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You only get one first impression. Then, poof. The opportunity is gone.
Such is the way of life, and such is the way of remote onboarding.
Remote onboarding acts as a personification of your culture and values, an extension of your brand and vision, and a bridge between a ho-hum job and a true passion of your employees. Even if it’s not in the flesh, it still has major ramifications for the future. It’s a true one-time impression that can set the tone for years to come.
The good news is that remote onboarding isn’t a chance encounter. You have every opportunity to plan and organize a thriving remote onboarding process. And that’s the proverbial ace up the sleeve.
While you may have winged the onboarding process in the past or gone through the motions of a decades-old format, remote work forces a more structured approach to onboarding.
With a multi-pronged approach that brings together the social, technical, and visionary facets of your company into the limelight of the new hire, you can bring a Level 5 upgrade to the virtual office and integrate your onboarding process into the newly remote world.
You can’t fake remote onboarding
Imagine how onboarding looks in a physical office. You know someone new is joining, but you got a little busy and are only half prepared for them to come in. As soon as you see them, you think, “Oh, no, was that today?” But you are able to fake a smile and tell them to have a seat in an open chair while you get some things ready.
You hurriedly pull some papers together, and invite the person into your office. You discuss the new role, and ask if they have any questions. After that, you send them off on an impromptu scavenger hunt, loosely directing them where to find different departments. If they get bored during the day, they can start talking to other people and get a feel for the atmosphere.
Not great, but not the worst.
Now imagine this done remotely. If you don’t plan well for someone’s remote onboarding, their day looks like this.
They don’t know where to go, don’t have a way to contact you, don’t know who to ask. They are in a complete vacuum. That leaves a scar.
Remote onboarding forces you to be more intentional, and plan things out. Fortunately, the effort you put into making that process better will help you and your team be exponentially better too.
The benefits of streamlined remote onboarding
Before you dive into the facets that make a strong remote onboarding system, you have to realize why you’re doing it. Without a clear goal in mind or recognizing the benefits, you’re shooting in the dark.
At a basic level, streamlined remote onboarding:
- Sets expectations that help the new hire understand how their role ties into organizational goals
- Integrates the tenets of productivity and collaboration from the onset
- Establishes stronger connections between team members
- Allows team members to integrate more quickly
- Improves employee retention
These aren’t the only advantages of remote onboarding, but these core ideas can help you understand the why, which enables you to incorporate the how. It’s a win-win.
Hear it from someone who knows
We’ve interviewed several people on our podcast about their experiences with remote onboarding.
Like Tracey Mikita, the Chief People Officer from Vena Solutions. When Vena suddenly switched to remote onboarding at the onset of the pandemic she had a lot to rethink. She realized that not only onboarding, but the entire employee experience had to be completely digital. Onboarding was just the first step.
To improve the remote onboarding process, Tracey pulled leaders in and discussed what it might look like to rebuild the process digitally without any assumptions. Most of Tracey’s work was trying to figure out how to not just replicate physical onboarding, but take full advantage of digital tools. For example, they moved away from a heavily scheduled day to a more relaxed and asynchronous one to demonstrate their commitment to flexibility.
Fulfill promises and integrate of company culture
Onboarding is the introduction into company culture. New hires have the opportunity to understand the various aspects of your culture and how they fit into it. But beyond the understanding of culture, you have to make promises of what your company is, what it can be in the future, and how the new hire can help to achieve those goals.
But you also have to deliver. This is more than just making a few empty or banal statements; it’s showing people why and how they fit into your culture. In this case, getting them to buy-in is every bit as important as fulfilling the promises you make. It’s a two-way street where each side can thrive if they hold up to their end of the bargain.
Create a detailed remote onboarding schedule
In a traditional office, onboarding was usually akin to college freshmen orientation. That is to say, the terms — despite their differences — were blurred into a singular definition. Unlike an orientation, remote onboarding is a series of events designed to integrate a new hire into a company. It’s not a one-time-only occasion.
But in the remote world, putting together an orientation requires more attention to detail than ever before. In an office setting, creating a broad schedule was simple and efficient. In the remote world where a new hire is sitting at home by themselves, you need a stricter and more intentional structure.
Whether it’s a few days or a few weeks, this schedule outlines expectations, a daily schedule, who to reach out to for information, what to do, and when to do it.
More than anything else, it relieves the stress and isolation that can drastically affect the morale and engagement of new remote hires.
Focus on connections more than information
In the office, most of the planned onboarding experience is centered on information through booklets and slides. The new team member forges new connections organically by being in the same place as others.
However, in a remote setting, David Burkus suggests that you should focus on the connections first, and de-prioritize the information. The connections are going to be the hardest thing to build quickly – documents and slides can be gathered up very quickly.
