Remote employee onboarding: 8 ways to get it right

The most talented professionals don’t always live close to your office. That means hiring remote employees and getting them settled into the company online. And that’s where a well planned remote employee onboarding process will help. 

Add these 8 steps to your remote employee onboarding checklist to set your new starters off on a path that brings ultimate success to your business.

Your remote employee onboarding checklist

We once had 77 new starters in a single day at Bolt. And having a clear plan for onboarding remote employees helped to increase retention, enthusiasm, and efficiency. 

Working remotely offers many benefits — not only to employees but companies too. Following our remote employee onboarding advice will give new starters the best possible start to life at your company: 

1. Get a familiar face to greet them;
2. Start onboarding on day one;
3. Get their equipment up and running;
4. Make the benefits clear;
5. Increase engagement with interactivity;
6. Involve current staff;
7. Prepare an individual onboarding plan;
8. Close onboarding and get feedback.

It’s also worth reminding your remote employees that they’re always welcome at the office. The best way to do that is to make travel arrangements for them. We’ve included a bonus tip to make your remote employees feel even more welcome at the end of this article.

1. Get a familiar face to greet them

Your new starters will have already made contact with your company during the hiring process. So they will have met one or more people within the company already. 

Make sure those people welcome them to the company on day one. A quick message will do the job and help to ease any nerves too. 

2. Start onboarding from day one

It’s safe to say that you’re hiring some of the most talented people out there. So, on the whole, you won’t want to give them too many guidelines to follow. After all, it’s important to let them flourish in their new role and use their skills to take your business forward. 

The first few days are different though. 

A well planned onboarding process is a great way to introduce them to the company. You can use this time to present information about the company and teams, host Q&As, as well as encourage conversations with other new starters or colleagues. And this can all be done on video calls using platforms like Zoom or Google Meet.

“Remote employees may not be in a team environment but they are in your company’s environment.”

Sandra Verrevmägi, Global Learning and Development Partner at Bolt

3. Get their equipment up and running

It’s vital that remote employees have all the kit they need to get online from day one. That means getting a laptop — and any other equipment they might need — to them before their first day.

Spend the first half of the first day setting up their equipment. Making sure that they have access to all essential tools.

4. Make the benefits of onboarding clear

A good remote employee onboarding experience helps new starters to: 

• Meet new people.
• Feel comfortable in their role.
• Get familiar with new equipment, tools and software.

Making these benefits clear to new starters from the very beginning will help to get them enthused about your remote employee onboarding process. 

5. Increase engagement with interactivity

Many companies get their new starters to watch a number of videos on their first day. While there’s no doubt that they’re full of useful information, they’re not always the most engaging or memorable. This can isolate the new starter soon after they’ve logged on for the first time. 

Rather than sending hours of training videos to watch, make your remote employee onboarding interactive and engaging. Host Q&As with managers, include quizzes or polls during presentations, and give them the option of meeting the team in person. 

Bolt Business can help with that final point.

6. Involve current staff

Onboarding isn’t all about the new starter. It’s a golden opportunity to give current members of your team a chance to shine. Allow managers to present, taking new employees through their role and how to get in touch with them. This will help to:

• Build new relationships.
• Improve presentation skills.
• Keep them engaged with the company.

7. Prepare an individual onboarding plan

Remote employee onboarding is a great way to welcome several new starters to your business at the same time. They can learn about the company together and support each other through the process. 

It’s important not to forget that each new starter will have different roles once they’ve been onboarded. This means coming up with unique onboarding plans for each person based on their role. 

These individual onboarding plans should include people to meet, any information worth reading, and some work-related objectives. 

8. Get feedback

Bring the process of onboarding remote employees to a clear end. And with that, ask for all of your new starters to leave feedback. This is the best way to know if you’re introducing new employees to the company in the best possible way. 

Make it easy for everyone to give thoughts on their onboarding experience by giving a link to tools such as Miro. Anonymous feedback is the best way to get honest opinions.

Make it easy for employees to travel

A strong remote employee onboarding process gives new starters the best possible welcome to life at your company. And it’s important to continue to make them feel welcome beyond onboarding. 

While tools such as Zoom, Slack, and Google’s GSuite have made it easier than ever to keep in touch with employees, in-person meetings aren’t a thing of the past. Whether your remote employees need to get to the office from time-to-time, the occasional client meeting, or a team event, you should make it easy for them to travel.

A Bolt Business Team Account allows you to book, manage, and pay for work rides taken by all of your employees.

You can add new starters one-by-one or altogether using the bulk upload tool. Once they’re in, you can set travel rules and spending limits. All they need to do is download the Bolt app and select your company as the payment method when they ride for work. 

Create a Bolt Business Team Account today!