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Few companies pay enough attention to employee onboarding – according to a recent survey by Gallup only 12% of employees think their business is doing well. And it’s clear that effective onboarding is critical to both business productivity and employee retention: successful onboarding can improve employee performance by as much as 15% and means an employee is nine times more likely to stay with the company.
Our organization supports companies around the world with at a distance onboarding. Here I want to highlight some onboarding practices that we’ve found useful, both within our own team and in supporting other teams.
Related: 4 building blocks for a successful remote worker onboarding process
Contents
What does remote onboarding entail?
Standard employee onboarding includes all the steps that must be taken to hire a new employee to be successful within the company. This includes introducing new employees to the team, ensuring they are properly equipped and providing training on key company policies.
Remote onboarding requires the process to be done virtually, losing the personal element, which can make it easier to make employees feel comfortable and welcome. To succeed with remote onboarding, we recommend the following:
1. Master “preboarding”
“Preboarding” includes all those steps of setting up a new team member before the formal employment period begins. This includes:
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verify that all contracts and additional documents (such as confidentiality agreements) have been signed
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providing essential company documents and policies, such as the Code of Conduct and Health and Safety Policy
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ensuring the remote workstation is set up with everything the new hire needs to get started (e.g. company laptop has been shipped and accounts with all necessary software for remote work have been created).
Getting the preboarding process right will ensure that the employee can build momentum in their new role from day one of their hire.
2. Apply a documentation culture
In a traditional office environment, it is relatively easy for new hires to approach other staff and ask how they are doing. This more casual approach doesn’t work in a remote-first work environment. Many prefer to work asynchronously (and thus may have limited availability), and zoom fatigue means many want to keep meetings to a minimum.
More than ever, this means that the company’s collective knowledge must be documented and accessible to new hires. This should extend from the process (e.g. how to use the HR portal for employees or change passwords) to content knowledge for specific roles (e.g. sales scripts or answers to common customer questions).
A documentation culture means:
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a secure repository (we found Confluence to be a useful tool for keeping information in a familiar ‘wiki’ structure)
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regular updates, so that documents are a source of trust
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access rights, meaning employees can view and edit all the documents they need, but access to sensitive information is restricted.
Related: 4 Strategies to Successfully Onboard New Remote Workers
3. Take cybersecurity seriously
Remote work increases an organization’s potential “attack surface” — employees are likely to be working from unsecured connections and locations. This means that they may compromise the company’s IP or personal data of employees/customers or open the organization to phishing and other cyber-attacks.
Onboarding remote workers for cybersecurity means not just repeating company security policies, but implementing online training and putting controls in place to ensure those processes are followed. Key steps here usually include applying two-factor authentication (2FA), regularly resetting the password, and only allowing employee access through a VPN.
4. Make sure new employees are welcome and feel involved
Without the benefit of in-person introductions and social events, onboarding managers must be intentional about helping new hires feel part of the team. This could include team members making introductory videos for the onboardee (Loom is a great tool for this) and organizing virtual coffee breaks with key team members.
As part of this, ensure that new hires are included in any existing community building initiatives: ensure they have access to socially oriented Slack or Teams channels and are invited to upcoming company events.
Welcoming new employees with company swag is also a nice touch (company stationery, coffee mugs, and hoodies are all popular).
Related: 3 onboarding tips that close the gap for remote workers
5. Implement “buddies” for all onboardees
All remote onboardees should be given a “buddy” they can feel comfortable with if they have questions about the company and their new role in it. Unlike a mentor or supervisor, it can be beneficial for the buddy to be a peer of the onboardee. Buddies must volunteer for the position, have a thorough knowledge of the company and its processes, and be in good standing within the company.
When implementing a buddy system, it is important to regularly review the system and make sure it is refined based on onboardee and buddy feedback.
Onboarding new employees is a challenge for the remote-first work environment. Lack of physical proximity, use of remote working tools, and a tendency for asynchronous work can all make it more challenging for an employee to thrive in their new role. To meet this challenge, companies must take a strategic approach to employee onboarding and ensure that all new hires have the company’s support and tools to thrive in their new roles.
Janice has been with businesskinda for 5 years, writing copy for client websites, blog posts, EDMs and other mediums to engage readers and encourage action. By collaborating with clients, our SEO manager and the wider businesskinda team, Janice seeks to understand an audience before creating memorable, persuasive copy.