The Ultimate Guide to Remote Onboarding In 2022

The pandemic forced companies to send their employees home to work from the home-office. Remote work had a big moment all over the world. Even though the recent new regulations give us all the permission to work at the office again, many employees still choose to work remotely. Whether it may be in the office or at home, onboarding plays a critical role in a new hire's success and happiness. In this guide, we lay out the best learnings for getting your remote employees up to speed.

Read everything you need to know to create a virtual onboarding experience that does your culture justice.

What is remote employee onboarding?

(Remote) Onboarding /ˈɒnbɔːdɪŋ,ɒnˈbɔːdɪŋ/ Noun: onboarding; plural noun: onboardings
Remote onboarding is the process of incorporating a new employee into a company and familiarizing them with the company culture and policies, so they can become an effective and contributing member of the team implementing technology of video calls and tech tools.

From an employee's perspective, an onboarding program is an opportunity to get used to a new environment. For an employer, it's a clearly pre-defined, thought-through and goal-oriented process, designed to achieve the following objectives:

• Help the company leave a good first impression on the new employee;
• Help the new employee feel welcome and feel like a genuine part of the team from day 1;
• Help the new employee be successful in his job as soon as possible;
• Increase the retention rate of the company;
• Increase the general wellbeing of employees;

Though remote onboarding takes place virtually, the process has the same objectives as face-to-face onboarding. Remote employee onboarding , but the new hire is going to be working remotely rather than from the office. Since remote working employees don't have as many opportunities to organically integrate into the company processes and culture, good onboarding is even more essential. But unfortunately still overlooked by so many HR-managers and business owners.

Why is an (remote) onboarding process so important?

After everyone was settled in at their home office, it quickly became apparent to many office-based teams that employees could b e productive and focused when not in the office. Employers everywhere began to understand that remote work really works with the added benefit of an improved work-life balance. Yet for newly starting employees, there is a large gaping void that current employees do not feel. Especially if they are dispersed throughout different cities or countries

Onboarding is important, but remote onboarding is essential. It lays the groundwork for new hires to smoothly transition into their new role. The smoother the remote onboarding process is for the new employee, the greater the chances they will become an effective, long-term contributor to the company. A recent report by the leading HR organization Bamboo states that remote work can increase total-factor productivity by 20% to 30%, if there's intentional and thoughtful remote work set up or a kick-ass remote wellbeing program.

Employees that have gone through an onboarding process show 18 x more commitment towards the company than employees that haven’t; Of all the employees that have gone through an onboarding process, 91% says they feel content at work, while only 29% of the employees that haven’t say they feel content; 89% of ‘onboarded’ employees say they are well integrated into the company’s culture. Only 59% of the employees that didn’t go through onboarding say the same.

There are many more numbers and statistics available testifying for the importance of a good onboarding process, but of course, your gut-feeling has been telling you the same for years. The objective of this guide is to help HR-managers and business owners design an onboarding process that perfectly caters to the needs of the company. We’ll provide actionable insights and tools that will allow you to design your onboarding process quickly and successfully.

The golden triangle of remote onboarding

Though every company is very different, every (home)office is different and every individual employee is different as well, the onboarding process consists of the same three elements throughout the entire economy. These three elements form the golden triangle of remote onboarding:

1. Cultural fit

Cultural what?

The first element of the golden triangle of remote onboarding is the so-called cultural fit. Every company has its own specific DNA, mission, values, ... The combination of all these elements is referred to as the company culture. On the other hand, every individual also has his own set of values, identity and character. These are the employee’s culture.

A common misunderstanding about cultural fit is that we’re trying to find a perfect match between the company culture and the employee’s culture. Trying to achieve this would be impossible: every culture - both the company culture and the employee’s culture - is the product of years and years of organic growth, education, trial and error, etc. So changing a culture overnight is unachievable, and it would be highly undesirable just as well.

