Few Tips For Onboarding New Recruits Remotely

Few Tips For Onboarding New Recruits Remotely

Onboarding is one of the most important steps in the talent acquisition process. Proper onboarding of new recruits not only helps them to have a better understanding of the organization but also sets the expectations right. This in turn plays an important role in ensuring job satisfaction and increasing job happiness for new team members.

However, these are difficult times. The pandemic has forced most organizations to close their offices and adopt a work from home policy. This has affected the normal functions and procedures of the businesses and seriously affected the process of recruiting and onboarding new employees.

We all know that processes such as induction and onboarding require a human connect. It is essential for the new employees to learn about the organization and meet and understand the people they will work with and adapt to the organization’s work culture. The onboarding process also helps the employees to have a better connection with their team members. The current situation has made it almost impossible for the new recruits to undergo essential team building exercises.

Organizations now must think out of the box and come up with new and innovative solutions to ensure that their onboarding process is handled smoothly. The process should be effective and ensure that the very reason for having such a process is fulfilled.

Here are a few tips to help the HR managers to handle onboarding of the new recruits remotely:

1. Have a proper understanding of the situation

Usually, the problem starts with not having the right mindset and the inability to step in the other person’s shoes. While it may be a simple task to come and collect the training material or participate in the onboarding process at the office for some, it may scare other people. Some employees may not be comfortable with the travel or in some cases, the travel may not be feasible depending on the location. Not having a proper understanding of the situation may lead to some uncomfortable and awkward moments and not bode well for future interactions. It is therefore imperative for the organizations to establish clear norms for better understanding of individual circumstances and make some adjustments, if and where necessary. Having a flexible process will go a long way in making the new team members feel comfortable.

2. Send hardware, training materials and other items directly to their homes

While most of the travel restrictions are eased, some new recruits may still be living in locations that require mandatory home quarantine or self-isolation. It may make more sense for organizations to arrange for shipping the required hardware, software, training material and the onboarding package to the new employees’ homes in a timely manner. A neatly organized welcome package delivered to them will create a wonderful first impression. Wherever feasible, it will be a good idea to personalize the welcome package and include a personalized note to welcome the new team members.

3. Establish a clear road map for interactions with the team members

Have a well-established and thought out road map that delineates when and how the new recruits will meet key members of the organization and the team members with whom they will be interacting on a regular basis. This will help new recruits in understanding the organizational structure, getting to know the important colleagues and who they can reach out to when they need help with specific tasks.  These initial interactions act as an icebreaker for the new employees. This will help them with a better understanding of the organization’s culture and build their internal network.

4. Assign Virtual Mentors

Working remotely can be tough for new team members, especially if they have never had a real-life interaction with anyone in the team. The new recruits can feel isolated and left out. It is important to build key relationships for the new recruits and assign virtual mentors for them. These mentors should act as guides for the new recruits and help them better navigate their journeys towards proper assimilation in the organization.

5. Choose the first few assignments carefully

The first few assignments are important as they will establish the expectations for and from the new recruits. This goes a long way towards their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the job. The first few projects for any new team member should be well thought out based on their relative inexperience in the organization and because they have limited or no knowledge about the processes, their colleagues, and bosses. The person or team responsible for onboarding new employees should facilitate cross-team collaboration and knowledge discovery. This will help the new recruits to have a better understanding of their team members and learn how to handle problems and find solutions with the support of other team members.

6. Request honest and anonymous feedback

The best people to advise you on your remote boarding process are the ones who go through it. The best way to learn and quickly optimize your onboarding process is to ask for feedback from all the parties involved in the process. Get honest and if possible, anonymous feedback from the new recruits and also from team members playing important roles in the onboarding process.  This will help you in identifying both the good and the bad aspects of your process and you can make necessary adjustments for optimizing the onboarding process.

A well thought out remote onboarding process can help clear the path for new hires as they take their first steps in the organization. These are unprecedented times and remote work is becoming the new normal. However, with some creativity and thoughtfulness in tweaking the onboarding process, the organizations can make sure that the new hires feel welcome, seamlessly integrated into their teams and are primed for better performance.

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