Managing the New Hire Experience Remotely
“By failing to prepare, you’re preparing to fail”
Benjamin Franklin
One would assume that as organizations work through new ways of working during the pandemic, they would have given more thought to the onboarding experience for new hires. This is why I was certainly surprised by the responses I received from 105 new hires at various organizations who started new remote positions remotely during COVID. In a nutshell, there is much work to do in this area.
Most of those I spoke with would grade their organization’s onboarding process a C at best. Even those organizations who before COVID, were touted for having great onboarding programs haven’t woken up to realize they need to shift their talent process strategies.
Organizations spend a considerable amount of time and money recruiting new talent. To ignore proper employee onboarding that’s just not acceptable is not only short sighted, it’s also terribly unfair to the new employee.
As we know, an effective onboarding process boosts productivity, engagement and retention. Keep in mind this doesn’t need to be expensive. We’re not talking about a sexy program. You will see that what we are really talking about communication and being mindful of a new hire who knows no one or nothing about your organization.
“By being on-boarded in a virtual setting, new hires tend to lose the spontaneous learning opportunities offered by informal interactions with their peers. Gartner’s research indicates that 74% of new hires consider their peers to be the most helpful source of support during onboarding.” (Gartner, 2020)
What can organizations do now to pivot their programs and processes?
The first step is to outline each component of the current program and identify how important it is for the new hire to experience. Make sure to define what success looks like at key milestones of the program. Next, conduct interviews or group discussions with recently onboarded employees. Probe deeply to uncover specific challenges related to onboarding in a virtual setting. Gather information on what the new hire was expecting, doing, feeling, and thinking at each stage. Then take these insights and weave them through the current process. Identify gaps between the new hire’s experience and expectations at each stage. Look for low hanging fruit that can be addressed immediately and corrected or improved for the next set of new hires.
Now let’s apply some best practices.
Help the new hire settle into the organization and build relationships.
Have a virtual welcome celebration
Send them swag to personalize the welcome: flowers, cupcakes, have some fun – show them your culture!
Help them build their network with personal email introductions, setting up one-on-ones, assign buddies, etc.
Send out new hire announcements with a photo, a short bio, etc. regardless of level in the organization.
Set up the Manager-staff relationship.
Share organizational norms and agree on any odd or irregular hours that may be needed.
Adjust the cadence & format of your check-ins and onboarding sessions. Keep in mind that multi-hour, long sessions may not translate well to videoconference.
Don’t forget to check-in on them. A new hire may be reluctant to tell you about their constraints or take advantage of any flexibility’s the organization offers at this stage.
Set the new hire up for success.
Set 30-day goals designed to help the employee quickly begin contributing.
Don’t skimp on feedback. Without informal office interactions, it may be difficult for a new employee to gauge if they are doing a good job or falling short on expectations.
Share an organization chart. It helps to know who is who.
Send links to pertinent information. Make it easy for new hires to find what they need.
Bottom line, don’t make people have to look for things on their own!
Let’s break this down further.
1. Think about spreading your on-boarding program over a number of days. Offer shorter bursts over a full week, allowing flexibility for the new hire to work from home and acclimate to the new setting. If the employee were on-site for their orientation, they would move to the work environment and be embraced by new colleagues, etc. The week-long version features planned check-ins and touch-points to ensure the new hire doesn’t feel overlooked. This model also takes the stress off the facilitators of the various program components.
2. Embrace the idea that you can’t over-communicate. Remember if you were onsite with your new hire, you would stop by his or her desk, maybe have coffee or take them to lunch. When you are virtual, you have to find other ways to make a new hire feel welcome and allay any concerns they might have.
Plan spontaneity. Pre-COVID, informal coffee chats, encounters at an elevator and minutes waiting for a conference room to clear provide important for new hires. The spontaneity of those moments can be difficult to replicate virtually, but managers can plan intentional alternatives to deliver the social context and subtle cues that say so much.
Consider involving a wider group of people in the orientation and training sessions and schedule virtual social one-on-ones and team activities to enable new hires to meet people from across the organization, not just those they will be working closely with.
