In fact, after demonstrating cost savings, improved productivity, and happier employees, it appears that many jobs able to go remote will go remote. A Gallup poll reveals some interesting data about how permanent our work-from-home culture may be moving forward:
- 45% of full-time American employees work from home part-time (20%) or full-time (25%).
- 67% of white-collar employees work from home.
- 91% expect their remote work authorizations to continue long-term.
- Three out of ten employees will find a new job if their work forces them to return to the office full-time.
With these stats, it's clear that remote work and work-from-home culture is here to stay. What’s less clear, especially for managers and HR departments, is how to effectively onboard remote personnel who have never been to the corporate office. Many firms are writing the playbook as they go, but some forget a few critical parts of remote onboarding. Here are some of the essential best practices for onboarding remote hires.
Get the Logistics Out of the Way Early
Chances are, your office had a binder of new hire information. Insurance, pay cycles, primary email, and other account creation – all of the little things that added up, were vital to just getting started in the company.
Remote work is no different, and it's more vital than ever that these and other logistics are addressed systematically, deliberately, and repetitively across all new hires. Consider building a remote work handbook or digital portal covering some logistics.
In addition to the standard onboarding questions, consider some nuances of remote work that need to be addressed:
- Whom do I talk with about a problem?
- What are the minimum technical requirements for my workstation at home?
- What software will I need to communicate and work?
- Is there a searchable database with a repository of answers to common questions? (Hint: if there isn’t, there should be).
And so forth. Many questions will also be firm-specific, so a good practice is polling and interviewing past employees and newer hires about their remote transition process. Identify friction points and work to make those part of the iterative remote onboarding process.
Socialization is Key
Many make the mistake of conflating remote work with disregarding company culture. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Reinforcing a solid culture is more important than ever in a remote environment. If your remote employees don’t share company values, goals, and mission, the entire enterprise is at risk.
Therefore deliberate socialization of new remote employees is key to success and, ultimately, maintaining productivity. First, consider assigning them a work buddy who’s a good ambassador for the company. It’s a good idea to create a payment incentive program for employees. A good ambassador will be positive and knowledgeable about the firm and remote work to help guide new hires.
This also serves as a good way for new hires to ask “dumb questions” in a low-risk environment rather than approaching their boss as they feel out that relationship. And, in addition to a financial incentive, providing this kind of mentorship is an opportunity for employees interested in advancing along a managerial track to ahone their skills and develop patience and empathy – both critical skills for remote managers today.
Deliberate, iterative, and predictable social events are also crucial. They’re instrumental for lower-level employees to put a face on executives that, in an office, they’d see every week but now have no visibility of. Ideally, these would be on-site if much of the workforce is centrally located. Still, even a weekly Zoom happy hour is a great way to create group cohesion and reinforce cultural expectations across the force.
Flow States
Ensuring an excellent flow to onboarding is also essential. Much like a comprehensive handbook, having a deliberate and sequenced series of pre boarding and onboarding tasks daily will help reassure the new remote hires that the firm runs smooth operations and that their first few days will be less nerve-wracking.
A sample schedule could include, by day:
Day 0 (preboarding): Basic administrative paperwork, including tax forms and other HR requirements. This will save tons of time down the road if done deliberately. This can also validate that the employee has the bare-bone technological requirements for remote work, i.e., internet connection, Zoom account, smartphone – and the basic competence to be a functional remote employee.
Day 1: Account creation and position-specific paperwork like NDAs, access requests, etc. This is also a chance to validate banking and payment. Ideally, you’re using a banking provider that comes with crucial features like fast direct deposit verification. This will help set your employee's minds at ease and further grease the skids of the onboarding process.
Day 2: A comprehensive remote work overview that includes standards and expectations, scheduling and regular event rhythm, and tech-specific discussion about specifications or software used.
Day 3: Security and compliance overview from risk management teams or similar (industry dependent). Since remote work creates opportunities for security mistakes that don’t exist in physical workspaces, this deserves its own day and should not be brushed aside.
Day 4: Social time. Ideally, this is on a Friday and ends with a Zoom happy hour. Either way, this day is an opportunity to get new hires in front of senior executives and management to do a brief meet and greet while reinforcing culture, values, and expectations. If you can have an onsite social day, ensure they aren’t too worn out by the end! Research shows that extended work without sleep is the equivalent of having a high BAC, and the last thing you want is to lose a new employee to your recklessness and inconsiderate scheduling.
Day 5: Job-specific training – this can be anything needed for their specific position or role that isn’t addressed on another day.
Then it’s off to the races. Your new remote employee should be comfortable. But, in addition to having an onboarding buddy to serve as a sounding board, it’s also a great idea to schedule one or two touch points down the road. This will help level the bubbles if there are any points of friction and will also help refine your program for future hires.
Conclusion
No matter the industry, some degree of remote work is nearly unavoidable. What is avoidable, though, is the creation of compounding problems through poor remote onboarding practices. If your company is deliberate in analyzing, executing, and reassessing a comprehensive onboarding program for new remote hires, you will save time and money. If not, you can sow confusion, chaos, and even risk the firm's future.