10 Remote Onboarding Best Practices for HR Professionals

Business is changing — is your company prepared to change with it?

More and more business is being conducted online. In fact, the number of employers that offer remote work went up by 40% between 2013 and 2018. The global pandemic drove remote work rates up even further.

As a result, learning remote onboarding best practices is more crucial than ever.

The onboarding process can be one of the most confusing and difficult parts of an online job, for both the employer and the employee. Without direct in-person supervision, how do you know your new hire understands their role?

There are several things you can do to ease the onboarding process for both parties. Read on to learn 10 remote onboarding best practices that will streamline your onboarding process and result in happier, more productive hires.

1. Plan For Everything

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure — it’s as true in business as it is in medicine. Your first step should be creating a thorough onboarding plan that addresses potential issues before they can happen.

Create a list of common questions and issues a new hire might have and figure out how to address them quickly from a remote location.

Your onboarding process needs to be thorough and responsive. It also needs to be ready the moment your remote work employee logs in on their first day.

For a thorough checklist of what you need to plan for, look here for ideas.

2. Understand the Technology

Online jobs require technology that an in-office job might not. Zoom, employee portals, and more help your employees stay connected while working remotely, so it’s crucial that employees understand the tech.

Make sure your onboarding process addresses how to install and use key programs. If your employees are given laptops, phones, or other work accessories, ensure that they arrive on time.

Your onboarding process should incorporate ways for employees to troubleshoot tech problems, such as an FAQ document about important programs.

3. Assign Mentors

One great way to help a new hire get on their feet is to assign them a mentor. Put them in contact with an employee who already knows how the company works.

A mentor can help the new employee acclimate and can address issues that your onboarding plan doesn’t cover (because it’s impossible to truly cover every potential problem).

Assigning new employees to individual mentors also helps ensure that managers and the HR Department aren’t being flooded with questions by new hires. They can ask their mentor instead.

4. Maintain Onboarding Documents

Extensive documentation is one of the best tools in your onboarding arsenal. You can put all kinds of information at your employees’ fingertips through programs like Google Docs or Dropbox sharing.

Among the documents you should prepare for onboarding are your employee handbook, frequently asked questions for tech and software, a personnel directory, training documents and videos, and any other info you deem key.

5. Use Diverse Methods

Documents are a convenient way to get information to your employees, but they’re not the only thing you should rely on. Try to incorporate a variety of different formats into your onboarding process.

Videos are a great way to keep employees engaged. They allow you to translate your regular orientation presentations into the remote workspace.

Infographics and charts are other handy formats for sending important data to new hires.

Using multiple formats helps employees absorb information regardless of their learning style, making the onboarding process much smoother.

6. Think About Budget

Budget is always a consideration, no matter what your company is doing. The onboarding process is no exception. Onboarding for remote work has different associated costs than in-person orientation, though.

Salaries for remote workers might be different, for instance. There’s also reimbursement to consider. For example, a remote worker may need a stipend to pay for supplies for their home office.

Onboarding gifts can also be a good idea. Earmark part of your budget to send your new hire something special. It will make them feel more like a part of the team.

7. Focus on Clarity

As has been discussed, one of the biggest hurdles to remote onboarding is the fact that you won’t be there to answer a new employee’s questions. That means your onboarding documents need to be as clear as possible.

Make sure that the new hire’s job responsibilities are outlined in a thorough, understandable way. Leave no room for confusion! Keep the language in your documents simple, concise, and readable.

8. Provide Resources

Your employees will likely need to set up a home office. Your company needs to help them do so if you want them to operate at their best. That means sending necessary tech and assisting with office supplies.

Ensure that the new hire has all the hardware they need before their first day starts. Assist with office supplies through reimbursement. Provide the tools your employee needs to use their new equipment properly.

9. Use an Evaluation Process

You need to know that your onboarding process is working. That means evaluating your employees to make sure they’re understanding what’s expected of them.

Evaluation should be the first thing you do in the onboarding process, so you can establish a baseline. A second evaluation should come at the end of the process, so you can see if the orientation worked.

Thorough evaluation helps your company in two ways. First, it weeds out employees who are doing a poor job. Second, it helps you identify areas that your onboarding needs to focus on.

10. Modify and Update the Plan

This is the most crucial step of all: keep updating your onboarding plan. Don’t assume that the documents and videos you put together at the beginning of the process are perfect or will remain relevant forever.

Assess the plan regularly and see what needs improving. Use employee feedback and data from evaluations to figure out what you can do better, and implement those changes quickly.

A great plan should evolve to fit the needs of both you and your employees.

Stay Updated on Remote Onboarding Best Practices

When you utilize remote onboarding best practices, you make things better for everyone. New hires have an easier time acclimating to their position, and your HR Department has fewer questions to answer.

Are you looking for other ways to improve and modernize your company? Check out our business and tech blogs for more tips.