How To Onboard New Staff Remotely

Onboarding is an essential element when hiring staff. A bad onboarding experience can result in poor motivation and lack of commitment. In many cases to the employee moving on to another job. So now that many workers are continuing to work from home, how do you integrate new starters virtually?

Take time to prepare an induction schedule

Although you will be onboarding remotely it’s still important to prepare a plan for who the new recruit will need to ‘meet’, what systems they might need access to and training they will need to undertake. You might have to adapt your training programs to be online or over a call. You can also share this schedule ahead of time. This will allow your new employee to understand what their first few days will look like.

Get the right equipment in place

We recently worked with a client to recruit and onboard two new starters remotely. The first thing they did was to ensure the new recruits were supplied with the correct IT equipment. They arranged couriers to safely deliver everything they needed for their first day and they were then guided through the set up by a member of the IT Team who talked them through the company’s systems to get them up to speed.

Conduct a risk assessment

This needs to determine whether the environment is conducive to safe working. As an employer, you are responsible for the health and safety of your employees during their working hours and in their place of work. This will also indicate whether the employee needs additional equipment.

Introduce them to the rest of the team

Be sure to update the wider team on the new recruit, with details of their background and their role. In turn, it’s important to introduce the team to the new starter so that they know who they will be working with and the structure of the business. In the absence of a team lunch or meeting, you may consider a short video summarising who is who, and how they will fit into the business.

Schedule regular catch ups

This is essential for motivation and to promote the team spirit. Daily or weekly video calls in the first few weeks will help to keep the connection, but also allow the employee to raise any issues or questions. It’s important that they are not ‘left to their own devices’ or feel abandoned as working remotely is new to many people, particularly those who are not used to being based in a physical office surrounded by a team.

Ask for feedback

Understand how all staff are feeling, but particularly the new starters who have never met the wider team. Keep the communication going to motivate them and ask for feedback on the role, the systems and the working structure. This way you can iron out any issues as you go along and adapt along the way.

Stress

Is the environment conducive for home working? Be sure to put arrangements in place for regular catch ups / reviews with managers and the team to ensure the employee remains connected with the rest of the business.

Emergency arrangements

There are a few points to note here, including whether the property is safe and has suitable precautions in place (such as smoke alarms). In addition, it’s important to check whether the home insurance is up to date and covers the employee if working from home.