So are we trying to achieve a perfect match through the hiring process? Again, no. If we would limit the pool of candidates we want to hire exclusively to people who share the exact same set of values and vision with the company, we would be making it extremely hard for ourselves.

It’s important to understand that with cultural fit: we’re not trying to change anything. We’re just trying to make the employee’s culture fit in with the company’s culture. We’re trying to find common ground as well as areas where both cultures can complement each-other.

Communication plays a key role here. It’s important for the employee to get a very clear view of the culture of the company. It’s equally important that the company - and colleagues of the new hire - get a clear view of the employee’s culture as well, as soon as possible.

Tools to use:

›› Implement a company-culture training early in your remote onboarding-week (step-by-step guide)
›› A well thought-out onboarding box is a very powerful tool (read more)
›› The onboarding canvas helps structure conversations around the company culture (download)

Once both the employee and the company have a clear view of the key elements defining each-other’s culture, the new hire will feel at home at his new company much sooner, which will automatically lead to enhanced well-being and better performance.

Do’s and don'ts

Do:

• Let colleagues talk about the company culture to the new employee via video calls;
• Communicate your company values clearly and often;
• Make sure the new employee has a good understanding of the company’s mission and vision;
• Ask the new hire about his or her values (use the onboarding canvas!);
• Send a gift: the power of receiving a gift cannot be underestimated, it leaves a lasting impression;

Don't:

• Talk about values, but fail to act accordingly;
• Talk without asking: getting to know the employee’s culture is just as important as informing the employee about the company’s culture;
• Make the first day of the new employee go by unnoticed;

2. Managing expectations

What is meant by expectation management?

Very often, disappointment comes from failure to meet expectations. That’s why, managing expectations is a key element of the golden triangle of remote onboarding. This starts with the job description you’re posting: it should be very clear about what you’re expecting from the employee and the employee should get a very clear idea about what he or she can expect from the company as well.

The management of expectations enters a new phase when the prospective new hire gets his first interview. The job interview should always be a structured conversation, rather than the inconsistent array of the questions it still very often is today.

Just like the cultural fit, managing expectations works in both ways. What we’re really trying to achieve here is for the employee to know exactly what is expected of him or her in the new job, and for the company (and the colleagues) to know exactly what the new employee expects to get from his or her new job.

Once the job description and the job interview were handled correctly, and expectations are managed accordingly, the next step is to implement expectation management in the time leading up to the employee’s first day at the company and the actual first days on the job.

Tools to use:

›› Implement a company-culture training early in your remote onboarding-week (step-by-step guide)
›› A well thought-out onboarding box is a very powerful tool (read more)
›› The onboarding canvas helps structure conversations around the company culture (download)

Do's and don'ts

Do:

• Write a clear job description and define what success looks like in this job;
• In the job description, make it crystal clear what the employee can expect from the company;
• Ask specific questions about the prospective employee’s expectations;
• Let a future colleague talk about how it is to be part of the team and to work at the company;

Don't:

• Create expectations you know you can’t live up to;
• Be unclear about expectations and let the employee define them;

3. Technical skills

What are technical skills?

Very often when we hire new employees, we do so because they bring a certain set of skills to the table. Skills we need in our organization in order to increase the company’s performance. We distinguish four kinds of hirings, based on the matrix beneath:

Type 1: the quick match

With the quick match, both the employee and the company already possess the technical skills. For example: a design agency hires an extra graphic designer. In this case, covering the ‘technical skills’ aspect of the golden triangle of remote onboarding, should be quick and easy.

In your remote on-boarding training, make sure your new hire’s team leader, together with one or two of his direct colleagues, gives a brief exposition of how they work, and the technical skills required to perform well.

The new hire will quickly notice where the possible blind spots in his or her skillset still lay, and can request additional virtual training and coaching to fix them.

Type 2: the trainer

With the trainer, the company hires a new profile because the company has identified a lack of a certain set of technical skills. The new hire is expected to bring these skills to the company and - if necessary - train the other employees in these specific skills.

