9 tips for ensuring successful remote onboarding

Successful onboarding is vital for business success. In fact, according to Boston Consulting Group, a company with effective onboarding practices achieves 2.5 times more revenue growth and 1.9 times the profit margin.

Onboarding is also the first step toward employee retention. A report from Glassdoor states retention rates can improve by 82 percent with a high-performing onboarding strategy. And that’s not far from the only way onboarding affects the bottom line.

These days, however, there’s a good chance a new hire will start work remotely. This has brought challenges as companies understandably struggle to provide an onboarding experience for someone who can’t visit the office, pop over to a colleague’s desk with questions, or go out to lunch with their new teammates.

In this article, we'll discuss nine essential tips for successful remote onboarding, covering everything from preboarding and provisioning to training and continuous support. Implementing these strategies can help your business thrive in the era of remote work, ensuring your new employees are supported from the start.

In this article:

• Preboarding/provisioning

• The first week

• Training and learning 

• Summary

It’s important to remember that your onboarding strategy begins when the employee accepts the offer, not on their first day. Use that time to ensure your new hire has a seamless remote experience. Here are some of the most important things to consider.

1. They need more than technology

Your first step should be to figure out what the employee needs to get their job done. Obviously, you must provide the technology and applications they need, but don’t forget about low-tech items. If they need office supplies, send them along with the technology.

If their at-home workplace sounds inadequate, investigate the company’s willingness to help with any improvements that need to be made, like ergonomic furniture or partitions. This can make a huge difference when it comes to comfortable remote work.

2. Delivery or curbside pickup

When it’s time to deliver the goods, take the same approach as modern restaurants: delivery or curbside pickup. Obviously, if the new hire is not near the office, delivery is your only option. But if they can stop by, provide time slots for pickup so they interact with as few people as possible.

3. Start before the first day

Don’t be afraid of getting the new hire acquainted with the company and its culture early, just as they do at development firm Adeva. 

Before their first day, maybe they can join the team’s messaging channel or familiarize themselves with the technology tools they’ll be using. Set them up with a mentor and have them connect ahead of time.

4. Remote access and control

IT confusion is inevitable. Every business uses different tools and settings to get the job done, and a new hire won’t understand them all. Many times, a videoconferencing call is all it takes to get going, but other tasks are more intensive.

This is where remote access and control can save a lot of time and frustration. Instead of having to walk the new hire through connecting cloud accounts, establishing a VPN connection, or configuring two-factor authentication (2FA) over the phone, your IT admin can help guide the new hire in using the company’s tools effectively.

5. Virtual welcome lunch

Just as you would have in the office, organize a virtual welcome lunch so everyone can get to know the new teammate. To enjoy the full experience, have lunch delivered to everyone and share an actual meal together, virtually.

6. Loop in key people

Team building across the company is also important, so introduce the new hire to a few other key people. Try to get an executive or long-time employee to tell the story of the company. Get a product or sales rep to explain what the company does or makes.

If someone who once had the new hire’s position has grown within the company, have them share their experience about progressing within the organization. This helps new hires feel as though they will be an integral part of the company’s success.

7. Sharing screens and collaboration

In a remote onboarding process, interactive learning may be a challenge, but it’s far from impossible. Solutions that offer the ability to share screens and collaborate in real-time are crucial to provide the new hire with hands-on experience.

Non-interactive videos may be good for background information, but they’re no substitute for new hires getting their hands (digitally) dirty with tools and environments you will expect them to master, eventually. Don’t be afraid to experiment. People learn in different ways.

8. 30/60/90-day plan

Learning doesn’t stop after the first week or two. Set aside some time to establish and discuss a 30/60/90-day plan with the new hire that reflects the current situation, and the established onboarding procedure of the company.

What will be the expectations at each milestone? How does the new hire need to develop their skills during these timeframes? A “map” for these early days can ease a lot of confusion about how the new hire should spend their time.

9. Stay live and face-to-face

Schedule as many face-to-face video trainings as possible. It can be tempting to just send a remote new hire some videos and check in with them once a week, but the best way for them to assimilate into the company is to meet them as much as possible. It’ll make all the difference.

Summary

The companies that take what they learn during this challenging time and apply it to their business operations moving forward stand to gain a competitive advantage. Remote onboarding could be one of those lessons.

By applying the nine tips mentioned above, companies can find that it’s easier to bring someone aboard virtually. Once you figure out the logistics (provisioning and digital training), it’s handy for the new hire to work at their own pace with the ability to reach out to anyone else in the company, no matter where they live.

At TeamViewer, we’ve been fortunate enough to grow substantially this year. This has forced us to look at our onboarding process and rethink it not only for remote work, but also to increase its scale. What we’ve found is that onboarding still has the same goals of rich learning experiences and culture-building – no matter where it takes place.