9 Tips to Better Onboard your Remote Staff

Onboarding your staff remotely used to be a process we preferred to avoid. Now, you have to manage an entire team from your own home, and it is going to be challenging. 

So why is this relevant? Well, not only will efficient onboarding mean higher employee retention and lower overall costs, but it will lead to happier, more productive staff and give your organization the competitive edge it has been looking for due to more organized processes.

Plus10 interviewed managers and new-hires alike, from companies such as Endy, Microsoft and Loblaw Digital, to compile nine tips to improve your remote onboarding processes.

1. Be proactive in the interviewing process 

It can feel overwhelming comparing apples to apples when looking for the right candidate. With a larger talent pool, it’s important to be even more efficient in your hiring process. Work with other managers to brainstorm interview exercises, and a list of skills that they feel may be valuable. Find a technical tool where you can document all the necessary materials, as well as build scorecards. 

2. Delegate more than one manager

We’ve spoken a bit about implementing onboarding buddies, but delegating onboarding tasks to two or three different people within the management team, will mean different information flows for the new hires and inevitably, a better understanding of the ins and outs of the company. 

3. Dedicate Yourself

Your new hires are dedicated to the position you offered them, and are eager to do a good job. You should be dedicated to appropriately and compassionately onboarding them – even if you aren’t in the same physical space. While this might appear self-explanatory, 88% of employees feel there is room for improvement, so allocate time for gathering feedback and implementing changes. 

4. Create Incentives

We’ve all heard it; actions speak louder than words. While incentives could be monetary, it can include employee appreciation and public recognition, or even extra leave or vacation time. Specifically for onboarding remotely, this could be gift baskets, or specific tools you would provide in the office that can be sent temporarily to their home such as chairs or laptop stands.

5. Maintain Social Events

Once you have chosen a candidate, it is time to integrate them socially. Where this was previously done organically, it now has to be integrated into your schedule. Whether it is virtual hang outs or neighbourhood hikes, encouraging gatherings outside of work time will lead to key growth and comfort to better settle-in at a new company. 

6. Adjust Workflow

There are a multitude of learning curves in taking on staff when they have never interacted with you, or your team, in person. This has been an adjustment for everyone, and you will need to adjust your workflow, communication styles, time management, budgets and day-to-day. Remember, if it gets to be too much, openly communicate with your colleagues.

7. Don’t over-complicate

Implementing changes into your company doesn’t have to be complicated; finding an encompassing software that helps with meeting minutes, documentation and presentations will help maintain organization. Take tasks and words at face value – overcomplicating mistakes and asking how an error occurred, will waste time and money. Accept the challenge, tackle it, and move forward. 

8. Don’t over communicate

In interviews recently conducted, we found that a common theme when in remote onboarding was over-communication in an attempt to clarify and assist the new hire. In doing this, managers confused the employee by exposing too much information too soon and talking in circles. Find the balance between trust and support; while maintaining touchpoints, make sure that you are also trusting them to fulfill their tasks, and asking appropriate questions when needed. 

9. Record trends 

We asked our interviewee’s if they noticed any trends; while each trend was unique to the company, they were noticed in both new and veteran staff due to remote work. Things like; talent mobility, AI and automation tools, unnecessary expenses (asking staff what they truly want), and surprisingly, a more social internal dynamic. 

While these tips have helped us better coach candidates, and increased our clients retention rates, the overarching theme is if you are to effectively onboard your staff remotely, you need to adjust your internal processes to what will best suit your staff. There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to your employee’s.