A successful remote onboarding checklist: includes the following four essential steps
- Set virtual employees up to overcome the challenges associated with remote work.
- Help remote employees build valuable connections to teammates outside the office.
- Introduce employees to a range of communication and productivity tools.
- Bolster employee excitement and engagement from afar.
Communication with the new hire
There will inevitably be changes with the required communication with the new employee. You’ll have to decide who will be responsible for sharing information with them regarding their first day. This information should include:
- Links to join into any video conference taking place
- A clear agenda of what they should expect for their first few days
- What device they should be using. They may need to connect through their device as you help them set up their work device
- What time their onboarding sessions will begin and end
- How they can prepare (ensure they have a strong WiFi connection, a quiet space to work, a functioning camera, etc.)
Onboarding Presentations
If you typically do an in-person presentation introducing the company, you’ll have to modify that to suit virtual learning environments. For example, if you usually stream a YouTube video in class, remember that video won’t stream properly over screen sharing and thus won’t be a good experience for the learner. Make sure to include visual aids on your screen if you’re explaining anything out loud so that your colleagues can follow along.
Planning First Week
If your new hire is starting virtually, you’ll have to work with your managers to hyper-plan their first 5 days as they won’t have colleagues around to point them in the right direction. Consider scheduling the following events over video conference:
- Individual introductions to each of their teammates
- Team virtual lunch
- Common introduction mail to the entire company/function/department as applicable?
- Ensure addition to various email groups, teams on various platforms such as Microsoft teams, Slack, etc.
- Introduction to leaders in their team/cross-functional teams
- Introductions to support teams
- Assigning them 2-3 tasks they can complete over their first week
- Team meeting to discuss the team culture and expectations
Planning Induction and Orientation
- Does your company have a virtual Orientation Program that takes new hires through the company’s overall mission, values, strategy, functions, etc.? If you have more than 15 new hires in a month, you can conduct a common session for all, which will help new hires bond outside their team.
- Share videos that explain various aspects of the company
- List of who does what - org chart
- A new hire may hesitate to constantly reach out to managers for small issues in setting up. Assigning a buddy in the team can help.
- Planned check-ins with the Manager and the HRBP - at 7 days, 30 days, 60 days and 90 days interval
- New hire onboarding survey - to assess how the onboarding experience was. Can be taken 2 weeks post joining
- Office goodies - T-shirts, mygs, etc. to create a sense of belongingness on the first day of joining
