3 Steps To Onboarding New Employees Remotely, While Working From Home

COVID-19 has changed the workplace environment for good. 

No one said that managing remote employees (much less onboarding new employees!) would be easy. It’s an even tougher job when companies have several locations and try to onboard a large number of employees at once.

But, there’s no need to fear! Onboarding new employees and training new employees remotely is quicker, cost effective, and easier. We’ve provided you 3 steps to help streamline your onboarding process for new employees, while working from home. 

Before the onboarding new employee process begins, create a new remote employee onboarding checklist to make sure everything goes smoothly. 

Some general items you must include on every onboarding checklist includes:

1. Make sure all new hires have all the necessary tools and equipment to be able to do their job successfully. For example, if your new remote employees will be working from home, you must ensure they have a working computer, keyboard, and mouse. Provide them with an employee management software to streamline daily operations and reduce day-to-day friction. 

2. Make sure all new employees receive some branded company items and a small welcoming gift, i.e. a mug or a sweatshirt. 

3. Complete all the necessary documentation and paperwork. 

4. Provide new employees with another experienced, veteran employee to help mentor them. HBR remarks that “it’s important that this informal mentor be a different person from the person’s manager, so that the new employee feels comfortable asking any question, large or small. Any new employee will and should have endless questions, and the last thing you want is having them feel uncertain about who to ask”. 

5. Make sure all new employees understand the company culture and values. Provide them with the employee handbook and all policies and procedures you expect them to follow. 

6. Ensure they understand the company’s internal communication standard and what channels of communication to use. 

7. Make sure all new employees have a clear understanding of what their job role and responsibilities are. HBR notes, “new hires should recognize how their responsibilities fit into the overall success of the company. When an individual joins the team, the hiring manager should share key communications and presentations that have been done by the leadership of the organization on the direction and goals of the company so the new hire can put his or her work into the context of the whole”.

8. Require new employees to set one-on-one meetings with their direct managers, team leaders, and colleagues so they can get to know the team. 

9. Train new employees with the use of technology, such as employee management softwares, to ensure training goes smoothly and efficiently. 

10. Set regular meetings during the employees first 3 months, to check in and ensure the onboarding process went smoothly. 

These are some of the main things you should focus on when creating an employee onboarding checklist. The most important on this list is providing your employees the proper tools and technology to make the onboarding process as easy and efficient as possible. 

Not to mention, these tools and technology can be used on a daily basis to reduce manual pen and paper processes and streamline daily operations. 

Tools and technology today are making the jobs of HR managers and business owners much easier, especially employee management software solutions. 

Not only do they centralize nearly every aspect of employee management, but they reduce the amount of manual pen and paper processes such as scheduling, onboarding new employees, manage employee time tracking, payroll, daily tasks, and so much more. Additionally, they have a direct and positive impact on employee productivity, engagement, morale, and accountability. 

Specifically, employee management software can be used to onboard and train new remote employees easily, quickly, cost effectively, and efficiently. 

An employee management software, like Connecteam, can take your onboarding and training process to the next level in the follow ways: 

1. Send all necessary documents and paperwork to be filled by the new employee directly through the mobile app to the employees personal phone. 
2. Create fully customizable training courses and quizzes for each employee or department. 
3. All training material can be accessed directly from the employees mobile phone. 
4. New employees can complete the training at their own pace and from any location. 
5. Managers have complete oversight and control over the new employees pace with automated notifications and alerts. Once an employee has finished their training course, upper management will receive a notification and the employee can move on to the next task.
6. Ensure employees are understanding the material with customizable quizzes. 
7. Keep the training courses fun and engaging with videos, links, surveys, PDFs, and more. 
8. Create fully customizable reports from data exported from training and quizzes to ensure your onboarding and training process is efficient. 
9. Provide all new employees with the employee handbook, policies, and procedures through the digital knowledge center, which can be accessed 24/7 from the employees mobile device. 
10. After the training is completed, employees can provide training feedback directly through the app. That way you can make any necessary improvements to the onboarding process. 
11. An in-app employee directory and in-app messaging allows for new hires to easily get in touch with whomever they need in just a few clicks. New employees can easily search for colleagues by searching by name or filtering by department. 

With an employee management software, you don’t need to train new employees in person or carry around heavy binders full of paperwork. With Connecteam, the onboarding and training process is completely digital, quick, and easy — even for your less tech savvy employees.

We know that onboarding and training a new employee is difficult, even when in the office. That’s why creating a solid onboarding and training strategy is crucial to ensuring it’s success. There are also a few tips to guarantee the onboarding process goes smoothly. 

1. Don’t make every meeting formal. You also want the new hires to get to know everyone else in a non-formal setting. For example, set up some virtual meetings for some fun ice breaker games so employees can get to know each other better. 
2. Take lunch together, virtually. Even though employees are not in the office, it still is nice to enjoy lunch together. You can even send employees a meal straight to their home, have everyone jump on a Zoom call, and enjoy!
3. Make sure new employees understand the company hierarchy. Who they will be working with, who they will be reporting to, and so on. Make sure they get to know a few members from each team. 
4. Have employees make a 15-30 second introduction video. Have a communication channel dedicated to introducing and getting to know new employees. With an employee management software, like Connecteam, you can introduce new employees on the digital social feed. Allow colleagues to like, comment, and welcome new employees while simultaneously increasing employee engagement.
5. Create a healthy work culture and positive work environment. Research shows “that not only is a cut-throat environment harmful to productivity over time, but that a positive environment will lead to dramatic benefits for employers, employees, and the bottom line”.

Like we said before, we know onboarding and training is stressful for both managers and new employees. That’s why ensuring that not every aspect of the onboarding and training process is serious and work related makes the experience more fun and engaging! 

The Bottom Line: Steps To Onboarding New Employees, While Working From Home

The current global situation has definitely changed the way businesses and organizations onboard and train new employees, and it seems these processes are here to stay. 

Onboarding new employees and training new employees remotely is cost effective, easy, and quick. This is especially true for companies and organizations that need to onboard and train large amounts of new employees. Additionally, with remote staff, there really is absolutely no need to bring those employees in for face-to-face training. 

In order to efficient and effectively train and onboard new employees remotely, while working from home, create a remote employee onboarding checklist, provide new employees with the proper tools and technology to guarantee a smooth onboarding process, and ensure that new employees feel comfortable, apart of a team, and are aware of the company culture and values.