Work Institute’s Retention Report found that by 2023 more than 1 in 3 workers will voluntarily quit their jobs, and further,  20% already quit within 45 days of starting a new job.   Getting onboarding right has never been more critical.    Ensuring a positive entry in which the company’s goals, vision, values and purpose are front and centre, and a new hire is set up for success and speedy assimilation with the information and tools they need, is a critical anti-attrition measure.

With little control over a remote or hybrid employee’s environment and work conditions, managing remote workers can place enormous strain on the managers and the Company -especially as they might only rarely (or never) come into direct contact with you, or their peers. But when you get the onboarding process for remote workers right, the entire situation turns around.

Studies have proven that a strong onboarding process yields positive adjustment outcomes of new workers to their employers and improves job satisfaction. This results in a lower churn rate and a more productive workforce.

The following set of 6 actionable strategies will help you foster a strong sense of belonging from the get go, impart your company’s values and create an effective remote onboarding process.

1.   Invest in the right software(s) to digitalise onboarding elements

At the start of an employee’s job, there are many things to get up to scratch on and be upskilled in, so that they can become operational as quickly as possible. This includes a pile of HR ‘paperwork’ and administrative tasks.

To avoid overwhelming new hires, stick to a few select but powerful platforms for communicating, inspiring, training, and rewarding employees digitally. Onboard employees using easy to digitally fill and sign paperwork and a remote training tool, which you can then rely on to upskill employees on how to use any other software(s).

By leveraging the right technologies you streamline the process for both parties, decreasing the burden on your HR team and leaving new hires with a strong first impression. You’ll stand apart from the crowd as a modern, forward-thinking employer able to seamlessly adapt in the face of change.

If no budget exists for software, even streamlining a welcome guide in a templated email format will help show you care about them and signpost them to useful sources of information in a structured way.

2.   Assign buddies and/or mentors

56% of employees assigned an onboarding buddy/mentor during their onboarding process have acclimated to the company’s culture faster, make fewer mistakes, and are generally more productive.

Buddy-up new employees with existing ones digitally – this is one of the best ways to nurture a sense of belonging in your new workers.

Seeking volunteer buddies is always preferable to mandated, and ideally seek cross functional pairings.  Don’t forget to spend time educating your buddies about their role and how they can help the newbie’s assimilation.

3.   Share your Employee Handbook/ Playbook

The onboarding process’s primary purpose is to help your new employees settle into their new job and get them aligned with the company’s goals and values. Your handbook is your company’s Bible and vital in building a unique and unified company culture.

Create and share an employee handbook to align new hires with your mission and vision statements, what makes you different to competition, and any perks and benefits employees can expect to receive.

These materials will helps to get your remote workers up to speed digitally about what you want from them and what you won’t tolerate, i.e., the do’s and don’ts. It will also outline what they can expect from you. Try to host this somewhere intuitive, and ideally with a searchable index.

4.   Clarify individual employee role and responsibilities

Working outside of the company’s walls, it is not easy to supervise appropriately or ensuring the newbie is not fumbling in the dark for answers and timid to keep ‘disturbing’ others. Checking-in with new hires isn’t as easy is as turning to your left and starting a conversation, so you must aim to recreate this essential interaction digitally.

  • Lay out a new hire’s responsibilities – what you expect from them, how and when they should report their progress.  Share with them a 30,60 and 90 day plan.
  • Clarity is indispensable, especially for remote workers – encouraging them to do their job correctly and effectively. Managers have to set specific goals and expectations for the employees – both short and long term and what the rewards and consequences are for hitting or missing target.
  • Additional praise for on-track performance is also crucial to allay anxiety over how they are performing.
  • An evaluation (such as end of probation review) is critical in remote employee onboarding – it should bookend the process. The inclusion of an evaluation motivates employees to stay focused on their goals and helps create and maintain a productive momentum. It also allows them to share their difficulties with their managers and plan for ongoing growth and development.
  • Once you have clarified your remote employees’ roles and responsibilities – and have provided the necessary tools to ensure employees’ success, you must create a structure that keeps them accountable, motivated, and dedicated to the company’s goals and values.
  • Evaluations reflect on previously set expectations and deadlines, proactiveness, focus, etc, but is equally essential to provide a schedule for checkup calls.

5.   Enable productivity by providing appropriate resources

If you expect people to work to the best of their ability, they must be given an appropriate foundation from which to achieve this. It is the company’s responsibility to help its remote employees set-up a home-office that is conducive to individual efficiency, comfort and productivity in the same way that they are responsible in an on-site office.

The provision of adequate resources (screens, chairs, keyboards, mouse, noise cancelling headset etc) and appropriate DSE training promotes efficiency and job satisfaction. Consider providing a budget for employees to invest in a home set-up that suits them. Whether that involves an ergonomic chair, larger monitor or standing desk.

Software also plays an equally important role. Ensure that your new employee can operate any devices or software they are using – Use a remote training tool to distribute knowledge and information on how to do this.

6.   Over-communicate

Of all the nuances of remote work and how it differs from a traditional working structure, the communication process stands out.

When remote, you can’t pick up on any non-verbal or visual cues that a new hire is stuck or struggling, so it becomes increasingly important to make sure that communications is frequent. Otherwise, misunderstandings can arise that will work against the good of your business.

If you have the structures in place we have touched on in the first five strategies above, it becomes significantly easier to build a habit of over-communicating, and a seamless communication network.

Building a communication network could include leveraging video conferencing software like Zoom, Teams, Skype – as well as supportive Slack, IM chats for quick “ask me anything’s”.

Ensure company wide communication is frequent and has elements of fun/social built in.

It is also essential to share task calendars and frequent company performance updates with your remote employees. These keep them in the loop while bolstering a sense of belonging to the Company.

In Summary, proper remote onboarding strategies will help you put together a passionate, vision-driven, committed workforce that gives you a competitive edge in your market and deliver strong performance.

If you would like help re-engineering your onboarding processes to be more remote-friendly please get in touch on Hello@HROptimisation.co.uk

 

 

 

 

Hannah Powell