Jordan Ask is an HR Specialist at “Who’s Your HR?” Views are the author’s own.
In a world where hiring and working remote is the new normal, companies across the globe have had to quickly adjust their recruiting and onboarding process during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most HR Professionals have had to shift their focus of creating and maintaining an inclusive and positive work culture – from home!
How much has remote work changed, and how can businesses adapt to this dramatic onboarding shift? Let’s take a look.
Remote Work Data
According to a Gartner, Inc survey of 127 leaders across 4 industries:
As stated by Stanford research as of June 2020:
According to a FlexJobs survey about working post-pandemic:
- 65% of respondents want to be full-time remote employees
- 31% want a hybrid remote work environment
That’s 96% who are interested in some form of remote work.
Remote Onboarding Strategies
Given the previous stats and realizing the growth of remote work may be here to stay, many companies have looked to creative onboarding techniques in order to welcome and satisfy new team members in a virtual setting.
Some of these techniques may include video calls with the owner or an upper-level executive, giving company swag to make remote work feel like a team office, or offering additional perks such as flex schedules or company-provided laptops.
No matter what your remote onboarding process looks like or which creative strategies you adopt to attract and retain top talent, it should always include the following 3 steps:
1. Set expectations
It doesn’t get much worse from an employee perspective to start working on day 1 and not know what expectations you need to meet. The final interview process should touch on general expectations of the job and main responsibilities, but there needs to be a manager, trainer or team member setting clear expectations from the start.
This could include virtual job shadowing or training sessions, determining priority scheduling with a task list, reading through your employee handbook, or having an “open-door policy” to help answer important questions as they come up.
2. Follow-up with consistent communication
The first few weeks go by and the new hires seem to be picking up their new roles quickly. Is it time to start letting them work 100% independently without follow-up communication needed?
NO! This is one of the biggest mistakes a company can make during the onboarding process. It’s even worse with a remote taskforce because you aren’t in the same office area together and can’t read their body language to tell if they are struggling or may need some help.
The last thing most new employees want to do after being told how good of a job they are doing is to ask a question, admit they need help or interrupt their manager’s busy schedule.
To prevent this potential issue, it is imperative to set a routine of consistently following-up with ALL employees – even your top performers that may not need any assistance!
Whether it is done by phone, video chat or in-person, make it an essential part of your schedule by regularly having both individual and team meetings.
3. Establish a top-notch culture
As the manager or business owner, you have now successfully onboarded team members remotely. You have set clear expectations and follow-up with consistent communication. Now what?
Culture, Culture, Culture.
It is one of the words you hear the most in the workplace and how valuable it is for employers and employees.
“Did you know that managers account for at least 70% of the variance in team engagement and heavily influence employee well-being? This is the reason why employees don’t leave companies, they leave managers.”
Source: Gallup.com
One of the biggest things missing from the remote work experience is the human element. Some people may prefer working alone all day in a quiet environment, whereas others could find it mentally draining and less motivating to not be around their office mates.
Find out in a meeting or with a survey what each person prefers, how they want to be motivated and rewarded for success and integrate your culture accordingly! Have options like a monthly team lunch for the social butterfly or a webinar with an interesting topic for the independent introvert.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, it is up to the owner, manager and the team as a whole to create a culture that makes sure everyone feels included, valued and special.
This becomes more challenging to accomplish during the remote onboarding process and work-from-home time we are currently living in, but that doesn’t mean it is not possible.
Setting expectations, having regular communication and establishing a great culture (remotely) is a tall task, but it is worth any extra time or money needed to invest in enhancing your onboarding process and overall employee experience.
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