Introduction:

Onboarding a remote employee is different from onsite onboarding because to put it simply, remote employees are far away. It takes special processes to set up remote workers with technology and equipment, to collect all their paperwork, and to make sure they feel connected and valued by their new team. Today’s digital era has brought about great changes in the culture of organizations, and it’s especially visible in the way employees carry out their professional tasks.

Do’s Of virtual Onboarding Program:

1. Do Virtual Face-to-face introductions –

Welcoming a new employee is essential, and technology allows us to do so without having to coordinate agendas or travel. Thanks to videoconferencing platforms from hiring till nurturing by virtually walk them through the office, introducing various team members. Have co-workers welcome them to make them feel like they are also part of the family. This prevents new hires from feeling isolated and uninvolved. It is important to enable real time communication via chats and instant messages.

2. Help New Hire to easily assimilate into organization –

Virtual employees rarely step foot in the corporate office Culture is just as important in onboarding as day-to-day responsibilities. Pairing remote employees with an “on-site” team member is the best practice to opening the lines of communication. Expectations of answering phone calls or emails after working hours Team members can ensure that virtual employees are well aware of the workflow, organizational values, business goals and performance expectations. When employees feel connected to the culture, they are more willing to work harder and feel as though they are making an impact.

3. Do Assign a Virtual Onboarding Buddy –

It’s common for large organizations with many employees to assign a company representative to assist a specific client. But this can work for any sized firm as well in terms of virtual onboarding new employees. Just like an assigned representative who is familiar with the client, an “onboarding buddy” direct-contact employee has a better understanding of what a new hire is going through. If For the new hire, they’ll form a connection to your company faster, and this might make them feel less remote.

4. Gamify Onboarding Program –

Gamification is a process where engagement strategies incorporate game-based elements – for example, point-scoring, competitions or rewards – as a way of encouraging team members to be actively engaged in the workplace. It’s designed to capitalize on human psychological factors that see them become competitive with one another and, in doing so, they will display drive and a willingness to learn and improve. According to the 2019 Gamification at Work Survey by Talent LMS, 89% of employees said Gamification made them feel more productive, while 88% said it made them feel happier at work.

5. Do have automated Feedbacks & Survey –

It’s easy to neglect the effectiveness of the program once it’s implemented. By regularly collecting feedback from remote new hires, you can improve and adjust to program to ensure that they have a good start at your company. Once virtual employees have been on the job for a while, get in touch with them and review any concerns they may have. With technology today, there is no reason for remote employees to feel unwelcomed by the organization. It’s vital to make their first encounters with the company positive and memorable, even if they are miles away.

Don’ts of Remote Onboarding Program:

1. Don’t let your virtual onboarding be too Rigid –

Firstly in Virtual Onboarding, we are not able to interact with the employees, secondly all individual is differ. All new hires should have quality onboarding experiences, but that doesn’t mean that every aspect of onboarding should be the same for everyone.

2. Don’t Limit Induction to first week –

Virtual Onboarding should have no ending. Rather, it is the first phase of continuous learning. Learning reinforcement is the perfect partner for continuous Virtual onboarding. Delivered via a digital platform, knowledge is reinforced through repeated testing. Small chunks of learning are sent to employees every day. It’s personalized and adaptive, using technology to identify and respond to each individual’s knowledge gaps.

3. Don’t forget to set performance milestones and expectations –

A new hire should understand the aspects that are mandatory for them to do in the short-term, like checking and responding to emails, attending routine meetings and whatever else they need to meet the KPIs in their job role. Ensure that this is the primary thing they are made aware of so as to avoid any dilemma and wasted time on both levels.

4. Don’t consider virtual onboarding as an HR event only –

Human resources should not be the only team liable to drive the onboarding system. The new hire should feel welcomed by all the members and departments of the company, even the one with which the new hire won’t be associated directly. This will help the new hire know how each person fits into the whole team and how the team will accomplish the business’s mission.

Conclusion:

Onboarding is not about one week or two week, its is how you culturally assimilate your new hires into organization so that your new hire can be productive from day1 and turn out to be best employee of your organization.