Don’t overlook company information, where it’s kept, how it’s obtained. There’s nothing more frustrating to a new employee if they have to waste a day hunting down information. Think about how you can bundle a package for them.
3. Get technology into the hands of the new employee as quickly as possible. Think about having the manager include a hand-written welcome note with the package to make them feel part of the team. Consider using a branded note card and send it in the mail the old-fashioned way. People and their families will appreciate the effort. They will immediately feel good about the culture of the organization they have just joined. Set up a time for IT to remote in with the new hire to set up technology instead of telling them to reach out if they have a question/problem. Be proactive.
4. Emphasize your company’s culture and values. Think about creating a video with real employees sharing what they love about your organization. Maybe go so far as making this a team of “buddies” who can be assigned to new hires. Make sure to include a history of the company and perhaps a welcome video from the CEO who can walk through the timeline.
Sharing the company’s values will be important for the new hire to help understand how day-to-day decisions are made. Maybe send your new hire a branded coffee mug or mouse pad or both. Think about including your values on your branded item.
5. Identify a virtual meeting platform that allows for interaction during the employee onboarding program to keep participants engaged and connected. Some of the newer programs allow for hand raising and breakout options. Consider gamifying the orientation to make it fun. Perhaps do a scavenger hunt of the company intranet. Implement a rotating coffee hour so folks can get to know each other.
6. Emphasize the role of the hiring manager. Orientation and laptops that work are essential but think about resources and training for the managers to help them think through how the “how” of onboarding has changed.
7. Set clear expectations. Pre-schedule important meetings and prepare to answer questions before they are asked. Take the time to lay-out everything your new hire needs to know to be successful in their new role. Talk to seasoned teammates to help generate that list. Set expectations around regular meetings that need to be attended. Have recurring meetings already loaded on the new hires’ calendar. Establish time for the new hire to meet the team virtually maybe one on one and hosting a group welcome as well. Have IT provide written and verbal instruction on how to sign in, how to remote in, how to use collaboration software.
By now the message should have resonated - ditch the 90-minute welcome presentation and provide high-touch virtual interactions. Onboarding a new hire in a virtual setting involves some extra planning. Keep Ben Franklin’s quote in mind!
Check in often! Get Social! Buddy Up!
Create a community!
Checklists are always useful tools!
Sample start – you customize the rest:
Pre-arrival
HR Forms
Equipment delivery & set-up
Welcome email with Day 1 & 2 agendas
Send an email to your new hire that includes how their equipment will arrive & the steps to set up the computer and login
How the meetings will take place
The manager’s contact info in case there is an emergency on the employees’ first day
Day 1
IT set-up
Ideally host this day one first thing in the morning
Move into the formal on-boarding program, etc.
Post Week 1
Communicate, touch-base, continue these initiatives. Take the time to talk about stuff other than work stuff. Don’t be afraid to show your human side and that of your team members. At some point consider that when new hires are on-boarded virtually may start coming to the workplace once restrictions are lifted. This will be a new stage in the onboarding journey. They will be in a whole new setting and again be the “new person at work”. They will have information about their role, about the organization but will need to start socially integrating themselves with the team. They would have to unlearn the remote working norms and learn the behaviors and cultural norms of the workplace. Managers will have to re-welcome the new hire and help them feel included in the team.
First impressions are everything. How you welcome a new hire and usher them into your company will have an enormous impact on how engaged they are and how quickly they reach their full potential and productivity. A report from BCG (Boston Consulting Group) looked at 22 HR practices and found onboarding to have more impact than any except for effective recruiting. Companies that nail employee onboarding will have better engagement, retention and talent branding. “And there’s almost nothing that will turn new hires into enthusiastic company ambassadors like seeing your team putting in an extra effort to make them feel welcomed and valued.” (LinkedIn 2020)
It’s best to truly understand the new reality and tailor processes accordingly.
“The secret of my success is that we have gone to exceptional lengths to hire the best people in the world”
Steve Jobs
Don’t lose them with a half-baked onboarding program that doesn’t lend itself to a remote working climate! Over communicate and have some fun. Put your Company’s culture in the best light.
Good Luck!