For example, a design agency hires a new and experienced motion designer, because more and more customers are asking to implement motion design in their marketing campaigns. The new motion designer will be in charge of all motion designs, but the account managers at the company need to be trained about the possibilities of motion design, so they can sell the new solution to their customers.

In this case, it’s important to define beforehand which technical skills you're looking for in the new hire and which skills you’re expecting the new hire to train his colleagues about. Together with the new employee, make a structured plan of this training, define KPI’s and set dates on which you’ll measure whether or not the KPI’s are met or not.

Type 3: The trainee

The trainee is an employee you hired because he or she has a certain set of capabilities or qualities that will contribute to the success of the company, but the new hire still has a certain set of technical skills to acquire.

For example, a design agency hires an additional account manager to add to the account team. The new hire used to work as an account manager in a totally different industry. This means, the new hire will need to be trained in the technical aspects of design, so that he knows the possibilities and he can do his job in helping customers with the right design solutions.

With trainees, investing time and means in formal training is key. Way too often still, companies tell new hires “you’ll pick up automatically just by doing so” and while that may be true, the new employee will get the feeling of being left to their own devices in their own home office.

In your onboarding calendar (download template), it’s important to allow enough time for formal training. Use the experts you already have in your team to provide online training sessions. Not only will the new employee get the feeling he or she’s being looked after, he or she will be more successful in his or her job much faster and, as an additional bonus: the employees giving the training will become even more skilled, as teaching always is the best way of learning.

Type 4: the sponge

Sometimes the company hires new skills that neither the new hire, nore the company already have at the moment of remote onboarding. In this case, much like with the trainee, the new employee is hired for the qualities he or she has, and because the company is confident he or she will be able to acquire the necessary skills quickly. The big difference between the sponge and the trainee, is that the company can’t provide the training itself, so it has to rely on external education.

For example, a design agency could hire a very skilled graphic designer to set up it’s motion design department, even if this graphic designer is not a trained motion designer yet. Maybe this specific person was responsible for setting up a different department at his previous occupation, and was hired on that basis. In this case, of course, it’s vital for the new employee to learn motion design at first.

In case you’re hiring a sponge, two things are to be made very clear before the employment actually starts:

1. Which course will the employee follow?
2. Who will pay for the course?

As soon as there’s an agreement about the two elements above, it is important that the company displays patience: give the new hire the time and space necessary to complete the course and acquire the new skills.

Tools to use:

›› Implement a company-culture training early in your remote onboarding-week (step-by-step guide)
›› A well thought-out onboarding box is a very powerful tool (read more)
›› The onboarding canvas helps structure conversations around the company culture (download)

Do's and don'ts

Do:

• Identify which kind of hire you’re planning (use matrix above);
• Give time and space for online training;
• Invest in formal training sessions, use tests and quizzes to measure performance;
• Reward good performance in training by sending cool company swag;

Don't:

• Leave the new employee to his or her devices;
• Set performance expectations too soon after onboarding;

How is remote onboarding different?

It’s important to understand the difference between remote onboarding and onboarding. Since remote onboarding focuses on achieving exactly the same things as onboarding in-person: Introducing, integrating, acquainting, socializing. The difference, however, is in how you achieve those things, because the needs of new hires are not that different when they are onboarded virtually, versus in-person.

If you start recreating the experiences of an onboarding at the office, you’ll neglect what’s really important: the impact of those experiences. For example, new hires will feel ignored while you regurgitate the same old presentation instead of feeling valued. Another thing to be aware of is that concentration spans are shorter online. And that socializing is more difficult, because fading into the background is easier. Or that ice-breaking conversations won’t happen naturally in the same way as in-person.

The beauty of a completely remote setting is that onboarding can be as high-touch or low-touch as a new hire desires. Those who prefer visual learning can participate in a series of video calls and screen sharing sessions to go over every element of their onboarding issue. The newbies who prefer more self-study can take advantage of thorough documentation and readily available resources for self-study.

