With more employees working from home, companies are looking at the right way to onboard new employees. While we may not have asked for this virtual world to come on so quickly, it’s here to stay. What are the best strategies for ensuring that new employees get the orientation they need to be successful with your company even if they’re working from home? Here are five tips for virtual onboarding.
Make Paperwork as Easy as Possible
One of the biggest issues with remote work is how to handle the onboarding paperwork. Some companies are still asking new employees to come in, while maintaining social distancing and wearing a mask, to complete paperwork. However, there are alternatives. Providing your new hire paperwork, including tax forms, as electronic documents with e-signatures, is easier than ever.
Provide All the Necessary Technology
If your new employee is working from home, you also want to make sure they have the things they need to be effective and efficient on the job. Just like you would in the office, you can provide them with a laptop computer. You may also want to give them a cell phone, a wi-fi hotspot, and access to a VPN. You can also use other tools such as remote access to the company intranet and their logins to websites such as Zoom or Slack.
Host a Virtual Meet and Greet
It’s true, offices and other workplaces tend to give us access to a social network. But when we have to work virtually, this can be cut off and make employees feel isolated. This is especially true when they’re new. Introduce them to their teammates through a video conference. There are plenty of resources to help with this and allow them to chat with one another and get to know each other over Slack channels or similar text-based communication options.
Check–in Regularly
Just like an in-person employee, you still need to check in with your new hire regularly. You should give them feedback right away so problems don’t fester and become a challenge. But you also want to give them positive reinforcement that they are hitting targets and doing good work. Check–in regularly through chat, email, calls, or video conferencing tools.
Trust Your New Team Member
There is also a level of trust that we need to employ as remote managers. While micromanaging was always frowned upon in the workplace, it sometimes happened inadvertently when we were around one another every day. In the case of your new virtual employee, you may not be able to supervise every step of their process. The most important thing you can do is trust them to do the job they were hired to do.
Do you want to know more about hiring and managing a remote workforce? Call the Nextaff Temp Agency in Kansas City today.
