator.
First Days On The Job
“I remember my first day really well. I had several interviews with the head of operations, the head of product, and the head of marketing where we discussed things about the business, the solutions and the innovations. The following days, it was just me starting to make the videos.
I always try to be honest, productive, persistent. Of course I am not always all this productive all the time, but I try to do it all the time and as long as I can and as long as I am working. But, on the first week it was kind of like me adapting to that work and try to know better the company, try to know my colleagues better, but I always try to do my best and do the work.”
Effective Social Integration in a Remote Workplace
“The biggest challenge I have faced and actually is the challenge that I still face is the lack of social interaction. That’s one of the challenges about working remotely because you don’t interact with your colleagues, you are not next to them. You just stay by yourself and do your work.
However, every week we have meetings on Mondays and Fridays where I talk with my team and interact with them either through message, video call or a voice call.
One thing that I really like that my workplace is doing to improve the social interaction between us, the remote employees and office workers is that they create this social gatherings, which is in my case, I have been invited to come to Copenhagen to join the Summer Party.
So everybody gets together and have fun, get to know each other personally. And that’s amazing for me because I’m from Portugal and then since I’m far away, I don’t interact much with them.”
NEW HIRE EXPERIENCE OF A MOTION GRAPHICS ANIMATOR
I really felt like I was part of the family despite being in Portugal.
—Antonio, Video Editor & Motion Graphics Animator.
Building a Deeper Connection
“I have always felt this connection with my team from day 1 because they always received me with open arms. They always ask me if everything is good, if I need anything. They also allow me to take my time, as long as the work is done, that’s all that matters. I really felt like I was part of the family despite being in Portugal.
The company I am working for, in my opinion, did the best they could in my onboarding journey. And I’m really grateful for it, and I don’t really have any complaints about it. I really feel like I’m integrated. The only thing missing is that I wasn’t there personally. For example, during lunch break, they always play video games or just chat or just play foosball. And since I wasn’t there personally in the office, I didn’t have that kind of experience.”
Effectively Improve your 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.
Make their first day memorable
Have a strong preboarding process so they feel “at home” and welcomed before they even begin. For remote workers, connection with the team is through the web. Allow them to connect with their coworkers and kickstart the relationship building even before their first day on the job.
Remote Buddy at Work
A buddy at work system builds on the acknowledgement of the essential role of social connections and social relationships for your perception of wellness, and overall quality of life.
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.
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.
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.
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.