Remote onboarding is nothing new. In fact, within certain tech industries, digital onboarding processes have been in place for a long time and are considered normal.  For most companies, however, the business landscape has never looked less normal.

With social distance measures in place for the foreseeable future, businesses of every size across every industry are having to rethink their employee onboarding processes.  In many cases, the traditional office has been replaced by virtual teams scattered across a geographic location. Remote workers, working from home and supported by technology, now have their day-to-day team interactions online. Face to face meetings have been replaced by video calls, team meetings are held via Zoom, Microsoft Teams & Google Hangouts.

So how do you go about conveying your company culture digitally, whilst the beer fridge and ping pong table in the office gather dust?

How do you make a new starter feel valued when you can’t take them to your favourite lunch spot and show them around the local area?

How do you communicate the business’s values effectively to someone working in their spare bedroom (sometimes using an ironing board as a desk)?

How do you make them feel valued in those crucial first twelve weeks?

How do you ensure you retain a higher number of employees AND get them up to speed as soon as possible?

The good news is, we’ve scoured the available resources in order to bring you these top five tips to answer the above, enabling you to Remote Onboard like a pro!

Tip 1: Get materials out early

Pre-onboarding is any interaction you have with a new starter between them signing a contract and their start date. Getting materials out to an employee ahead of their start date not only makes them feel valued, but it also allows them time to prepare for their start date and feel like part of the team. Giving them a great first impression of you is proven to increase retention rate.

Tip 2: Embrace Video conferencing

Meeting your future colleagues is the best way to demonstrate company culture. Video conferencing is the perfect way to introduce someone to their remote team. Whether it’s beers on a Friday afternoon or an online activity that gets everyone working together, there are plenty of ways to use video conferencing to your advantage and make new starters feel like part of the family, pronto!

Tip 3: Circulate your employee handbook, company culture & values

Ensuring your branded collateral match the company culture is absolutely vital.  Distributing these documents digitally is a great way to get them in front of new starters early. By showing them what matters most to the business, you are highlighting expectations from day one.

Tip 4: Make them feel valued

Let’s face it, we all like receiving cool, free stuff.  When the company you’re about to join invests in you, you feel valued and special. We know this first-hand, because of the feedback we get when we send out a new starter pack. The cost of not making someone feel valued in those first twelve weeks can be a lower retention rate, or best case: employees who feel undervalued and take longer to perform.

Tip 5: Set expectations

Whether your team is remote or based in the same location, setting clear expectations for the first three months will ensure that your employees know exactly what is required, and what success should look like to you.  Everyone needs some accountability. So setting the tone early should enable your new starters to flourish.

If you’d like help putting together awesome Onboarding packs that make your new starters feel valued, we’d love to help! Get in touch today for an informal chat about your requirements.

 

 

Ben Robinson, Principal Sales Executive – Engagement

ben@clone-media.co.uk

 

 

 

 

 

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