How to Set Up a New Remote Employee for Success.

Imagine being in the shoes (or bedroom slippers in this instance) of your new employee. It’s their first day – they’re excited, nervous, and feeling good all at once. How can you create a lasting, meaningful first impression of the team… virtually?

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Aside from setting up accounts and providing login details, these truly are the make-or-break parts of onboarding a new hire:

• Quickly getting them to feel connected to their direct team – This boosts confidence and builds trust.
• Understanding how they like to work and interact with others.
• Providing them with a good view of how the team operates and what the culture looks like.
• Setting clear expectations – make employee feel connected to their work by demonstrating clear visibility of the broader organisation goals.

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A solid onboarding process helps your new hires feel welcome and part of the team almost immediately. The extra time and effort spent to help smoothen the transition makes it less overwhelming for the new hires to get accustomed to the new workflow and the rest of the team.

⬆️ confidence in the team = 📈 motivated and eager employees.‍

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On the flip-side, without careful intention and attention to the onboarding process, it creates stress and confusion from Day 0. The whole experience may leave a sour taste in their mouth and your new hires may start wondering if they made the wrong choice – which is the last thing you want.

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Like everything else – the foundation is key. Here at Remote Social, we follow these best practices for virtual onboarding to ensure a positive experience for our new team members:

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1. Start early.

Companies often wait for the new hire to start Day 1 to get the ball rolling with onboarding. Why wait? Start well before your new team member clocks in.

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Help new hires feel part of the team way before Day 1 by sending them a welcome pack as soon as the hiring process is complete. There’s nothing more exciting than getting company swag and goodies via snail mail.

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Receiving a welcome pack quells first-day jitters and helps build connection to the team before even meeting. They’ll feel more confident to hit the ground running come Day 1.‍

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P.S. They will naturally be excited to share the news and flaunt their brand new swag on social media, making them great ambassadors for your brand and inclusive hiring practices.

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2. Be transparent with the onboarding process/agenda.

Put together an agenda or a schedule of how the new hire’s first two weeks will go. You could include this in your welcome package too!

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Giving them a preview of what’s in the pipeline early on helps calm those nerves and manages expectations, without overwhelming them with too much information. It’s the perfect way to ease them into the workflow and allows ample opportunity to meet and get to know each team member (and vice versa!). To piggyback on this…

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3. Allow the team an opportunity to get to know the new hire.

Don’t just lookout for the new hire, create opportunities for the rest of the team to learn about who they’ll be working with as well!

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Schedule one-on-ones with staff the employee will be working closely with, and introduce them to everyone else on the team during a larger meeting. However, jumping on a video call and having to introduce themselves can be quite intimidating – especially if they’re unfamiliar with the ‘vibe’ of the team. This is your chance to get creative with the approach and find less intimidating ways for everyone to interact with each other!

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We absolutely love utilising our latest product for this instance – Remote Social Connect Onboarding pack.

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With this Onboarding pack, you can easily bring your new hires out of their shells with questions that help express their individuality and preferred ways of working.

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At the end of the sequence, Remote Social automatically creates a new starter's profile with their communication preferences and personality traits. This is the perfect way to get everyone to know the newest addition to the team, without disrupting too much of the workday. The new hires also won’t feel the pressure to “be on” for a long time.

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Onboarding is one of the key drivers to set your employees up for success. Starting off strong creates good momentum for them, and for the rest of your team. The onboarding program should provide the new hire with the right tools to a foundation that only continues to be built upon as they grow alongside your organisation – strengthening their cultural alignment, confidence in the brand, and overall performance in their role.

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New year, new hire?

Get the ball rolling in a matter of minutes.

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Step 1. Add Remote Social to your Slack - How to get started?
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Step 2. Turn on the onboarding pack.

Step 3. Watch how your new starter and the team start to bond.

Try it now!

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