The Remote Work Onboarding Process
Onboarding is essential in the entire hiring process. It is believed that workers are more likely to stay longer in an organization if they go through a good onboarding process.
In its most basic form, onboarding is a process that integrates new members into the workforce. However, with the growing popularity of remote working in recent times, many organizations are introducing the onboarding process to remote working environments.
Therefore, in this post, we will discuss the essential onboarding processes in the remote working environment. It is crucial to remember that the onboarding process is done remotely, without any face-to-face interactions.
1. Carry out all the paperwork remotely
One of the tedious tasks of hiring workers in an organization is the numerous pieces of paperwork. The paperwork is carried out remotely during the onboarding process of remote work. This paperwork includes employment contracts, benefits enrollments and policy documents, bank account information for direct deposit, and an employee handbook.
During the remote onboarding, the HR managers should ensure that the new hires get this essential paperwork virtually instead of coming to the office to pick up physical copies. Also, sending the paperwork remotely would provide the new hires with extra time to read and understand the job descriptions and other necessary information from the convenience of their homes.
2. Introduce the new team members
It is harder for team members to bond easily in a remote working environment. Therefore, the hiring managers should make the new hires feel welcome in their new remote work environment. Every old member of the team is expected to ensure the new hires feel welcomed. Ultimately, this will result in them being more motivated and performing better.
3. Assign them a mentor
When new remote workers are introduced to the team, everything is often strange to them. The best way to facilitate their successful onboarding is to assign them a mentor. The mentor would hold them by hand and help them understand the organization’s culture, goals, and values. HR managers should ensure that the mentors are easy going people who are friendly and willing to support the new hires to get acquainted with their new working environment. In addition, the mentors should encourage the new hires to ask relevant questions about anything they require clarification on.
4. Start with smaller tasks
To boost the confidence of the new hires, the HR and project managers should start assigning only less complex tasks to them. They can increase the complexity of the tasks gradually as time progresses. This would ensure that the new hires are not overwhelmed with the tasks from the onset, which could negatively affect their self-esteem at work. Starting with smaller jobs would improve their confidence in their abilities and help them to easily familiarize themselves with the business, co-workers, and the work environment.
Final thoughts
The hiring managers are saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that new hires are provided with a suitable working environment. The first step towards achieving this goal is to ensure a good onboarding process. The process can be a little bit demanding in a remote working environment. But adhering to the onboarding processes outlined in this post can help your remote workers become comfortable with their jobs and stay longer in the organization.
