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How does remote onboarding work?
Remote onboarding is the process of getting remote employees set up and working from home or any other remote location. It requires HR departments to think about how they can equip new hires with all the necessary information, equipment, and tools in order to be successful. This means sending out a welcome packet that includes everything they need to get started—from logins and onboarding documents to video tutorials on their job responsibilities.
Aside from providing access to various systems, it's important for managers and team leaders to have structured check-ins with new staff members throughout their first few weeks. This helps them understand what tasks might require extra assistance or assistance from different departments; plus, it gives them an opportunity to get familiarized with company culture and values before being thrown into the deep end of projects without understanding the context.
Finally, you must focus on establishing effective communication channels between the company headquarters and remote workers themselves for day-to-day support issues as well as any long-term challenges that may arise during their employment tenure. It's essential that everyone stays connected so everyone feels included whenever decisions are made or questions arise while working remotely.
The importance of onboarding in remote positions
For business, employee efficiency, quality, and adaptation to the environment are of great importance. If a positive result is desired for both the company and the employee, the employee should know the company well and feel himself in a familiar place.
Companies that are careful about onboarding usually double their success in the long run. So Siemens invests 500 million dollars each year in the preparation of its employees.
Onboarding enables new hires to quickly adapt to their new roles. Also, it increases employee engagement just like it increases productivity. Therefore, a successful onboarding process provides great benefits for the company in the long run.
For all these reasons, whether employees are working remotely or at work, it is a process that you should not ignore and should carefully prepare.
Tips for the remote onboarding process
The onboarding process for remote workers is different from traditional in-office employees and requires companies to take extra steps to ensure their success.
Here are some onboarding tips for remote working companies:
1. Make preliminary preparations
Preparing before you start onboarding will speed up the process considerably. Using helpful resources will make you very comfortable in preparation. The preparation and separation of the necessary materials give a chance to make a head start. Acting in a planned way allows the process to progress more positively and smoothly.
For example, if you plan your remote onboarding flow in advance, you can prevent wasting time during remote attendance.
2. Avoid negativity
A new employee usually never forgets their first day. The attitude towards them on the first day will significantly affect the work performance of the employees in the coming days. Staying away from negativity and showing a positive image during onboarding will make your new employee happy and increase their enthusiasm for work.
Giving the new hire difficult and complex work at first can have a negative impact and damage their motivation. Giving them a realistic time for onboarding and not overworking will also help start a positive process.
3. Simplify onboarding tasks
If the onboarding tasks given to the company to prepare them are complex and long, it will both reduce the efficiency of the employee and affect their views about the company. Sharing information more clearly will result in a better quality process instead of providing compressed pieces of training during the training to be held.
If done correctly, the remote onboarding process will take no longer than the regular onboarding process. If this process takes a long time, support should be provided where necessary.
As a result of the simplicity of the first tasks, the employee will gain confidence. Since most employees who start work are new to remote working, it will be very good for them to get used to it, giving them a simple task and gradually raising the level when they are done.
4. Support learning within the company
We can say that it is essential the culture and information within the company are accessible and the company must support and encourage this access.
Showing employees that there is someone they can reach out to in case of any difficulties will also increase their self-confidence significantly. In this way, they will not hesitate to make mistakes and complete their learning processes faster.
5. Provide the necessary tools
There are different tools and equipment that employees in remote jobs generally use according to the area they work in. Many companies are obliged to meet these tools. Delivering these tools to the employee before the onboarding process starts will ensure that the process begins much more comfortably and will also facilitate the employee's warm-up to the company.
Installing the necessary applications on the tools to be sent and ensuring that the employee only logs in is one of the factors that can speed up the process. Adding media that can help them with the materials to be sent will also make it easier for the employee to adapt.
6. Personalize onboarding
One of the biggest mistakes made during remote onboarding is to make the employee feel that they are directly involved in a routine. For this reason, the employee may find it difficult to adapt at first. With an onboarding process created especially for the employee, the process will be much more comfortable. In this way, the employee will adapt faster and feel more comfortable and special.
The accuracy and detail of the information given will also change in this way. Thanks to the onboardings made specifically for everyone, employees will have much more specific information and will receive the necessary boost when starting work.
7. Schedule mentor meetings
Providing group information and meeting in certain situations both saves time and speeds up employee engagement. In the onboarding process, having employees with similar duties in the same environment will increase intelligibility.
No matter how high-quality and personal onboarding is prepared, there will always be different information that employees will want to learn. As this situation can get a little complicated for remote workers, it is very useful for the onboarding process to assign mentors to certain groups who can help them. It would be very handy for you to organize video conferences for this.
A mentor who has knowledge about the company supports the employees and ensures that their onboarding process is faster and more beneficial.
To sum up
The number of remote working companies is increasing day by day. Therefore, processes such as onboarding also differentiate and become suitable for remote working companies. By using the right platform for your company, you can enable your new employees to adapt quickly and work efficiently.
Thanks to these onboarding tips, you'll have happier employees and a more productive workforce.
With Perculus, you can provide a great experience for your employees during their first days at the company with our easy-to-use platform. Sign up now!