Remote Onboarding: A Practical Guide for Remote-First Companies
“You only get one chance to make a first impression.” This is as true regarding your first dinner with your future in-laws, as it is for companies.
Onboarding has a defining impact, as it paves the first steps of a new employee in your organization. It’s pretty obvious that a good onboarding is better than a bad one, but the real question is: how do we make sure new joiners have a good onboarding experience?
And considering the current context, in which many companies had to go remote, I would even say: how do we ensure new joiners have that positive onboarding experience remotely?
Like many companies, we at tb.lx had to go fully remote from one day to the other. This meant dealing with a lot of new challenges in various areas, onboarding included. There was no more office tour, no more watercooler moments at the coffee machine, and no more company lunch outside. We had to reinvent ourselves and find new ways to maintain the human touch in the process.
Despite those challenges, our company managed to successfully onboard several employees remotely since March 2020. I would like to share our step-by-step remote onboarding process with you based on the knowledge we gained and the lessons we learned along the way.
This is the practical guide I wish I had read when we suddenly had to take onboarding online.
Before Day 1 — Be one step ahead
Onboarding doesn’t simply start on your new joiners’ first day. It’s a process that requires preparation from you and your team. This preparation phase even has its own name: Preboarding.
The last thing you want is for your new employees to feel stuck on their first day because they have nothing planned, nobody to talk to, or because they lack the right materials to be able to work at all. Ideally, on their first day, the new joiners are ready to meet everyone, learn about the company, and get down to business.
So, before Day 1, make sure to:
- Deliver the work devices to their home
That’s anything they need to work from their home office: laptop, phone, keyboard, mouse, etc.
- Deliver your company’s Welcome Kit (if you have one)
A welcome kit consists of branded goodies. Ideally, they are representative of your organization’s DNA. At tb.lx, we send goodies like a beach towel (we’re based in Lisbon), bottle openers (we’re a start-up), and a webcam blocker (we’re a tech company).
- Give them access to your communication tools and documentation circles
This allows you to make sure they can communicate with everyone and start reading onboarding documentation from day 1.
- Prepare their first week in advance and inform them
It is reassuring for your new joiners to have some context on their new employer before their first day. The week before they start, we always send a warm email reminding them that we are excited to have them with us and tell them what they can expect from their first week. When we send this, all the onboarding events are already planned for them.
- Get the team ready to welcome the new joiners
We arrange an online meeting with their future team and agree on an onboarding buddy — i.e., someone who will be their guide and best friend during the first weeks. Their team also prepares a backlog of documentation and tasks to put them up to speed on the work.
Week 1 — Remote Onboarding starts
This is it! The new joiners are officially starting their journey in your organization. How do we ensure they get the smoothest remote onboarding into your company?
- Start with a virtual company get-together
The first step is to have a get-together with the whole organization. In a remote setting, this translates into a company-wide virtual meeting. Our ritual is to have a company breakfast where everyone joins the call with their own cup of coffee. We then have a little introduction round around the “room”.
- Make them feel a part of their team
Create opportunities for the team to get together and meet in a more informal way. After the company breakfast, we organize a small Q&A call with their team only. To structure the call and go beyond small talk, each team member shares some information about themselves: their background and role in the company, software tools that saved their life, the easiest way to approach them, and what they do outside of work.
- Hold induction presentations
Induction presentations are short introductions to some key company topics. At tb.lx, we have three:
- Culture & Processes Induction (with HR):
The HR team introduces new joiners to our company culture and processes. This is also an opportunity to answer all the questions they might have.
2. Company Strategy & Vision Induction (with the CEO):
Our CEO gives the new joiners an overview of where we come from as an organization, where we stand now, and where we want to be.
3. Products/Services Induction (with the CTO):
Our CTO gives an overview of our products and services. This helps new people understand the bigger picture of what we do as a company, and how their work will contribute to this.
- Share onboarding documents
When it comes to remote onboarding, your company’s documentation must be on point. We give new employees a personal checklist to help them progress through their onboarding when not having someone by their sides. During week 1, we ask them to:
- Read our Company Guide,
- Complete their tool setup,
- Talk to as many people as possible,
- Read their team’s documentation on best practices.
Follow-up — What happens next?
Onboarding certainly doesn’t stop after one week. It generally takes months until someone is sufficiently ramped up on their tasks, has a full understanding of their role and interdependencies with colleagues, embraces the company culture, and understands all the processes; to be able to start working at full speed.
- Ask for feedback
To keep improving your onboarding process, you need to hear it from the people involved: the new joiners themselves. After their first week, we ask our new joiners to fill in a form to share their onboarding experience with us.
- Celebrate milestones and touch base
It’s vital not to lose touch with your new employees once they have been onboarded — and even more in a remote setting. To keep this connection alive, make sure to implement milestones for your new joiners across their journey in the company. At tb.lx, we defined the first month, 6-months, and 1-year anniversaries as milestones. On those days, we send them a little something — like a personal letter or a mug. We also schedule a call with them to touch base: together, we reflect on their journey with us so far and discuss how we can make it (even) better in the future!
We would be happy to hear your thoughts on remote onboarding. What worked for you and what didn’t? Where did you change your process entirely, and where did everything go smoothly?
Let’s brainstorm together and improve remote onboarding as a community!
Cyril Desmedt works as an HR Specialist (focus: Talent Onboarding & Development) at tb.lx in Lisbon, Portugal.
