Hays US Viewpoint

The most crucial part of a remote employee’s onboarding is the ability to connect with their team and more importantly, their manager as quickly as possible – to do that well takes some preparation. Below are some tips to building a strategy that can give your new hire the best possible experience in their new job.

BEFORE DAY 1

Set up a virtual team meeting: Book a meeting for all of the team to meet the new hire. The most challenging part of starting a new job remotely is feeling isolated from the rest of the team. Make it fun and interactive – create an icebreaker activity that allows everyone to participate and learn more about each other.

Set up an HR Call: Introduce your new hire to the HR contact that they can reach out to with questions on new hire paperwork, benefits, etc.

Create a checklist of needed technology: What will your new hire need to do their job?

• Laptop
• Power Cord
• Printer
• Additional technology

Be clear on how to use communication tools: Get the new hire set up on video, phone, instant messaging apps and any other tools your company uses. 

Conduct a laptop practice run: Designate a time for a leader or IT support to walk the new hire through logging into their systems.

Map out the new hire’s first full week: New hires should be given a schedule of what they will be doing during throughout their first week. Whether it is 1 on 1 meetings, training sessions or virtual job shadowing.

DAY 1

Now that your new hire can use their systems, they are ready for work. The most important step is for leaders to be very clear on expectations.

Set up a meeting first thing: This meeting will be to set expectations for the next 90 days. They should also be given their mapped out schedule for the first week.

Schedule 1 on 1 video meetings for each of your team members to interact individually with the new hire: Connections to team mates will help the new hire assimilate quickly and understand what the expectations are.

Daily meeting cadence: Begin and end each day with a video meeting. This is the time to recap the day, identify challenges and celebrate success.

Set up training courses: Provide your new hire with the schedule of training that will be required and how it will be conducted.

End of day 1: Schedule a one-on-one video call with the new hire at the end of the first day to welcome them to the business & answer any questions they have. At the end of the week, be sure to have a follow up call as well. These steps will help build a sense of belonging for the new hire and give you an opportunity to learn more about the person as an individual – not just as an employee.

AFTER 1ST WEEK

• Continue to meet regularly to review projects and activities
• Provide honest and clear feedback based on results
• Don’t stop training – technology can create better learning environments to interactive sessions
• Create their personal success plan – let your new hires know what your expectations are and what success looks like

INSTILL COMPANY CULTURE

Remote employees can feel left out of meaningful team activities and impromptu meetings. Create opportunities for

the new hire to develop across departmental relationships and feel connected to the entire organization. Also, give the new hire the opportunity to become embedded with the team either with virtual coffee breaks, group chats or virtual happy hours.

For more advice from our recruiting experts, visit our resources section