For this reason, if possible, align your onboarding when everyone will be in the same location. Getting to know people’s mannerisms and body language goes a long way in making communication and collaboration easier.
Have an onboarding liaison
An onboarding liaison has been a popular option in offices for decades, but in the digital workplace, it becomes even more important.
New hires will undoubtedly (or hopefully) have an endless amount of questions. But as a manager, you may not have the time or patience to answer them all. That’s when a liaison makes sense.
Choose a person who’s personable, has a great understanding of company operations, and has the patience and time to handle remote onboarding. Give the liaison extra freedom to help the new hire and make sure that they follow up every day. With an onboarding buddy, new hires can have their questions and concerns answered without feeling isolated or overbearing.
Make little wins possible from day one
The age of tough love or learning from mistakes isn’t necessarily over in the remote workplace, but it definitely needs some tweaking. Instead of pumping out unrealistic expectations or simply seeing how a new hire reacts to tasks you give them, don’t be afraid to lob them a softball.
Easy, simple jobs give your new employee a sense of accomplishment, builds confidence, and sets them up for future momentum that equates to success. Even something as small as a certificate of completion for finishing a training module can set the tone for future victories early on in the remote onboarding process.
Foster relationships and informal communication
A new job — remote or otherwise — is overwhelming and stressful. A new hire wants to dazzle and impress from the start. To exacerbate the problem, those transitioning from a traditional office setting to the remote world may have even more stress on their shoulders.
To alleviate the stress of the situation, fostering relationships and promoting informal communication is vital. Giving new hires access to communication and online collaboration tools can bring this full-circle, especially if you let them explain who they are and give everyone on your team a chance to recognize and greet them.
Get feedback
As with most other processes in the remote world, feedback is crucial. You can either have a one-on-one meeting with the new hire or have them fill out a quick survey to assess the usefulness and efficiency of your onboarding process. Use this information to tweak your onboarding process and bring it one step closer to perfection.
Remote onboarding should fulfill the human element
In the remote realm, it’s easy to miss the human element of new hires, especially if you won’t interact with this person on a daily basis. Therefore, a basic respect for new hires in terms of time, trust, and autonomy will make your onboarding process a port of entry that makes people feel like a welcomed part of the team.
Photo by Etienne Boulanger on Unsplash
You only get one first impression. Then, poof. The opportunity is gone.
Such is the way of life, and such is the way of remote onboarding.
Remote onboarding acts as a personification of your culture and values, an extension of your brand and vision, and a bridge between a ho-hum job and a true passion of your employees. Even if it’s not in the flesh, it still has major ramifications for the future. It’s a true one-time impression that can set the tone for years to come.
The good news is that remote onboarding isn’t a chance encounter. You have every opportunity to plan and organize a thriving remote onboarding process. And that’s the proverbial ace up the sleeve.
While you may have winged the onboarding process in the past or gone through the motions of a decades-old format, remote work forces a more structured approach to onboarding.
With a multi-pronged approach that brings together the social, technical, and visionary facets of your company into the limelight of the new hire, you can bring a Level 5 upgrade to the virtual office and integrate your onboarding process into the newly remote world.
You can’t fake remote onboarding
Imagine how onboarding looks in a physical office. You know someone new is joining, but you got a little busy and are only half prepared for them to come in. As soon as you see them, you think, “Oh, no, was that today?” But you are able to fake a smile and tell them to have a seat in an open chair while you get some things ready.
You hurriedly pull some papers together, and invite the person into your office. You discuss the new role, and ask if they have any questions. After that, you send them off on an impromptu scavenger hunt, loosely directing them where to find different departments. If they get bored during the day, they can start talking to other people and get a feel for the atmosphere.
Not great, but not the worst.
Now imagine this done remotely. If you don’t plan well for someone’s remote onboarding, their day looks like this.
They don’t know where to go, don’t have a way to contact you, don’t know who to ask. They are in a complete vacuum. That leaves a scar.
Remote onboarding forces you to be more intentional, and plan things out. Fortunately, the effort you put into making that process better will help you and your team be exponentially better too.
The benefits of streamlined remote onboarding
Before you dive into the facets that make a strong remote onboarding system, you have to realize why you’re doing it. Without a clear goal in mind or recognizing the benefits, you’re shooting in the dark.
At a basic level, streamlined remote onboarding:
- Sets expectations that help the new hire understand how their role ties into organizational goals
- Integrates the tenets of productivity and collaboration from the onset
- Establishes stronger connections between team members
- Allows team members to integrate more quickly
- Improves employee retention
These aren’t the only advantages of remote onboarding, but these core ideas can help you understand the why, which enables you to incorporate the how. It’s a win-win.