Although going virtual brings new challenges, it also brings new opportunities. For example, the uniqueness of technology as a medium. A virtual experience also means capitalizing on the transformative power of technology to build new experiences. And that in turn leads to new pitfalls and challenges.

Three Remote Challenges

Creating a great onboarding experience isn't easy, so creating it remotely can even be called difficult. Like many other processes in remote teams, onboarding requires way more documentation compared how so many co-located teams operate. Because remote onboarding is mostly self-guided, the real-time face-to-face ability for new employees to ask questions does not exist. Knowing this, we've listed the three most common challenges created some for onboarding remote employees:

1. Without a physical work environment which is critical in the traditional hiring process, you have to use video chats and fun team meetings to get the new team member to feel welcome.
2. The first days or even the first weeks the new hire doesn’t get lost under the avalanche of new information. For example, screen sharing an hour-long welcome presentation and making email introductions.
3. Another challenge is building an emotional connection with a new team – when you aren't in the same space, it’s easy for a new employee to feel isolated especially if they work in another timezone.

When you bring people on board, it’s your responsibility as a hiring manager to make sure they have everything they need to be successful in their role. If you’re not careful, a poor onboarding process can lead to a relationship with your remote team members that makes them feel disengaged and disconnected from the team. This increases your risk of employee turnover and means you spend more time and money looking for replacement workers.

Remote Onboarding Checklist

Now that we have explained the importance of a successful remote onboarding procedure, and we have shared the insights around the golden triangle of onboarding, here’s our remote onboarding checklist that will put you on the right track to support new employees and secure quick wins for them.

• Define expectations

Have an online, internal discussion with key stakeholders within your company: a direct colleague, a direct manager, management, … and define what you’ll expect from the new colleague and what the new hire can expect from the company. Use the onboarding canvas to structure your conversation.

• Identify the type of hire

Use the technical skills matrix to identify the type of hire you’re about to plan. Based on your decision, start designing the virtual training based on the specific needs.

• Write a kick-ass job description

Invest time in writing a job description that leaves very little room for interpretation: define expectations crystal clear and make sure the company culture resonates with the job posting. Pro tip: Let the direct colleagues of the new hire write the job description!

• Make the job interview a positive experience

This one’s a challenge. Whether it’s online or in real life people being interviewed are nervous, anxious even. Consider carefully who you include in your interview: research has shown that interviews are more successful when direct colleagues of the future hire are also at the table. Make sure to use our Employee Onboarding Canvas to structure the dialogue and give feedback ‘on the spot’. Make sure that also those leaving the interview without a chance of a second interview feel good about your company. A nice leave-behind like a pair of socks to thank them for their effort, displays great class.

• Have a clear onboarding calendar

Remote onboarding starts the moment you break the good news to the new hire. Communicate your onboarding calendar at that time, so they know what to expect. List out each step of the process and make sure the new hire doesn’t get lost under the avalanche of new information. Download our 90 day onboarding calendar to help you make your own.

• Make the first week an experience

This first impression is so important. Make sure you’ve got the schedule for the first day(s) completely figured out beforehand. Sending the new hire an awesome onboarding box is more than a gimmick: it makes the new employee feel welcome and motivated right from the start!

• Encourage to socialize

Encourage employees to socialize with new hires and the other way around. For example, new employees might organize a group call with other new hires in order to walk through onboarding together, while learning about new personalities and departments of the company. Assign a remote onboarding buddy!

• Identify employee concerns and answer questions.

The value of transparency gives team members access to a great deal of visibility to what is going on throughout the organization. However, it does not negate the need to invite employees to ask questions. Identify the best channels for asking questions and finding what they need, especially if they work in another timezone. Provide experts if needed.

• Continue coaching and listen to feedback

Once you’ve gotten off on the right foot, you’re on the right track. The chances of things going south from there are very limited, but do keep investing in coaching and feedback throughout the first few months of the new employee. Checking in regularly, will help them feel welcome and supported. It's a good idea to schedule weekly 1-1 meetings.