How do we onboard remote employees?

 

Hiring remote employees without actually meeting them upfront could be a tricky thing and comes with drastic variations. Of course onboarding, an employee remotely is a completely different experience than the onsite experience. Not being in the office takes a bit longer to get accustomed to the team, but something that is not impossible.

 

While an onsite onboarding experience helps with an orientation process for employees, a remote orientation could be a bit tricky to replicate with the same redundant tools at hand.

While everyone is forced to go back home, it is important to note that remote work couldn’t be the ideal fit for everyone. Therefore, as soon as you identify the right candidate, it’s important to check in with them if remote work is their cup of tea.

 

With the right tools, it’s possible to have and include the interview committee, HR executives as well as department heads so that they can individually gauge what they look for in the candidate.

With so many aspects involved when getting a candidate onboard, recruiting employees remotely goes way beyond HR.

 

Job descriptions and remote interview processes should be apt enough to make the job roles clear to the candidate so that they don’t bump into sudden surprises on the way to getting hired.

A structured onboarding process from the HR side will help define the long-term and short-term goals and objectives of the candidate in a crystal clear way. Since a general interview is anyway a better idea to get acquainted with each other, the new hires should try to make it to the office for a face-to-face interview.

A distinct interview process will not let the employer map out the candidates’ strengths and skills but also be able to spot a couple of red flags early on in the initial stages itself.

Just as it is important to use the right strategies, and using the right tools to interview candidates who hold a super-important positions.

Papers need not wait until employees set foot in the office, thanks to multiple tools, no matter the number of documents, everything can be sent across in a matter of moments.

Onboarding brings with it a number of the necessary paperwork to be done. Send contracts, offer letters, and NDAs in a timely fashion. Ensure keeping the procedure safe in a confidential environment. To save time invest in tools that make preparing and sending contracts a hassle-free process.

Sending documents in the initial days of joining helps to mark out important issues like vacations, sick policies, compensations, etc. right from day one to keep misunderstandings at bay. Factors like the salary, work hours, and the expected turnaround time should be communicated too.

Employees might feel disconnected if not given enough information. Be transparent so that they know what you expect from them from day one. Ensure they have their hands on important manuals, handbooks, and user guides to products, equipment, and schedules. Use video demos to get employees acquainted with the product and its features.

On the flip side, your new hires might end up going around in circles, if they are snowed under information overload.

Information overload? yes, that’s a thing! And definitely, something that needs to be identified before you throw in all the material you have regarding the company on the employee considering it would help. This could lead to more harm than good by leaving the employee overwhelmed and feeling shaky if they can even handle the job at all, making the job look way more complicated than it is.

With a social intranet in place, it is easy to get the new employees familiar with the rest of the workforce. Access to the right tools, software, and hubs like giving them access to the The calendar will give them insights into how they should go about planning their daily schedule. Boosting their confidence and engagement with the employees goes a long way too.

Invest in training sessions and workshops for employees so that they are equipped with the right knowledge and skillset to get started. Also, let them have a say, listen to their side of the story as to why they chose to work on a remote basis and if they wish to see any changes to the company’s current remote structure or the communication structure.

A structure conducive to trust-building between the teammates and ensuring that the values align harmoniously helps the team function throughout their tenure.

Employees look for growth when they enter a new organization or a new role. Prep them with courses and conferences so that they can not only take up challenging projects but also add more value to the company with their insights.

You come across something that you are supposed to spend your time, money, or efforts over, the next thing you do is head to its website to get a good idea of what it’s like.

Having a website that portrays the goals and aspirations of your company in the most precise way will help the employees get a good picture of where they’ll be spending most of their time.

Using a particular virtual collaboration platform or tools, the ways to troubleshoot, and brainstorming sessions help employees communicate with each other more freely without hesitating and building valuable connections in the workplace before they begin. Since group dynamics are more susceptible to change, it is always a good idea to keep things as clearly laid out as possible.

Employees hired remotely should be made familiar with tools, technology security, and data encryption security as soon as they start working to avoid any glitches at the beginning itself.

Flujo’s Jitsi and Google Meet integrations make it possible to interview a candidate in any part of the world. What follows is an onboarding process, which still gets handled holistically.

A test project always comes across as a low barrier to entry when assessing a candidate’s skills. A project assigned to the employee might help the managers understand if the employees have understood the project and brand voice and if they are comfortable working on its deliverables.

A test project could be anything that does not operate on a big scale. This helps save time on both sides and doesn’t overwhelm the employee either. Examples of a test project may include working on Social media posts, an email campaign, etc.

 

Working remotely may pave the way for misunderstanding. Schedule regular meetings that help resolve issues and nip them in the bud. Use an integrated tool to set up Group calls or meetings with the team members and the executives in the initial days of joining for a brief introduction with the rest of the employees.

Employees might feel like working in a void when there is no feedback or appreciation from the employer’s side. Ask questions and have discussions when they first complete their project. Employees might feel like working in a void or vacuum without any basic human interactions.

The goal is to keep them involved and engaged and don’t let them sway away in oblivion. Most of the time communication might also happen as a means of written communication. If the remote employee is not able to write and respond to his teammates well, the messages might come across as rude or unfriendly.

The use of emojis and gifs can help make the message warmer and can also include emotions.

 

At Flujo, We’ve left no stone unturned to keep conversations engaging and interesting. What better way to express yourself than gifs and emojis?

 

Working on a remote basis comes with pros as no commuting, no office space required, and being location independent. While the cons sum up to Communication curb, solitude, and having to keep up with distractions.

 

The right tools and right processes make those recruited remotely feel like a part of the team despite being miles apart and behind a computer screen.

Learn more about how HR teams can use a team collaboration tool like Flujo to manage all their daily workflows.

Happy Working!