New To Virtual Onboarding? Here’s All You Need To Know

One of the most pertinent concerns is how to handle the onboarding of employees during these uncertain times. And this could be a perfect opportunity to embark on a remote onboarding program in your organization. An employee’s first day at work plays a vital role as it acts as a basis for them to perceive your organization's culture.

Steps to Design Your Virtual Onboarding:

Assess Your Existing Onboarding Plan

It is not ideal to just swipe aside your current onboarding plan when shifting to a remote environment, as it was there in place for a reason. Start by closely examining your existing onboarding process and identifying the significance of each element. Focus on the goal of providing a holistic view of the company culture, product training, handling concerns, and so on.

Be particular in how you describe each step and its significance in the program. It will help you turn your schedule more efficiently into a virtual onboarding program and decide which steps are actually required.

Choose The Right Software To Make It Virtual

After you have determined the series of steps involved in the onboarding process, carefully rework the strategy with those objectives in mind and define the tools you need to implement them. There is a wide range of software available in the market, such as learning management systems, remote employee management systems, recruitment software, applicant tracking system etc. that allow you to efficiently create and conduct your onboarding program.

Make sure that you thoroughly evaluate the software before arriving at a decision. Once you are sure that it will serve your purpose, educate your team on the product and ensure that they are capable enough to troubleshoot small issues.

Instill And Emphasize Your Company Culture

Introducing a new employee to the company culture is the greatest barrier to a remote onboarding process. While training them to be effective in their job, you also need to make them feel inclusive and a part of the team, which is becoming more challenging considering the socially distant environment.

Look for ways to keep them connected. Proactively arrange meetings not only with the people the new hire is expected to work directly with, but also introduce them to other departments they might not be working with, just to ensure they are aware of various teams in the organization. Bring them in through lunch-and-learns or open Q&A sessions to department heads. Use the opportunity to demonstrate the various committees you have in your organization such as sports club, fun and engagement committee, etc and welcome them to join any of them based on their interest.

Arrange Training Programs For Your Managers

Once you have successfully set up your remote onboarding program, it is up to the managers to see through. It is the manager's responsibility to make sure that the new joiner of their team feels included and comfortable during the whole onboarding cycle. Everyone comes to the table with a distinct personality.

Although their training tracts are tailored with respect to their job role, their social, behavioral and emotional needs may be quite different, and they may require some assistance in sinking it all in. Encourage your managers to personalize the individual experience, beginning with more of their presence in the process.

Gather Feedback From The New Hires

This is a whole new approach to onboarding, so you'll certainly hit some bumps in the lane. Gather inputs and feedback from your new hires and use their insights to make the process more effective. This will help you find challenges before they derail the project and improve the experience for future new joiners. Ask for anonymous reviews through Google Forms or another survey tool, and focus on impact instead of only likes and dislikes.

We know that we are all adjusting to massive transition right now, and we hope these ideas will enable you to tackle these difficult times effectively.