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4 Tips for Successful Virtual Onboarding
Virtual onboarding isn’t going anywhere in the near future. From tech to team spirit, these four tips can help set up remote employees for success!
Tech and tools
No one wants to twiddle their thumbs on their first day, so prepare your employees to work straight away. Send any company-owned tech (laptops, phones, webcams, etc.) and start-up instructions (especially for security and device-management tech such as Duo Mobile, Intune, etc.) ahead of your employee’s first day. Ensure IT is available to help get the employee online. Also provide the employee with a cheat sheet of primary contacts: HR, IT, the employee’s supervisor and immediate teammates, and any clients or vendors they will work closely with.
Arrange a meet and greet (or several)
Working in a virtual environment limits chance encounters and water-cooler chats, but you can help your employee feel like part of the team from the get-go. After any new-hire orientations, encourage the employer’s manager to organize a team video chat. The team can introduce themselves and casually get to know their newest teammate. In addition to this initial meeting, try to schedule the new employee for a handful of coffee chats during their first week, beginning with their closest-connected colleagues. You can also arrange a “work buddy” for the new employee—someone on their team they can turn to for help or social support.
Check in regularly
As a supervisor, make a point of checking in with your new employee for a few minutes each day. This open dialogue will help them feel connected and can foster a strong and positive professional relationship. Be sure to ask them how their day went, who they met, what they learned, what else they need to do their job, how you can best support them, and what questions they have for you.
Define initial outcomes
Try to set up your employee for concrete success by defining some short-term goals for their first 90 days. Include some learning goals, such as processes and systems; some social goals, such as one-on-ones with coworkers; and some performance goals, as appropriate. Measurable, relatively easy-to-achieve goals will give employees something to reach for during those first few months, and goals also set clear guidelines for the employee’s performance.
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