How to Onboard Employees Virtually During a Quarantine

The COVID-19 quarantine changed how we do business. Onboarding a new employee is just one example; since we can no longer welcome a new employee in person at the office, we must rethink how to create the new employee experience virtually. Our company had the opportunity to virtually onboard employees multiple times in the past few weeks, using a 3-step process.

Step 1: Pre-Onboard

It’s best to plan ahead for logistics and communications when virtually onboarding. If your entire office is working from home, communicate the plan one week ahead of time to all employees with this type of message and action step:

Maria is joining the team. Her first day is on Monday, April 20th. As usual with onboarding, Maria’s first few days will be consumed with meetings and greetings. Her current schedule for Monday and Tuesday is:

• Monday, 10 am: Organizational onboarding with team lead
• Monday, 11am: Meet the President / CEO
• Monday, 1 pm – 4 pm: On an individual basis, meet each team member (15-30 minutes each)
• Tuesday: Connect with the IT department for allocation of computer system
• Tuesday 2 pm: Weekly project meeting

TAKE ACTION: Please set up a 30-minute Zoom session with Maria on Monday between 1 – 4 pm.

For uniformity of information, please use the below agenda during your meeting to help Maria to digest all the information she is receiving:

1.    Introduce yourself

·         Role in the project

·         Assignments and interest outside of the project

·         How long you have been with the organization

2.    Three interesting things about the project, team &/or the organization

3.    Ask questions

·         Show interest in her background

·         Answer work questions

Step 2: Onboard

The actual onboarding call is similar to an in-person onboarding meeting. You will cover the same material, just via video or phone. A possible agenda could include:

1.    Organization History

2.    Organization Structure

3.    Administrative

Step 3: Post-Onboard

This step is the most challenging in a virtual situation. Once the new employee meets everyone and understands team roles, how do you ensure the employee feels challenged and engaged? If you can no longer chat over lunch or coffee in the office, how do you stay connected with the person, to answer any questions they may have?

Our team texts new employees daily at first, to ask about what support they may need. In addition, we do video coffee chats and regular calls, to let them know we’re available to answer any questions. Also, the HR team discusses new employees weekly, to ensure all leaders are aware of any new employee challenges and/or success stories.

If we were operating in an office environment, new employees would have the opportunity to listen to and participate in informal office discussions about the work, accelerating their situational awareness. Since many organizations don’t currently operate in a face to face environment, consider inviting the new hires to participate in your phone calls and Zoom calls, as schedules permit, even in those areas that may not be their primary areas of responsibility. This will allow them to gain background context.

That’s our employer perspective. What do our virtually onboarded employees say? Here’s what one new employee wrote about her virtual onboarding experience.

I met all employees virtually and completed the onboarding process via numerous Zoom meetings in my first week. The President already had two Zoom calls with me prior to onboarding, which increased my employee engagement prior to joining the company.

I have had the best experience as a new employee so far. The importance of working from home and its success lies in the management of work via the remote desktop and accessing shared files. I was provided with the login for this remote desktop and could access all important information to start my work. I did face some technological glitches in the functioning of remote desktop, but they were quickly resolved.

Managers you’ve read about the employer and employee experience with virtual onboarding. Now we want to hear from you! Tell us about your experience with virtual onboarding. What worked and didn’t work for you and your new hires? What has been the role of HR and individual employees in this process?

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send us an email, or find us on Twitter.

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