Keeping conventional, on-site staff productive and dedicated to the company’s goals and vision is a difficult task in and of itself. According to the Work Institute’s Retention Study, more than one-third of workers will willingly abandon their employment by 2023.
So, if this is the case for typical office-based employees, what about remote employees, who have little (or no) direct touch with you or their peers?
Because managers and organizations have limited influence over an employee’s environment and working conditions, managing remote workers may be extremely difficult. When the onboarding process for remote workers is done correctly, the entire scenario changes.
At the conclusion of this post, you will have gained insight into how to onboard remote staff and will have concrete tactics to execute in your own firm.
Why is remote employee onboarding so important?
According to studies, an effective onboarding process results in positive adjustment outcomes for new employees to their companies and boosts job satisfaction. As a result, there is less turnover and a more productive staff.
Onboarding is significantly more important for remote personnel. Establishing a genuine relationship with new coworkers and an altogether new firm is significantly more difficult without face-to-face engagement. The physical isolation of remote working can be a formula for early turnover when combined with a lack of business culture, irregular communication, and inefficient software.
The following 6 tips for seamless remote employee onboarding and instill your company’s values in new workers through effective remote onboarding.
Send your greetings
While it’s normal for new employees to be nervous on their first day, onboarding can be especially difficult for remote workers. When they have questions, they may be unclear who to ask, not to mention fearful of asking the incorrect questions to the wrong person.
The difficulty for HR departments is that managing a remote workforce is more challenging than ever before in order to guarantee that new recruits feel welcomed and supported as they begin their employment.
Here are some ideas for remote working arrangements to get your remote staff off to a good start.
The first step is to schedule a phone conversation with each new recruit before they begin working for you. They’ll have more time to ask questions and seek clarification before they begin.
Simultaneously, before they begin, send an email outlining the company’s culture, beliefs, mission statement, and employment standards so they know what to anticipate. If necessary, give links to corporate websites where they may learn more about these issues.
Configure both synchronous and asynchronous communication
Setting up synchronous and asynchronous communication amongst team members is one of the most important steps a manager can take to assist a remote team flourish.
Synchronous communication occurs in real time, which means that both participants are physically present at the same moment. Phone conversations, video conferencing, and other video conferencing systems are examples of synchronous communications.
Synchronous communication has the advantage of assisting people in developing trust and rapport with one another. It enables you to form personal interactions with your staff. The more you know about them as people, the more you’ll understand how they function and what they want.
Synchronous communication enables management to remedy problems rapidly rather than waiting days or weeks for them to deteriorate.
Arrange new hire engagements
Engagements are an important element of the onboarding process because they allow you to get to know your new employees on a more personal level and assess their fit with your business culture. Yet, ensuring that all staff are successfully engaged might be difficult if you have remote workers or independent contractors.
Make it a point for workers to interact with one another. Even if they operate in separate areas, they should be able to connect in person through video conferencing or other ways of communication. These group activities will make people feel more connected to and involved in the organization.
Assign new remote employees to a distant friend
For new employees, the first few days at your organization are critical. They are getting their bearings, learning how to navigate the job, and meeting their coworkers at this time. Sadly, this can be difficult for remote employees who are not in the same physical place with their coworkers.
It’s critical to link new employees with a remote buddy when they start. The work buddy should be a colleague who has been with the organization for a while and can act as a mentor to smooth the transition into the office-less culture.
Make onboarding processes collaborative
It is critical to make the onboarding of remote staff a collaborative process. Remote workers, unlike office workers, do not have the benefit of being in the same room with their colleagues and supervisors, thus it is critical to implement tactics that make onboarding more participatory.
You may use technology to make new employees feel more connected to and engaged in the business culture. Bring remote workers into meetings where they may communicate with team members and management using video conferencing software or other technology.
You might also utilize collaboration technologies like Slack or Google Hangouts to keep everyone in your business and between departments up to speed on what’s going on.
Payroll software manages,and automates employee payments through the use of a selection of great and professional-looking paystub templates.
Organize non-work-related activities
When a remote employee initially joins your firm, it’s critical to have a plan in place for integrating them. Even if you’ve previously recruited someone who has worked remotely, it’s critical that they feel like a member of the team. Organizing non-work related events is an excellent approach to build team bonding.
These non-work related events might be as easy as asking them out for lunch or supper with other colleagues after work. It might also imply bringing them away from the office for team-building getaways and vacations. What matters is that it be something entertaining and distinct from what they would normally do on their own time.