Hear it from someone who knows
We’ve interviewed several people on our podcast about their experiences with remote onboarding.
Like Tracey Mikita, the Chief People Officer from Vena Solutions. When Vena suddenly switched to remote onboarding at the onset of the pandemic she had a lot to rethink. She realized that not only onboarding, but the entire employee experience had to be completely digital. Onboarding was just the first step.
To improve the remote onboarding process, Tracey pulled leaders in and discussed what it might look like to rebuild the process digitally without any assumptions. Most of Tracey’s work was trying to figure out how to not just replicate physical onboarding, but take full advantage of digital tools. For example, they moved away from a heavily scheduled day to a more relaxed and asynchronous one to demonstrate their commitment to flexibility.
Fulfill promises and integrate of company culture
Onboarding is the introduction into company culture. New hires have the opportunity to understand the various aspects of your culture and how they fit into it. But beyond the understanding of culture, you have to make promises of what your company is, what it can be in the future, and how the new hire can help to achieve those goals.
But you also have to deliver. This is more than just making a few empty or banal statements; it’s showing people why and how they fit into your culture. In this case, getting them to buy-in is every bit as important as fulfilling the promises you make. It’s a two-way street where each side can thrive if they hold up to their end of the bargain.
Create a detailed remote onboarding schedule
In a traditional office, onboarding was usually akin to college freshmen orientation. That is to say, the terms — despite their differences — were blurred into a singular definition. Unlike an orientation, remote onboarding is a series of events designed to integrate a new hire into a company. It’s not a one-time-only occasion.
But in the remote world, putting together an orientation requires more attention to detail than ever before. In an office setting, creating a broad schedule was simple and efficient. In the remote world where a new hire is sitting at home by themselves, you need a stricter and more intentional structure.
Whether it’s a few days or a few weeks, this schedule outlines expectations, a daily schedule, who to reach out to for information, what to do, and when to do it.
More than anything else, it relieves the stress and isolation that can drastically affect the morale and engagement of new remote hires.
Focus on connections more than information
In the office, most of the planned onboarding experience is centered on information through booklets and slides. The new team member forges new connections organically by being in the same place as others.
However, in a remote setting, David Burkus suggests that you should focus on the connections first, and de-prioritize the information. The connections are going to be the hardest thing to build quickly – documents and slides can be gathered up very quickly.
For this reason, if possible, align your onboarding when everyone will be in the same location. Getting to know people’s mannerisms and body language goes a long way in making communication and collaboration easier.
Have an onboarding liaison
An onboarding liaison has been a popular option in offices for decades, but in the digital workplace, it becomes even more important.
New hires will undoubtedly (or hopefully) have an endless amount of questions. But as a manager, you may not have the time or patience to answer them all. That’s when a liaison makes sense.
Choose a person who’s personable, has a great understanding of company operations, and has the patience and time to handle remote onboarding. Give the liaison extra freedom to help the new hire and make sure that they follow up every day. With an onboarding buddy, new hires can have their questions and concerns answered without feeling isolated or overbearing.
Make little wins possible from day one
The age of tough love or learning from mistakes isn’t necessarily over in the remote workplace, but it definitely needs some tweaking. Instead of pumping out unrealistic expectations or simply seeing how a new hire reacts to tasks you give them, don’t be afraid to lob them a softball.
Easy, simple jobs give your new employee a sense of accomplishment, builds confidence, and sets them up for future momentum that equates to success. Even something as small as a certificate of completion for finishing a training module can set the tone for future victories early on in the remote onboarding process.
Foster relationships and informal communication
A new job — remote or otherwise — is overwhelming and stressful. A new hire wants to dazzle and impress from the start. To exacerbate the problem, those transitioning from a traditional office setting to the remote world may have even more stress on their shoulders.
To alleviate the stress of the situation, fostering relationships and promoting informal communication is vital. Giving new hires access to communication and online collaboration tools can bring this full-circle, especially if you let them explain who they are and give everyone on your team a chance to recognize and greet them.
Get feedback
As with most other processes in the remote world, feedback is crucial. You can either have a one-on-one meeting with the new hire or have them fill out a quick survey to assess the usefulness and efficiency of your onboarding process. Use this information to tweak your onboarding process and bring it one step closer to perfection.
Remote onboarding should fulfill the human element
In the remote realm, it’s easy to miss the human element of new hires, especially if you won’t interact with this person on a daily basis. Therefore, a basic respect for new hires in terms of time, trust, and autonomy will make your onboarding process a port of entry that makes people feel like a welcomed part of the team.
Photo by Etienne Boulanger on Unsplash
