Businesses spent the better part of the last year adapting to new ways of working. The shift to remote work prompted organizations to overhaul the entire processes for a virtual environment. Millions of employees began working from home. While a few organizations aced this transition, most continue to struggle.
HR functions like onboarding, engagement, and collaboration have emerged as top priorities for leaders across the globe. The lack of a physical office coupled with virtual processes make onboarding particularly challenging.
So, how can organizations design virtual onboarding experiencesOpens a new window employees like in 2021?
Developing an Effective Virtual Onboarding Blueprint in 2021
First impressions make a lasting impact. It’s similar with employees’ first day at work. Even though you can’t welcome your employees face-to-face, you can still provide a personalized onboarding experience that sets them up for success in the New Year.
An effective virtual onboarding experience fosters productivity, engagement, and retention. It is also crucial to building a high-performance culture. The challenge is – how do you successfully deliver an experience that is predominantly social?
Organizations have taken their onboarding process virtual but their deployment has left a lot to be desired. In most cases, HR teams have simply moved their on-premises processes online, which do not translate very well into the virtual context. Activities like filling out paper work and self-directed learning can make virtual onboarding feel alienating for the new hires.
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Traditional approaches to employee onboarding are ineffective in the virtual world of work. Organizations need a new approach to onboarding that leverages technology and digital behaviors to deliver better business outcomes.
Let’s take a look at how you can go about creating a process that not only empowers new hires to understand their roles and the organization faster but also create meaning workplace relationships.
Step #1: Improve Ramp-up Time With Pre-Boarding
Remember the last time you started a new job? It began with interviews and assessments leading to an offer. Once you agreed to the offer, you’d schedule a start date and likely not hear from the employer until you showed up on the agreed upon date.
This approach worked well until the pandemic hit. A climate of uncertainty and volatility affected how candidates transitioned from their existing jobs to the new ones. There’s still increasing anxiety about what’s next.
Pre-boarding allows you to take all this anxiety and stress out of the equation. New employees who will be joining virtually are bound to feel alone or helpless during this period. Pre-boarding starts from the second you enter into an employment agreement with a candidate. It enables you to reach out and engage them from the moment they accept your offer.
Pre-boarding is an essential part of an effective virtual onboarding experience. It prepares your newhires for success before they even begin working for you. Pre-boarding could begin with something as simple as a welcome email introducing your latest hire to the team or informing them of the documents they need for their first day. Pre-boarding is also an excellent opportunity to address some of the most common questions candidates may have about your company like vacation policy, overtime, or benefits.
By proactively engaging your new hire even before they join, you can instill confidence in your organization and promote an organic sense of connection. So, on their first day, they’re already familiar with you, their team, and their new role.
Step #2: Streamline the Logistics
While this may seem like a no-brainer – organizations often overlook the value of shipping out computers and equipment to the newhires before their start date. In a virtual setting, connectivity is critical and here’s where a little effort can go a long way. In a remote setting, these items have to be shipped but their delivery is often delayed. Coordinate with your IT or procurement teams to have laptops and other accessories directly shipped to the newhire’s home before their joining date. Software can be loaded remotely or the newhires can download them by following instructions from their welcome kit. It is important to note that the newhires be provided with adequate phone support when downloading these softwares.
Learn More: 5 Ways HR Tech Can Streamline the Fragmented Employee Experience in 2021
Step #3: Automate Paperwork With Auto-Form Fill and E-signatures
While important, paperwork is perhaps newhires’ least favorite part of the onboarding process. With remote onboarding, filling out paperwork can be a breeze if automated. E-signature and intelligent form-filling software can make what is typically a tedious and time-consuming activity, much easier and faster.
Employees just need to record their signatures and fill in their personal details once and the software does the rest. You no longer need to type in your first name 25 times or enter your social security number multiple times. Instead, employees can spend more time carefully reading their contracts, benefits packages, and other details.
The outcome is a faster process. Employees are happier for it and you have a digitized record of all their information. Automating paperwork will be particularly helpful for organizations looking to scale their onboarding process. Paperless onboarding solutions like EloomiOpens a new window and WebonboardingOpens a new window can help you streamline this process, end-to-end.
Step #4: Define Your Orientation Timeline
Onboarding can take a few hours or stretch for weeks, depending on the industry and job role. Visualizing your onboarding timeline with a process chart will help you avoid the trap of self-directed orientation – and provide employees with a streamlined orientation experience.
Begin by consulting with other stakeholders – line managers, IT team, and functional head to determine the amount of time employees must spend participating in meetings vs. self-directed orientation – perusing company literature, leave and vacation policy, benefits, etc. We recommend focusing on a more collaborative orientation process where the newhire’s journey is careful mapped by all the stakeholders, leaving little time for self-directed learning. While self-directed learning/orientation is important, it can leave your newhires feeling alienated from the organization if they’re left alone for too long.
Organizations have had remarkable success with orientation videos where employees are introduced to the organization, policies, their roles, and the leadership. You can make this experience more involving by inserting fun trivia or a pop-quiz at the end of the session.
Step #5: Overcommunicate and Engage
One of the key challenges in virtual onboarding is engagement. The lack of a physical setting can make onboarding seem like a lonely journey. As HR, it is crucial that you engage and overcommunicate with new hires through their onboarding journey. Here are a few steps you can take to ensure that your new hires feel welcomed:
- Hold regular check-ins: You should ideally check in with the newhires at least once or twice every day. Ask them about their experience so far and if they have any questions for you or their line manager. This could be a 15-minute exercise every day.
- Remote mentors: A great way to help the newhires get comfortable with their team(s) is by assigning a remote buddy or mentor, who can help answer role-related and team-related questions. Your newhires will be more at ease knowing they can turn to someone in their team for advice and information.
- Schedule one-to-one meetings with line managers: Ensure that line managers have the training and tools to communicate with their new team member on a regular basis. You can replace in-person contact with daily check-in meetings with the line-managers.
- Set performance expectations: The last stage of new-hire engagement is communicating the performance expectations. You can share a document that outlines performance goals, KPIs, and responsibilities through their first six months or more. This helps new employees understand exactly what’s required of them and eliminates uncertainty.
Step #6: Follow-up After Onboarding
Virtual onboarding is a journey that could last well beyond the orientation period. Once the newhire has joined their team, it is important that you keep the conversation flowing – your daily check-ins could change to weekly meetings – the idea is to make them feel connected. As HR, you are their first point of contact in the organization, so it is important that you keep the door open for them even as they settle into their roles.
Learn More: What Do Employees Really Want in 2021? Citrix Research Offers the Answer
Onboarding is more than just a one-time activity. It is a strategic approach to unlocking the newhires’ potential through well-structured interventions and activities. There is a thriving market for virtual onboarding solutions that can help you automate the entire journey. However, for organizations on a budget – you can use a combination of existing business tools/software to streamline your virtual onboarding process.  If you use knowledge management resources like Confluence or even G-Suite, you can create bespoke journeys for your newhires by combining your email, instant messaging, and teleconferencing software.
Your virtual onboarding strategy should provide newhires with helpful social cues and information that enables them to immerse themselves in their role and team. Accounting, for in-person experiences, which contribute to relationship-building are critical in virtual settings. So, remember that there’s no such thing as too much communication. With this approach in mind, add in more software or solutions that help you make the most of your onboarding experience.
Here’s to a successful virtual onboarding strategy for 2021!
How are you structuring your virtual onboarding process?
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